November 2, 2005 - You may not have heard of Carolyn Lawrence before, but chances are you've heard her. She's been doing voice-over work for awhile now, on projects like the Spongebob Squarepants TV series, movie and games, EverQuest 2, and most recently, Capcom's Resident Evil 4, which just came out for PlayStation 2.
In addition to being a pretty voice (or wacky, in the case of Spongebob's Sandy Cheeks), Carolyn is also a pretty face. We recently got an opportunity to sit down and chat with her about her many talents, and figure out just what it means to be a "rodent supermodel."
IGN Babes: It seems you are involved in a ton of projects. So do you work seven days a week?
Carolyn Lawrence: Pretty much. Always doing something.
IGN: Seems like you're doing a lot of stuff these days.
Lawrence: Yes. I am doing a lot of stuff these days. I was actually just thinking how great it would be to take a vacation; like a real one. I just took a vacation that was kind of a family reunion.
IGN: That's not a vacation!
Lawrence: It was awesome to see everybody… but yeah, you're right. It doesn't count.
IGN: Family vacation is like an oxymoron.
Lawrence: Yes it is. And I learned a big lesson this family vacation. Eight days… too long.
IGN: That's about four days too long.
Lawrence: Exactly. I learned my limit. I have a four day limit. On the fifth, I start getting a little cranky.
IGN: Family is like Vegas. You can't stay there too long…
Lawrence: I'm only good in Vegas 24 hours.
IGN: It's like two days for me.
Lawrence: I like the nickel slots and the penny slots. That's about all I do. But the last time I was there, I learned how to play Pai Gow. Not that I would remember now when I go back.
IGN: You were that drunk?
Lawrence: No, no. I actually, no… I didn't have anything. I'm just not good with games.
IGN: I played my first roulette and it seemed really random to me what I was doing.
Lawrence: Yeah, that's how I felt at cards. It didn't all quite sink in…
IGN: What's it like being the voice of something, where you're not seen, like on Spongebob?
Lawrence: Yeah, I play Sandy, the Squirrel, and I do Jimmy Neutron. I play Cindy, the bratty blonde, and yes, of course, Ashley Graham from Resident Evil.
IGN: How is that… when you're looking at yourself as a cartoon, especially a squirrel?
Lawrence: It's really wild because after so many years, I feel like she's—it's gonna sound insane—but she does feel like another person to me. Like, I feel protective of her, even though she's not real. It's a very strange… 'Cause when you've played a character for five years, I don't know… they kind of start to take on a life of their own. So, if I see people in chat rooms or whatever and somebody's dissin' Sandy, I get really like, "Hey! You leave her alone!"
IGN: I try to avoid chat rooms like that.
Lawrence: That's another area, like gambling. I don't understand them at all. I don't get the lingo…Going back to the animated thing. It's very surreal. Playing an animated character is very surreal. Because, it'll never… you know, I could probably be 90 and it won't feel like… it's hard to explain. Spongebob has become such a phenomenon and even the games, like Resident Evil, they're so enormous that it's hard to imagine I'm even a part of it.
IGN: What did you go to college for?
Lawrence: I didn't go to college. I graduated high school early, and I was dancing at the time, working with a ballet company, and I got an offer to work with a jazz company in Chicago, and so I left high school. I said, "Buh-bye!" It was hard. I know it was really hard for my family, but I thought to myself, dancing obviously, like sports, I would have a limited career, and I didn't want to take that four years of performing away during college. And then I thought, if I don't succeed, and it doesn't go well, I can always go back to school.
IGN: How long did you keep up with dancing?
Lawrence: I still go to class. I keep thinking that somehow in my career it will come back around. Like I would get a role and I would finally get to [do] something fun. Or even, [it would] be really fun to play somebody who does martial arts.
IGN: I wanna do that, and I don't even act. I just wanna go out and start breakin' limbs.
Lawrence: Well I have thought that I should probably start training in a martial art, because it's probably similar to dancing, and since animated characters all seem to do it, maybe it would help me channel a little when I'm playing Sandy and she's doing her karate moves. [Laughs] They won't mind at all in the recording studio.