All actors and actresses have insecurities, even if those insecurities double as their most bankable assets. Just ask Movieline-proclaimed "Voiceover Queen" Kristen Bell, who spent the bulk of a recent USA Today interview lamenting the "high-pitched" sound of her own money-maker. An endearingly candid admission, yes, but also a strange disclosure given that the Gossip Girl narrator is promoting Astro Boy, in which Bell lends her trademark cheerful voice to leading character Cora.
Despite an all-encompassing conversation with Bell (captured in B-footage on the USA Today website) covering everything from Bell's own idea of sexy ("It's not really something I can describe...") to work-out tips (take the stairs at the airport) to purse contents (Chapstick) to favorite snack foods (string cheese, almonds), the printed interview focuses squarely on Bell's aversion to the sound of herself speaking:
"I can't even hear it on an answering machine. I throw the phone across the room. It's too high-pitched. I hear it all day, every day, so I'm over it," Bell, 29, groans while rolling her eyes.
The actress says she has insecurities about her Michigan accent. If Bell is around any of her hometown friends, the accent returns.
"I think it's something that everyone suffers from," she says in an exaggerated nasal tone. "But I'm very comfortable inside the voice-over booth."
Of course, Bell is known for her work in front of the camera as much as she is the sound of her voice. She co-stars with Vince Vaughn in the comedy Couples Retreat, which was No. 1 in its first week at the box office and has since taken in $63.3 million.
The interview concludes when Bell finally admits that despite the Blackberry-crushing rage that fills her every time she listens to her automated voicemail recording, the Kristen Bell v. Her Own Voice relationship is more of a complicated like-hate affair:
But don't count out voice-over gigs. "You know, I was able to create a much more sultry sassy character with Gossip Girl, and OK, I like working in the voice-over booth," she finally concedes. "OK. Yes. I want to get every voice-over job there is."
Just stay away from her during playbacks.
ยท Kristen Bell is on a rocket ride as 'Astro' zooms into theaters [USA Today]