Episode 102: Xavier Paul

Xavier Paul: The Producers, featuring the most respected international talent in the world of audio production and voiceover. Radio, TV, film, and online. In-depth interviews and industry insights, putting you on the inside. This is The Producers Podcast with Ryan Dreen.

Ryan: Hey, welcome to it, Producers Podcast. probably the last one for the year. It turns out, December's tough to get people locked in on their Been conversing with Xavier back and, back and forth now for quite a while, and then we just sort of had some weekend time pop up. I'm like, let's get this done. I'm like, great, because I want to get an episode out and I wanted to do something different before the holidays. And this definitely will be considered different from what you normally get from my podcast, but it's definitely something I want to do. I want to stretch my legs. I want to talk to different types of people that will help us, and by us I mean anybody who wants to work in in the field of entertainment. And again, you don't wanna do just one thing. You wanna do multiple things and you wanna learn, you know, how to go from point A to point B to point C. Xavier Paul's a great person to talk to about that. So again, as I've just said, he is our guest and you've seen it in the title of the podcast. Real quick, go to my website if you wanna learn more about him. If you wanna see lots of links, you wanna hear lots of links, I've pasted from all over the interwebs, a variety of different things you can check out there at ryandreen.com. Hit the Xavier Paul link. Let me just give you a couple, and a couple of these we talk about in the podcast, but a couple we don't. So, you know, visit the website if you want to learn more. Armin van Buuren's newest track, I Live for That Energy. This one's very interesting. I'm gonna play a snippet of it here before we get to the interview, but we talked about that one. You can see and/or hear that linked The Night Of, we talk about that. The Night Of on HBO is one of my favorite shows to come out in really years. Just a brilliant show. He was in that, and that's actually why, you know, we were talking and I'm like, man, this— I mean, this guy's a stellar voice talent, but I mean, just legit in multiple facets of the industry. So like I said, interesting interview for sure. But we get to go all over the place. We're talking, you know, big-time TV, theater. He's a comic, he's a storyteller if he wants to. He puts it succinctly when we get the interview going. But also, he's doing Disney spots. Yes. Voicing spots for Disney. HBO Boxing's Hopkins-Dawson fight preview, it's a narration, a show narration. So we've got Disney, we've got HBO Boxing, we've got acting in The Night Of, Armin van Buuren, an EDM track Like I said, legit talent. So let me give you a snippet here of a few things. Oh, first of all, let me give you his website and Twitter. On Twitter, @VoiceOverToday, @VoiceOverToday, and he'll tell us that again at the end of the interview. His voice website, coolvoicemedia.com. And then for all the other links to learn about all the other things he's into, just hit the Xavier Paul show page on my website, ryandream.com. So So I started with a snippet of a few different things here. I think I tried to keep it to about 60 seconds, and this will give you a variety of what he can do on the mic and how he is a storyteller. And then after this, the interview with Xavier Paul.

Xavier Paul: I had a dream last night, a vision. I saw a world full of people. Everybody was dancing and screaming loud. Brooklyn. You're a vision. You've always stood stretched out into the harbor like a welcome sign. To the huddled masses, to the folks on the stoop, to the underdogs and the unsung. There is a world like no other world where happiness can be found around every corner. Wanna see Mickey? Filled to the brim with memories and wonder. Believe it or not. Believe it, Bernard the Executioner Hopkins is the oldest champion in the history of boxing. Believe it, he is the reigning WBC and Ring Magazine light heavyweight champion.

Ryan: All right, another edition of the Producers Podcast here. As mentioned in the intro, I've got a multifaceted talent in Xavier Paul. First, Xavier, thanks for joining me on the show. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.

Xavier Paul: How are you, Ryan? I want to thank you for creating a fantastic venue for us to chop it up.

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. And I think we're gonna do some of that. Now, for those that are regular listeners to the show, they know I typically stick to things that are related to radio, although I've had a lot of people on the show that have kind of moved into the promo voice world, doing trailers. I've had a few actors. What would you say— let me take this line from whatever movie that was. What is it you would say you do? For the people out there, how do you classify what you do?

