Photograph by Sara Wainio
Marilla Wex fell in love with voice work thanks to her teacher at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, the legendary Francis Thomas. It is he whom she holds personally responsible for not only beating the Birmingham accent out of her, but also teaching her a nice RP which helped her to win a Gold Crystal Award in 2008 for the best radio commercial voiceover.
The first job I got out of drama school was at BBC Radio 4 where at the age of 25 I played a 14 year old prostitute in the drama series Twin Reaction. Good times. From there I went on to voice tv and radio commercials and earned substantial mortgage money recording audio training and hold messaging in the UK.
My cartoon self: Kay Cockburn in Ninjamaica
Once I moved to Canada my genuine British accent was even more in demand and finally culminated in the realization of a personal ambition of mine – voicing a cartoon character.
Ninjamaica was a dream come true – I got to work on a cartoon with a bunch of my stand-up buddies including Jean Paul, Kevin Herod, Kenny Robinson, Zabrina Chevannes and Dave Merheje. Although Ninjamaica was beautifully realized and adored by viewers, it was never picked up for a series. We’ve all still got our fingers crossed…
Voice work was always my first love and I am thrilled to return to it as often as possible. After all – what other job can you do in your slippers?
Marilla who?
I am a British-born actress and stand-up comic who does lots of voice work (for commercials, cartoons and corporate clients) and sometimes, when I'm very lucky, tv and film. When I was in England I did mostly theatre. Now I'm in Canada I spend the majority of the time writing and performing stand-up. When I'm not making episodes of Talking Bollocks, that is. And that's me for you.