If there’s anything Black women have done enough work in proving, it’s that they can master any creative avenue they decide to embark on, even when the odds are stacked against them. Led by passion and motive, they will trailblaze their own way and outshine those who fail to see their potential. This is true in all forms of expression, including VoiceOver work.
Queen Noveen is an incredibly accomplished VoiceOver artist, actress, and live announcer, setting social media ablaze as she offers a behind-the-scenes look at the effort it takes to maintain a voice both electrifying and smooth as butter.
She’s the pulse of beloved characters video game and animation characters, as well as countless award shows and network marketing. A trailblazer in sports announcing, Queen also made history as part of the NFL’s first all-female PA announcing team for the San Francisco 49ers. Though you’ve never known it, she’s soundtracked many different crevices of your life. And while her career is based on anonymity, she stands tall in her identity as a Black woman in show business.
21Ninety got a chance to sit down with Queen Noveen and explore the journey of her story and Black women’s ability to take up space in any creative avenue.
21NINETY: Walk us through how you came into this line of work.
QUEEN NOVEEN: I kind of fell into voiceover. It wasn’t something that I was trying to do when I was younger. My parents put me in different things to see what I picked up and I got bit by the acting bug. Then I went to college for musical theater, and throughout all of that time, I was always complimented on my voice. “You should get into voiceover, you have a great voice.” So it wasn’t until after college that I graduated that I took voiceover classes for about a year, ended up creating a demo, signing with a voiceover agent, and I’ve been in the industry for about like eight plus years now. It was a talent I didn’t really know I had and now it’s taken over my career and my life.
21N: I think you blowing up on social media and giving people a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes has really made people aware of how much effort and poise it takes to do what you do. What would you say is the hardest part of your work?
QN: It’s gonna sound crazy, but just reading. Reading itself. A lot of people think, “Oh, let me just pick up a script and I can just start reading it.” It’s not as easy as you think it is when it comes to voiceover. There has to be an acting background. You have to have that experience to be able to portray a character in a video game or animation as authentically and realistically as possible. Even when you’re voicing promos on TV, you have to be able to still get it across to the audience in a way where it doesn’t sound like you’re trying to sell something to them while convincing them this is a great product.
21N: You’ve mastered that. You’ve been able to maintain such warmth with your conviction. Do you have a preferred avenue in terms of all of the different VoiceOver work you do? Because you do animation and video games, but also like commercial and marketing. Is there a favorite?
QN: I love to live announce. It’s crazy because when I got into voiceover, I wasn’t like, “I’m going to do Live Announce.” Again, it was something that kind of just fell into my lap. I got an audition from my agent for the 2017 MTV VMAs, and I didn’t think anything of it. I was like, “Okay, it’s another audition.” A couple days later, my agent was like “They love you, they want to use you for the pre-recorded, but they want to audition you again for the actual live show because they normally have two voiceover artists doing it.” I was like, “Oh, okay” and ended up booking that as well. So they had me do the entire show and after I did the show I was like, “That was actually really fun!” I feel like I have such an energetic presence to me.I went to school for musical theater, so all of that is still there. I feel like I’m able to emote myself and fully be myself when it comes to live announcing and just get all of that energy out.
21N: You would think it’s the most nerve-wracking, but maybe that’s what feeds your thrill for it?
QN: It really does. I think doing children’s theater growing up, as kids, we don’t really have a filter. We’re already just present and say what’s on our mind. I think being in theater from a young age really helped to add that courage for me to not be shy, to go on stage, to do all this kind of stuff. And I started in live theater. So there was no re-dos, there was no retakes. I learned how to act in improv and keep that confidence that I have and build upon it. That really helped me to fully be myself in voiceover in this career.
21N: It’s funny that you brought up your experience as a child because I was going to ask, how do you think your inner child feels about where you’re at right now?
QN: Oh, I know she absolutely loves it. I did a lot of dancing when I was younger, too. I did a lot of singing, of course, musical theater again. So voiceover is just one of the many avenues that I do to feel fulfilled and get energy out and all that kind of stuff. So she’s very, very happy. And then on the side, I still take my tap classes to get that side out of me. So yeah, girl, she’s thriving. She’s good.
21N: Amazing. I think a vital component about the mission that you’re carrying out is that you’re offering so much representation for Black women in an avenue we have virtually no idols in. What does that mean to you?