Xavier Paul: I'm a storyteller.

Ryan: Okay.

Xavier Paul: I like to— I consider myself the storyteller's storyteller. So whatever the medium is, I— my approach to creativity is a spiritual one. And whatever the medium is, whether it's voiceover, theater, film, television, it has to do with how I allow that process to occur, how I interpret and how I express and how I meet the needs of the listener or the viewer.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: And create images for them to respond to and relate to and question themselves and others with and through and by, right? To be a medium for that.

Ryan: Okay.

Xavier Paul: And so, you know, I think it's— labels and classifications are tough, particularly in an industry such as ours, because what I find is that the minute I start labeling and classifying and categorizing is the minute I start limiting and cutting off and creating— making myself small.

Ryan: I didn't mean to cut you off there. I'm gonna get to some of that later about how, you know, you can get fine-tuned into a certain zone, and that then limits you, or you can be trying to do too much and thus not be really good at anything. So, do you have a balance there?

Xavier Paul: I consider the artistic process one where you can never stop coming back for more. As artists, that's— again, it's interesting. This question and the first one you asked, for me, very related because for years I had thought of, well, I'm just— they call it voice talent. Well, that's like an industry term that helps casting people and agents categorize huge herds of people with a variety of attributes that they need to keep track of. But it really doesn't do anything for the individual to give themselves a clinical label like that because They're much more than their voice. They're much more than their talent. They're much more than just voice talent. They're storytellers. They're artists. They're expressors. Okay? They're mediators. They're speakers. It's a variety of experiences that one brings to the table that the label voice talent limits.

Ryan: And you're not even talking voice actor. You're talking way beyond that. I mean, I rattled off a slew of your credits in the intro, and I brought up the HBO show The Night Of, just a brilliant show. But comedy, you host. And then as regard to just being a voice actor, even in just in that box, I mean, you're way over here. You're super dramatic over here. You're on the front of a—

Xavier Paul: Yeah.

Ryan: a smash EDM track. I mean—

Xavier Paul: Right. That track, Armin van Buuren, that's actually an exciting thing that's getting ready to happen. My own spoken word album and most likely tour. I'll have to figure out how to bring the voiceover equipment on the road with me. Hey, won't be the first time. It— yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's— it even— sometimes it kind of blows my mind because I think to myself, okay, Yeah, that's what— do we really know what this is going to look like when we start it? And is it something that we really should care about? Just let it go. Let go. Just let go, man. Let it happen. Allow it to happen. Get out of the way. That's a big buzz phrase in the industry now. Get out of your own way, right?

Ryan: Yeah.

Xavier Paul: But no one's really talking about how to do that and what that means. You know, no one's really asking the tough questions to the voiceover industry. Like I had said before when we jumped on the line, no one wants to ask the tough questions. No one wants to answer them.

Ryan: I'd like to ask you, since we're going right into it, let's go right into it. You know, I mean, you kind of brought it up there. You know, there's these issues that we're not really talking about. I don't even want to get too specific, Unions? 'Cause I know that's an area people either don't want to talk about or kind of will say, well, yeah, there's problems, but I don't want to get specific on.

Xavier Paul: I like to get much more specific than things like unions and just sort of a face-value judgment. Right? The industry is what? People. People with specific needs, backgrounds, Stories, interests, motivations. And I take it back to an individual level and ask people to look at how do they influence the whole, because that's really what it's all about, whether it's a union or non-union situation or anything in between. As an— as artists, we don't function in a silo. We do not function in a silo. It truly is a community. It truly is a family. I say to my students, the success of your career is directly dependent upon your ability to create and maintain healthy relationships. For many of us, that's a very difficult thing to do.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: Because the first teacher of relationships was our families. A lot of our families were dysfunctional. Alcoholism, drugs, abuse, all kinds of things that— that perhaps as artists, we wish to get away from. We wish to escape through art from that. But how interesting that what we wish to escape from, we're confronted by increasingly. So when we talk about things like unions, we have to take a look at how have we individually and collectively dropped the ball on the community that we refuse to acknowledge that we're a part of?

