Meet Justin Straight: Burning Ships and Voicing Marvel

Burn the Ships

Justin Straight, based in Cleveland, Ohio, lives by a phrase that hangs in his house: "Burn the Ships." The idea is simple but terrifying. When you are passionate about something, you land on that new venture's island and burn the ship behind you so you have nowhere to go but forward.

In 2018, Justin did exactly that with voice acting. His wife did the same with her gym, Iron Family Fitness. "I highly do not recommend this for people who like to wade in the water with passions, by the way," he adds with a laugh. "It's terrifying."

From D&D to the Recording Booth

Justin's history with voice acting started with Dungeons & Dragons and improv classes in college. Thanks to the cast of Critical Role, he discovered that voice acting could be a real career, not just a hobby done at the gaming table. That realization changed everything.

Before voice acting, Justin worked in sales after college and then at Rogue Fitness, designing and outfitting weight rooms. Sales training made talking to people easy, even though he describes himself as "super introverted" in his personal life. That paradox is actually his superpower. "That's why I love directed sessions," he says. "Being professional and connecting with clients are some of my strongest abilities. It's so hard to truly connect over an email."

Friendly, Relatable, Flexible

Justin describes his voice as friendly, relatable, and flexible. He specializes in commercial and corporate narration where clients need their words to sound like talking to a friend. He also loves character work, and when those two worlds meet, "boy howdy, is it always a good time."

His preparation starts with the client brief. He checks what part of his demo or audition resonated most, then works through the big W's: Where am I? Who am I talking to? What's going on around me? Why am I talking about this? "That quickly gets me into a headspace for almost every script."

Marvel Strike Force

Justin has been working with Marvel and Scopely on Marvel Strike Force for two to three years. "They have been a consistent partner that always has fun with their work, and I appreciate that when it comes through the script writing," he says. Having a long-term partnership with one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world is something few voice actors can claim.

Audiobooks, on the other hand, present a different kind of challenge. As a self-described sprinter, likely thanks to some undiagnosed ADHD, the process of slowing down to work on a single project over multiple weeks is "super painful in the moment, but the end results and clients loving the work is always worth it."

The Stories That Make You Laugh

The weirdest thing Justin has ever been asked to voice? Five anatomically specific characters for a testicular cancer awareness campaign. He leaves the details to the imagination but confirms it was exactly as unusual as it sounds.

New Dad, Wildlife Advocate

Justin is a new father, spending his free time with his son Jonah. He lives a healthy lifestyle with lifting and hiking, and when he is behind the mic on personal projects, he runs a video game YouTube and streaming channel called Thee Reddest Panda that donates proceeds to help save endangered species around the world.

Why Human Voice Wins

Justin sees three qualities that make human voice irreplaceable: "Connection, interpretation, and flexibility." He points to a practical example: "Clients have asked me to completely switch tones, pacing, feelings on the fly during a directed session. A synthetic voice can't do that without hours of recalibrating and reprompting it, and it still may not be right in the end."

His Advice for Clients

"Give the direction you have in your mind within the brief of the script, but allow for the actor to interpret the script too," Justin advises. "If you aren't sure what you want, book a directed session so the time can be spent collaborating with the actor."

He also wants people outside the industry to know that most voice actors are doing the non-glamorous work. "Random GLP-1 commercials you hear while listening to a podcast or that corporate HR training everyone in your company has to do. It's not sexy, but it pays the bills."

Hear Justin's demos and explore his full profile at RealVOTalent.com. Ready to work with him? Hire Justin today.