QN: There were women that I looked up to in Live Announce, which was great because it’s a white male dominated area. So to see Randy Thomas or Sylvia Villagran, I’m like, “Okay, I can be in this space. I can do this too.” The only other person I can think of is MC Lyte, who’s been doing the BET Awards and NAACP Image Awards, but that’s only one person who’s really been killing it in Live Announce who is a black female. So it means a great deal to me. I am a unicorn in this space, in this industry that I’m in. I’m happy to be in this space. I’m happy to continue paving the way, allowing others to come behind me, showing people that this is more than what you thought it was. I’m not a Siri. I’m not a prerecorded voice. It is actually a female, a Black female, behind it, so made you look.
21N: Working a job centered on being anonymous, you seem to have maintained so much identity in what you do. Particularly with the characters that you’ve given life to, they seem to always be Black female characters. Is that something that’s intentional? Is that part of how you infuse your identity in what you do?
QN: Yeah, I think it was kind of an unspoken. It became a thing after the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, where there was more focus on having voice actors authentically play these characters. From there, I was always able to get roles that looked like me and that I could authentically portray, which I absolutely loved. I feel like the industry and Hollywood is just starting to go in the right direction, which is a long time coming. But I’m very grateful to be able to be connected with these types of characters.
21N: Does any of this inform what you want to do with Ready. Cue. Announce!”? Is there a mission embedded in paving way for other Black girls who want to explore this creative avenue themselves?
QN: Absolutely. In my voiceover classes, there wasn’t always much diversity or people that looks like me. I always felt like I was the diverse person in the class. I’ve always wanted my voiceover school to be accepting to all. I feel like social media has helped to show that a Black female is killing it in the space and doing all these things, which means you can do it, too. I feel like that drives other people of color and other females to want to get into these classes and to do this with me and to feel comfortable in a space. They can think, “Okay, I don’t feel like singled out. I don’t feel left out. I feel seen.” So a lot of my classes have been people of color, people from around the world, people who speak different languages. It’s been really thrilling and. incredible.
21N: Talk to me more about the classes you offer.
QN: We have a couple of classes at Ready. Cue. Announce! We start off with intro to voiceover for those who are brand new, haven’t done voiceover, maybe have a little background in radio, or maybe nothing at all, and just get them up to speed with the basics of voiceover. How auditioning works, how to get an agent, demos, how to read a script, all that kind of stuff. And then we have promo classes if they want to dive in further, if they want to learn how to voice promos for TV. I was the voice of the E! Network for about four and a half years. I was the one saying, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Thursdays at 9. Only on E!” So teaching them how to do stuff like that for other networks as well. Then we have script reading where you dive further into a script because again, it’s not just picking up a script and reading it. You have to learn how to have the acting and to dissect what a script really means. And then we also have the business class. Knowing the craft is great, but you have to know the business side of it as well, that’s really important. Every now and then I’ll bring in some industry guest professionals that I’ve worked with so my voiceover agent will come teach classes, a friend of mine comes to teach animation, another voiceover colleague teaches home studio setup and learning about the equipment. So there’s a lot to learn. I try to provide as many classes for people as possible to be prepared as possible, because I wasn’t when I first started.
21N: Last question, if you could give a piece of advice to any Black woman or woman of color wanting to embark on a new path of creative expression and they’re intimidated by the fact that it’s particularly white male-dominated, what would you say?
QN: I would say don’t hold back. It’s gonna be hard, but life has always been hard for us. But if MC Lyte can do it, and I can do it, you can do it, too. We’re strong black women, we have that black girl magic. It’s gonna be a lot of learning, there’s gonna be challenges, there’s gonna be growth, but it’s gonna be so rewarding in the end and you’ll wonder, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”
21N: Incredible. Any last things that you’re excited about and want to share?
QN: I actually have my Live Announce Master Class coming up in September. My very first one. I want to introduce the world of Live Announce to people who are looking to get in it. It’s for intermediate to advanced voice actors, because if you’re new, you need to learn the world of voiceover first before you get into it. But to show them what it’s like behind the scenes, how to work with directors, how to audition for Live Announce, how to deal with the equipment, how to deal with many people speaking in your ear at once while you’re still live announcing. It’s a whole new world and it’s not for the faint of heart at all. But I’m really excited to share that with people, and we’re already halfway sold out. I’m excited to teach more folks and get this class going.