Ryan: You talk about the community, and I think it's important. And I— okay, to me, that might be the most dysfunctional part is how it breaks up a bit. Anyway, as far as the voiceover community, tell me something that's really good about it. something that people can find value in, something they can pull out of it. But I'd also like to hear, you know, something that's very flawed about it.

Xavier Paul: Oh, well, I mean, look at what we do. It's a phenomenal, phenomenal art form. It's creating. We are the ultimate filmmakers. We don't need cameras. We don't need grips, lights. All we need is the voice. It's built into our own bodies, and it has the ability to create complete images, stories, and realities to whoever and whatever is within earshot. So we have a deeply, deeply, deeply spiritual art form. I'm— the voiceover work that I do has opened my spiritual journey and path. For me, they're essentially one and the same. So, I mean, I, you know, if I sound like I'm high right now, all the better because that's really, you know, and I was kind of a little nervous about sort of expressing myself in this way in this interview because I know, hey, listen, it's kind of all, you know, people listen to these podcasts and they kind of want, you know, bullet point, quick tips, get to the meat, you know, do this for your demo, make your demo shorter, make it faster. Here's how you get more bookings. Here's how you get more auditions. Here's how you get an agent. You know, all that desperate talk, all that fear-based talk. that really amounts really to nothing. Because when— if you take an aerial shot, right? Go to the astral plane and take an aerial shot of the globe and maybe pull in focus to the voiceover industry, wherever it may be. All you see is just a group of people that are very, very afraid. Very afraid. We really don't know what to do.

Ryan: Mm.

Xavier Paul: Because we're not taking responsibility for what we have the possibility to create. Now, the way I'm dealing with that is I'm first acknowledging the problem because it's a problem. In a lot of ways, the voiceover industry is over, just like the music industry is essentially over. You know, people are downloading. You know, I heard some study that they're trying to get chimps to talk. Can you imagine, you know, a chimp getting a book over?

Ryan: You know what I mean?

Xavier Paul: Mm-hmm. This— the media world and the world that we function in is growing by leaps and bounds and looking to expand itself. And as a voiceover industry, we have a tendency to kind of want to function in our own island, sort of like a cult. We want to sort of be separate but equal. We want to just sort of do things in our own way and hope and pray that the rest of the world will understand us and our own idiosyncrasies.

Ryan: And let us keep doing that.

Xavier Paul: And what's happening is that that day is over. It's over. And what's happening is that people are doing one of several things: imploding, trying to figure out how to come to terms with it, or rolling up their sleeves and directly confronting it and dealing with it. You know, and it's— but it goes back to those relationships. What I'm doing is I'm taking a look at my life and myself.

Ryan: Yeah.

Xavier Paul: A real hard look and asking myself, how do I create relationships? What's working about how I create relationship? The first relationship with myself. And what's working about that? What's not working about that? And how to reconcile that? And then take it out to my business relationships, my family relationships, okay? And start to do some real healing. Because the voiceover industry isn't the only industry that's dysfunctional and needs healing, but that's the topic of today.

Ryan: Yeah, and I don't want to keep us locked in a box. We're not going to talk about voiceover the whole time, but, you know, and actually staying away from the nuts and the bolts, I really don't want you to say, hey, demo this long, you need to have these kinds of, you know, styles on, you know, that kind of stuff. But to get a healthier career, especially for some of the younger talent that are Not too deep, maybe not the whole old dogs learning new tricks scenario, but the younger talent that are able to start fresh here. Do you have positive pieces of advice or things that they could focus on, the paths they try to take?

Xavier Paul: Positive stuff for newcomers? I don't have anything positive or negative. I just have to invite them to seeing it is what it is. My question would be, why do you want to do this? What's your motive? What's really motivating you? Is it— many of the students that come to me, I realize after talking with them, it's an issue of they're not so much interested in being voiceover artists. They just think it's a very cool and interesting industry. It looks cool. It's fun. It's entertaining to watch, to explore and observe the process. That's very different from actually being a worker among workers in the business space and artistic community, I would ask them to take a look at what are their strengths and their abilities. Do they have the real ability to work with others? Can they create the balance between being humble and being directable and being confident and assertive?

