Meet Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff: 8,000 Commercials and a Deadpool Gig

Words from a Legend

Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff's voice acting career began with six words from Don LaFontaine, the most iconic voice in movie trailer history.

Mark, based in Los Angeles, had been podcasting since 2005 and had turned it into a full-time career. Someone introduced him to Don, and he hired the legendary voice actor to record some book trailers. During a conversation one day, Mark said, "Man, I'd love to do what you do."

Don's response was immediate: "Mark, you could totally do what I do."

"I was blown away," Mark recalls. "Actually, I didn't believe him." It was not until a couple of years later, after Don passed away, that those words came back. Mark decided to give voice acting a try. He started booking work, and it became his full-time career. "I owe it all to Don," he says. He still uses a clip that Don voiced for him in 2008 as the intro for his YouTube channel videos, a tribute to the man who changed his life.

The Velvet Hammer

Ask Mark to describe his voice in three words, and he gives you two: "The Velvet Hammer." It is a fitting description for someone who has voiced over 8,000 commercials. His background in music, with a degree from Berklee College of Music and years in TV music production, gave him professional-grade audio instincts long before he stepped into a voice over booth.

His career took him through podcasting, which led to a show on Sirius Satellite Radio, and "all these diverse stops really informed me on how professionals create MVP-level audio."

Cold Reads and Lightning in a Bottle

Mark's process starts the same way every time. "I always try a cold read because sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle," he explains. After that initial instinctive pass, he examines the script through the "Five W's" framework: who, what, when, where, and why. Each answer informs how the copy needs to be delivered.

Deadpool, Mucous, and Oxford

Mark's portfolio is as eclectic as his career path. He was booked by Marvel to play one of the many personalities of Deadpool for a Marvel Snap campaign. He is currently working on a number of anime series in production that are already receiving second season pickups.

His most challenging project? An audiobook for Oxford University Press that required a dozen sessions and produced over 23 hours of narration. "After that, I swore never to do audiobooks again," he says.

And the weirdest gig? "I was booked to play a talking ball of mucous for a pharmaceutical company." Voice acting is never boring.

Building Tools for the Industry

When he is not recording, Mark channels his technical background into building. He has been creating his own plugins and is working on developing a DAW specialized for voice over and podcasting. It is the kind of project that only someone who has done thousands of sessions would think to build.

Your Personality

When asked what makes the human voice irreplaceable, Mark's answer is characteristically direct: "Your personality." No two humans bring the same combination of experience, instinct, and presence to a microphone. That individuality is what makes every human performance unique.

No-Nonsense Advice

Mark's advice for anyone hiring a voice actor is equally straightforward: "Know what you want. Hire the best you can afford."

And his message to anyone considering a career in voice over pulls no punches: "This is the most competitive business in the world, and that's coming from someone who has worked in TV and the music industry. Voice over is a knife fight in a phone booth, fighting every day to hopefully get one temporary job after another. It's not for the faint of heart."

Hear Mark's demos and explore his full profile at RealVOTalent.com. Ready to hire the Velvet Hammer? Hire Mark today.