Roy Samuelson is a voice actor that has worked on numerous movies, animated series and video games. He has been the voice of Raphael in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game based on the recent Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films, the narrator for the series Cheating Vegas and the voice over for the series Mata Hari. However, even being one of the voices of National Public Radio (NPR), Samuelson is becoming most recognizable as a Descriptive Narrator for films that assist people who are blind and visually impaired to get the full experience of full length feature films.
The narrator provides descriptions of key elements without interfering with the audio or dialogue of a program or movie. There is now a push in the entertainment industry to market Descriptive Narration outside of the visually impaired community where fans can listen to their favorite films and television, much like listening to books on tape. Samuelson is leading the charge of this emerging concept.
Samuelson’s resume includes several Hollywood films including Spider-Man: Homecoming, Atomic Blonde, The Hateful Eight, Krampus, Fate of the Furious and so many more. Commercially he has been the voice for Quaker, State Farm, Direct TV, Ford, Target, Stand Up 2 Cancer, Rent A Center, Sketchers and multiple spots for McDonald’s.
We spoke with Samuelson about Descriptive Narration and how it has affected his his life as a performer.