Ryan: Right.

Xavier Paul: and clear on who they are. Okay? This isn't about— 'cause so many times I see people think that the solution to their career is just being a people pleaser, being a yes person. I'll do it this way.

Ryan: Yeah.

Xavier Paul: I'll do it this way. I'll do it that way. I'll, you know, I just want to be liked. Here, here's some cookies. Here's some cake. Here's some, you know, please like me. Please use me. Please give me a career. I never walked around expecting or believing that people were going to give me anything. I mean, my career started by me, I think I was 17 years old. I did my first demo and sent it to really the biggest voiceover agent in New York. And she jumped on the phone with me and said— she was like, wow, this is so fantastic. We're gonna make a lot of money together. This is gonna be so wonderful. And then somehow I had shared in conversation some facts that would lead her to believe that I'm African American.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: And she acknowledged that. She said, wait a minute. You're Black? I said, yeah. And she started crying. She said, oh my God, I'm so, so sorry. This is never gonna happen for you.

Ryan: Really?

Xavier Paul: I'm so, so sorry.

Ryan: Wow.

Xavier Paul: This is never gonna—

Ryan: And you're 17, and you're 17 and you're hearing that. Yeah.

Xavier Paul: Yeah. And I started crying, she was crying, and we went from laughing to crying in 30 seconds, which is, you know, the emotional experience. But did you really—

Ryan: I mean, you've got the big-time agent in New York City that says something like that, and you're 17 years old, so you're still young, though, you know, I don't know all about your upbringing, But still, did you really believe that at that time? Or how did you actually react to that? And what did your path turn into because of that conversation?

Xavier Paul: Well, I was already studying theater from the age of 10. And I understood that all the world's a stage, and all the men and women are merely players. So, I realized that here's another opportunity to play. Here's another opportunity to, instead of judging her or myself or what she was saying or the conversation, ask questions. And my question to her at that point was, really? So if I were to succeed at this, what would it take? And her answer to me was fascinating for me then and now. She said, if it's gonna happen for you, Xavier, it's gonna happen as a result of 2 things. It's gonna come through time and it's gonna come through you. And I never forgot that. Interestingly enough, some of the best advice I've gotten was from a racist white supremacist. They do have a humdinger every so often, now don't they? So I'm hypervigilant to, what is the truth? What's really going on here with this person, with this place, with this thing, with this script, with this job, with this industry, with this person, with this career? What's really happening here? Because that's the only vibration that I can relate on. I can't work with lies. I don't— I can't— I can't live on a lie. I can't. I don't know how. I don't want— you know?

Ryan: Yeah.

Xavier Paul: And I think as— this is what drives us as artists.

Ryan: We—

Xavier Paul: we can breathe when— when we have the truth, whatever it may be, whatever it may be. So I say to young people, go for the truth. Ask yourself what you really want. And if it's voiceover, then fine, go for that. Go for that.

Ryan: And I'm not gonna ask this next bit to be, you know, cynical or even joking at all.

Xavier Paul: Okay.

Ryan: So take this for real, but if a person comes to you and says, I believe that the money is great, I'm doing it for the money. And again, they believe that. That's their truth.

Xavier Paul: Fine. The truth is— the truth sets you free. So if that's the truth for you, then fantastic, I applaud you. I applaud your truth.

Ryan: Cool, yeah.

Xavier Paul: And go for it. You see, the truth is one thing. What people do with it is a whole other discussion. A whole other discussion, a whole other reality. 'Cause they're all, I mean, you know, the truth is, you know, you can go to the ghetto and find crackheads that are 10 times more talented than Whitney Houston and Jay-Z combined. But they're not doing anything about it. They're gonna keep on smoking crack. So, you know, how do we deal with the truth about what we want and who we are? Are we willing and prepared to take the steps to accomplish it and create it? I mean, I had a vision before that agent said what she said to me and afterwards. My vision was, wow, I want to explore what it would be like for my voice to be everywhere? What would that be like?

