David Kaye Talks ‘Siren’ and Voice-Over Acting [Exclusive Interview]

Freeform’s new series, Siren, has been on the air for three weeks and is already racking up to be a fan favorite everyone loves to talk about.

I recently had the chance to speak with actor David Kaye about his role on Siren. You may also know him from his previous roles on Supernatural, Legends of the Fall, and 3000 Miles to Graceland.

Kaye dove into a little bit of backstory on his character Jerry.

“Jerry is a guy who went to school with Maddie and Ben. He grew up in Bristol Cove, so he knows most of the characters but he didn’t really run in many of their social circles growing up. He works at the marine mammal research center with Maddie and Ben, and his job is to feed the sea lions,” he said.

Kaye has been mesmerized by Siren ever since he read the script. “It wasn’t what I was expecting, and I was really excited. I didn’t realize that it was going to be so gritty, and it’s really reeled me in.”

“I got the breakdown to audition for it, and I was like, ‘oh cool, a mermaid show. That’s something that I haven’t seen before,’ and then I just fell in love with the character, Jerry. He has just been so much fun to play, and it’s been really fun working with everyone on it,” Kaye explained.

Working on Siren was a good way for Kaye to get outside his comfort zone and make some new friends. “So far, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a challenge, but the most outside of my day to day comfort zone was working with the sea lions,” Kaye said.

“These creatures are massive! We only work with the females, but they’re around 200 kilos. They’re big predators, super intelligent, and I just fell in love with them,” he continued.

In addition to working with the sea lions for Siren, he made a special, personal bond with them as well.

“I made friends with the trainer and went back recently to visit them, so I got to do all of the morning routine stuff. I got to take them out, exercise with them a little bit, weigh them, and check for any medical anomalies, so that was really cool getting to work with the trainers and sea lions,” he explained.

Kaye first got his foot in the door to the acting world when he was a child.

“When I was three-years-old my mom took me to a film expo in Vancouver, and I was spotted by an agent with her.”

“She said to come to a meeting with her because I could be in movies and my mom was like, ‘oh yeah, sure.’ We went for a meeting, and I got my first audition, which was for Legends of the Fall, and I booked that. The rest is kind of history,” Kaye continued.

While fans might see Kaye on some of their favorite TV shows, he can also be heard on many TV shows that require a voice-over.

“I broke into voice overs when I was about 11 years old. It was kind of the same thing. It was my first voice over audition, and I booked the titular character in Make Way for Noddy, and I did about 100 episodes of that,” he said.

“I had a really great experience working on that, and I sort of found a mentor. I learned so much from the people working on it and had the fortunate opportunity to work with them. I fell in love because it’s such a different beast. I don’t prefer one over the other; I love them both. I would have a tough time choosing if you told me to pick one for the rest of my career.”

When it comes to preparation for a new role on a show Kaye said he likes to do as much research as possible.

“Yeah, in film and TV the last few characters I’ve played have been psycho killers, murderers, and assholes. So, for preparation on those roles, I got with psychologists and a cognitive behavior specialist to talk about the differences between sociopath and psychopath, the ritual, and the kill. Also, what a childhood might look like for a psychopath to really build the backstory for me so I can fully step in those shoes,” Kaye explained.

Kaye has taken up martial arts training in his spare time. “I’m fight trained, I’ve studied Tae Kwon Do, Boxing, and dagger fighting. It helps get in the aspect of actually fighting somebody because I have never fought in real life, like outside of a competitive setting,” Kaye said.

“So what it’s like to actually be in the situation where you’re looking to put somebody down. With Jerry, for example, he’s just the total flipside. He’s a lovable guy, super positive, an eternal optimist, and has nothing but love for everyone and everything he encounters. To really find a way to open your heart for that is a completely different experience compared to my other characters,” he continued.

For preparation on voice-overs, Kaye likes to play around with his own voices first to see if they fit the graphic of the character. “For voice, I look at the images of the characters, which we most often get before the audition, and I try to build a sound that suits what I think that the character would be,” Kaye said.

“But also if it’s a comedic role or if it’s geared toward a certain demographic, I’ll develop a voice that doesn’t sound like it would come out of that character just for comedic effect.”

Kaye also shared a pretty cool skill that he has. “I can spin and spitfire […] When I was in university, I was friends with this couple that owned an events entertainment company, and they do everything from miming to fire spitting and stilt walking,” Kaye began.

“I was always hanging around them, and one day I picked up one of the fire staffs and started twirling it around. They said that I was pretty good and asked if I wanted to light it on fire, so I did. They taught me some techniques, but it came kind of naturally to me.”

Finally, Kaye revealed who he’d love to work with in the entertainment industry someday.

“I would really love the opportunity to work with Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone,” Kaye said. “They absolutely slay me; they’re so funny! The range they both have, and not just in comedy. I can’t wait to see more from them. I respect the hell out of them.”

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Be sure to catch David Kaye as Jerry on Siren, airing on Tuesdays at 9/8c on Freeform.

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*Featured image credit: Taseda Knight