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: What would it be like if I— if I took the games that I played as a child with a pocket tape recorder, creating characters and cracking myself up listening to the playback? What would happen if I actually took that just out into the world? And— and I learned that there was a craft attached to that, and that craft is called theater. It's called storytelling. It's called creating realities, you know? And I learned how to do that and continued pursuing and shaping. And I didn't just go to acting class. You know, here in New York City, you have a wide variety of people and choices to choose from— or rather choices in terms of training.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: So I explored. And I wasn't just satisfied with okay training. I wanted to go to those people that, you know, the real deep theater, you know, people in, you know, Negro Ensemble Company, New Federal Theater, you know, all those different conservatories that we attach to names like James Earl Jones and Meryl Streep and Al Pacino, Actors Studio, Strasberg, Carson Adler. These are the places—

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: .that I spent my teen and college years. And so, and it expands it out into just an approach to life, an approach to self, an approach to spirituality. This is— it's satisfying within itself. Now, the business and the industry and the marketplace, sure. It's— that also is an opportunity for performance, not necessarily in a theatrical sense, but certainly in a sense of Making a choice to create a result.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: Yeah, yeah. It's possible to be a functional business person, to be an artist and a business person.

Ryan: Mm-hmm. It is a necessary evil of this business. Is that a true statement? You have to be a functional business person in order to be a functional talent? Well, yeah.

Xavier Paul: It doesn't have to be evil. It doesn't have to be a drudgery. I know a lot of artists feel like, well, you know, I'm functioning on, you know, on the ethereal and I'm an artist man. I just wanna kick back and corp— And corporate— I mean, Dave Chappelle is a good buddy of mine. I hosted with Dave Chappelle and David Alan Grier at the Apollo Theater in the mid-'90s. And his rise to phenomenal success was notable and an amazing lesson. Even he will acknowledge that the issues that he was dealing with when they came to a head started way before. things came to a head.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: I mean, people can isolate, oh, his $50 million walk away from Comedy Central, and focus just on that. But even he himself will say, hey, listen, if we really are honest here, we can take that breach in integrity, that breach in knowledge of and being true to self, historically way, way, way, way further back.

Ryan: In regards to the different areas, because you brought up comedy there, I mean, I actually don't know how much— are you still doing sets regularly now? Are you focusing on other things?

Xavier Paul: Yeah, every so often when I've got time to step out of the studio, yeah, I'll go out and perform and do a show here, a show there. Actually, as a result of appearing on Night Of, I got a call from The Stephen Colbert Show, and they and I are working on possibly doing some Some spoof sketches and things of that nature. There's exciting things there. Even here in New York, Saturday Night Live, every so often calls me and a few guys in to do fill-ins for stuff.

Ryan: So I brought that up. You brought Night Of up. Man, I just can't say enough great things about that show. I love it. And so you're theater, voiceover, and voice acting in various capacities. So All of that, as you look at it, I had brought this up at the beginning of the show, at the beginning of our interview here, but do you find that you're going to need to get more focused? For you, at least?

Xavier Paul: For me, creating is the focus. The focus is expressing who I am and being of service to a community of artists that have stories to tell. and need functional storytellers, competent storytellers. That's what we're doing here. I just don't make the separation genre-wise, medium-wise. You know, it's acting. Whether it's in front of a camera, in front of 10,000 people, or in front of a microphone in a studio somewhere, I'm the same guy.

Ryan: You know, you said that when we started, and I think I let it go over my head, but I understand what you mean better now.

Xavier Paul: Yeah. And the opportunity is there for those of different— different interests and different backgrounds, whether it come— it's news or hosting or being a vocalist. You know, when Armin van Buuren called me up, he said he needed— he was looking to create a reality with that I Live for That Energy track.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: He wanted people to really have a spiritual experience, and he needed a spoken word artist to help them get there. And—

Ryan: I actually wrote that down. I wrote that— yeah, go into more detail on that. I think that's a cool project. It seems like an amalgamation of a couple different styles coming together, and Armin van Buuren's legendary, and he's, you know, he's doing things that are always very exciting. How did that actual project come together?

Xavier Paul: Yeah, you know, I have a tendency to just Just get around. You know, I just got a tight hustle. That's the best way I can describe it. You know, and yeah, you know, it's— you see, this goes back to, you know, the vision, right? I think a lot of voiceover talents. We think too small. We think, okay, my career is only inside this 30-second commercial. You know, there's a whole world out here that, again, needs stories to be told. Find out— find out who's in that world. Start to relate to them. Start to— start to get them to know who you are. Start to learn about who they are and what—

Ryan: Right.

Xavier Paul: they need and get out of the box. And when that happens, then you start to work with people like, like R. Mann. And then the year before, the Dutch duo Infernal, also a Billboard-charted group, called me up to do a lot of the same thing. I really like the direction that things are going in, in terms of album feature appearances, and I'm in the studio right now creating my own 2 albums, one as a vocalist and the other as a spoken word artist.

Ryan: So you're a singer too?

Xavier Paul: Correct.

Ryan: I don't think I knew that one. I mean, I knew you did everything, but I didn't know about that part.

Xavier Paul: Yeah.

Ryan: So what kind of music are you making?

Xavier Paul: You know, I've been doing— starting off doing a lot of jazz, and, you know, for me, the closest thing that I could say, to compare, if I had to compare, would be Al Jarreau or Kem. I mean, he's just a master of sound. You know, when I think of someone like him, he's using music as a medium to express sound, and it almost takes on a spiritual, multidimensional— you know, it's like what he's doing is just coming from another place. And I'm very, very influenced by that approach.

Ryan: If you're making something like this, so this is a project that I think is probably gonna be pretty personal to you, your album, your music. Do you find that you, as you're creating, writing, whatever, that you think about the whole marketability aspect of it? Or are you going to just put the art down, put it out there, and whatever happens, happens?

Xavier Paul: It has to be the latter. I tried, and interestingly enough, pursuing work as a voiceover artist, I had to confront that. I think as artists, we all deal with that moment in our studio where, You know, you go in, you know, we all want the ideal situation where, wow, we love your voice, come in and do whatever you want, right? And there are celebrity voiceovers that I, you know, enjoy that. And now that people are starting to get to know me from Night Of, all of a sudden I— the same work that I did on Tuesday is now Friday, certainly much more acceptable and— Because of my visibility as— an actor, which is very interesting how that influences the voiceover world. It's this, you know, yeah, you've got a voice, but who are you? Right? And that's a valid enough question, but then that's a question where the answer is subject to judgment, right? Just like in the film industry. Well, what's your marquee?

Ryan: Yep.

Xavier Paul: But that's a bit of a tangent. Getting back to the creative process, yeah, it has to be an inside-out And taking the chance to be who you truly are and being willing, being just willing to be rejected. I mean, it's going to happen. Everyone will not like it.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: And having that iron resolve to continue down a path where everyone else is saying, oh no, you don't want to go there. Oh no, no, no, no. Come back over here. Do it our way. Be cool. Be trendy. Be—

Ryan: Be marketable.

Xavier Paul: Well, be liked. Be liked.

Ryan: Yeah. Yes.

Xavier Paul: We need to like you. If we don't like you, you're gonna have a real tough career and probably no career at all. You see? And that's really— that kind of bullying that the entertainment industry does to people, it— I don't like bullies. It really pisses me off. And that's the reason why I'm prolific, and I'm gonna continue to be prolific, because my agent is the universe. That's who my agent is. And the universe never lets me down. The universe always has the hottest deals in town for me.

Ryan: And apply that. There's something I've heard from a few different voice talents that I had to finally kind of do myself. You get into that— maybe it's early in a career, especially somebody who has a little bit of success. You start trying to do what you hear others doing that is successful. For example, how many auditions come out that they say they want the Dennis— oh my gosh, his name just left my brain.

Xavier Paul: Dennis Leary.

Ryan: They want the Dennis Leary, right? So as a talent, you have to decide at some point that you're going to do you as good as you can do it and not try to do somebody else. Did you ever even have to make that realization? Maybe you were 17 when you made that realization. But kind of like we discussed with music, you apply that to voiceover or voice acting?

Xavier Paul: Yeah. Yeah, it's so— and it's so very subjective, right? What does Dennis— when I hear that name and think of that persona, what does that mean to me? And then that's channeled through my interpretation. And I think it's that interpretive process and that willingness to be— vulnerable and open in the interpretive process and to be okay with not knowing and really releasing that perfectionism that opens up the truth of what this is. The voiceover medium, the craft of it, demands a truth on a very real, visceral level, on a very— on a spiritual level. It's a very soulful career. That's what I like about it. It demands soul. And not in some urban, like, I got an afro and I'm walking with a bop kind of way. You know what I mean?

Ryan: Yeah.

Xavier Paul: I'm not talking about, you know, the right wardrobe. I'm talking about true, true soul. True soul expression. And that's what excites me about it. And that's what's possible. See, that's what's very possible for this industry in terms of the art form. to move to another level. And as the art form moves to a new level, the industry and the marketplace will have no choice but to follow. And then that will solve all the issues that we deal with in terms of unions and rates and various forms of exploitation. And all these things that we're dealing with here is because we're not taking responsibility for who we are. If you're telling the truth to yourself about who you are when you ask yourself the question about what you really want with this, then that will lead you to the truth of what you're dealing with and what responds to you and what you respond to. When I was 17 years old, I knew that I had to be committed to the truth about the craft and the truth about who I am. So everyone I spoke to, every teacher, every coach I considered working with, I looked at through that lens of the truth about who I am and what I really want. And then that answer became obvious to me. as to what training really was what I needed in order to grow and really do this, and what wasn't. You know, the writing is on the wall, man. You know, it's like when I started in New York, there were like 2 voiceover coaches. Now they're like close to 1,000.

Ryan: More coaches than talent?

Xavier Paul: Okay. And sure, we could argue and say that the industry has grown, but exponentially to that? Like it's grown over 900%? Is that what we're trying to say?

Ryan: Right.

Xavier Paul: Or is it— Or is what's happening is that people are, we have a community of entrepreneurs. Nothing wrong with being an entrepreneur, you know, but it's like there's no credibility. Well, at times there isn't a body where people are held accountable to or for as to the quality of what they offer. But let's say either way on that, it boils down to—

Ryan: Accountability.

Xavier Paul: Are you or are you not equipped to do your job in a way that will open up possibilities for you and your clients? Okay, and then there's the aspect of, okay, fine, I know the basics of how to be a voiceover artist and talent. Then there's the whole question of, are you willing to continue developing and growing your craft?

Ryan: Right.

Xavier Paul: Mm-hmm. This is what takes time. The question I'm asking is not just how to create a voiceover career, because these days that seems to be pretty easy to do. You just, you know, you open up shop and, hi, I'm a voiceover artist. My question is, how do you create a career that lasts? What are the ingredients of careers that are notable, respectable, and attain longevity?

Ryan: Do you believe if somebody truly wants to, you know, attain a life similar to what you're describing, find their truth, really be just a talent, and really tell stories, and just be good at what they do and all that, can you really limit yourself to voiceover? Literally only ever talking on a mic in a solitude booth? Do people have to get out there and do other things, get on stage, take improv classes, just get out there and do other things?

Xavier Paul: Well, that road has helped me tremendously.

Ryan: Sure.

Xavier Paul: The understanding of—

Ryan: Clearly.

Xavier Paul: Yeah. Yeah, you know, what are the industries that relate to what this is? And I became very fascinated, very, very fascinated by the voice acting world from a very young age. And then went off and continued to do the acting and so on and so forth. But I'm particularly interested in the voice world because of the power of the voice and the potential that the voice has to communicate a message and to be influential and to really shape and gear the direction of the realities that we create as a society. It absolutely— it fascinates me. And I'm at this place now where, you know, with a lot of the album work and the spoken word work, I'm exploring the— I want to say next It's— in a way, I've kind of outgrown the voiceover industry.

Ryan: Yeah.

Xavier Paul: I— it's like a shoe that I'm trying to work my foot in, and it just— it's like I get it, and I can wear it, yet I can't tell you how exciting that Armin van Buuren session was. I can't tell you how incredibly exciting working with Infernal. I mean, the words can't express.

Ryan: And it's got to be really, really interesting to sit there now and see where you are, what you're accomplishing, the various things paths you're branching out onto from kind of where that first big— that story you told, where that first big event that could have taken you down a completely different road.

Xavier Paul: I mean, it's just— and my ego wasn't totally fully formed, I think, at 17. I mean, I was still exploring and learning and trusting. And now look at where we are. close to somewhat 30 years ago, right? And I tell that story to people now, and they're like, oh my God. Well, you know, since then we've had The Cosby Show, and you've gotten some work. So, you know, problem solved, right? And now, you know, look at who's president. So, you know—

Ryan: Well, I was actually— that's kind of where I want to go with that.

Xavier Paul: How solved is the problem? How— Yeah.

Ryan: I was gonna say, at the time, I mean, it's— okay, 30 years ago, maybe not such an absurd statement. But I know, Race issues, constant. Not solved. Anybody who thinks they're solved is an idiot. But was it really that bad at the time? I mean—

Xavier Paul: Sometimes being part of a marginalized group, whether you're a woman, whether you're gay, whether you're Black, Mexican, or Indigenous, it— And based on the way the world has been changing and evolving 30 years ago and to now, there's a tendency to really not— really not care about just— about judging the climate of things. It's more about, okay, it is what it is, and I am who I am. So, you know, she said that to me, and, you know, people make— you know, there are racially insensitive moments. in all our lives, right?

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: Who I am doesn't change, you know? Who— what I have to— what I bring to the table and what I do doesn't change. You know, when I worked with Morgan Freeman on Lean on Me, that was a powerful experience for me to see what does it look like to watch a master who's also someone, you know, who I relate to as a Black male work. What does mastery look like? Like, really?

Ryan: Right.

Xavier Paul: And I got to experience that. And I molded and modeled myself. That was, for me, a mentoring— a mentor experience. That was a learning experience. That was a classroom. That was part of my shaping as an artist. You know, someone such as him, you know, he would argue with the director, John Avildsen. He would say— because Lean on Me was the story about Joe Clark, the high school principal who had transformed that school and such. And so much of what he was saying back then has come to pass, unfortunately, in terms of the educational system.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: But as he portrayed the story of that real-life powerful figure, he would say to the director, no, Joe Clark wouldn't do it that way. No, that's not how he would block. No, we're going to— no, we're Let's change— you know, very clear on who he is. And when it was time for him to work, complete and total focus, mastery. And, you know, he was, as we say, he was getting down.

Ryan: Mm-hmm.

Xavier Paul: He was getting down. And that's what I like. I like— I said I wanted to create and develop my craft to a level where it's like I knew I have to be— you have to be undeniable. Just, you know, we're in an industry that says, no, no, I don't care. I don't care about your hopes. I don't care about your dreams. You know, it's— we're gonna— and even if you are incredibly talented, we're gonna screw you over anyway and laugh about it. That's what this industry is. It's a lowdown. It's a snake pit. So the question is, how do you turn poison into medicine?

Ryan: I think you've given us some great insight. I mean, you have a great career going, clearly, and you've been going for a long time. You know, the longevity, The different facets. You know, I didn't really get to talk about the night of too much. There's possibly people listening that didn't see it, which is crazy to me. You got to watch it, and you'll be hooked from minute one. You've already mentioned that it did a few things for you here and there, put you together with people, but anything about that experience for you?

Xavier Paul: Well, playing a prisoner in Rikers Island, You know, on one hand, I could have taken the attitude of, "Oh God, here we go again!" I I don't want to play no prisoner. I don't want to play no prisoner. I'm I'm better than that. And Hollywood and Oscars are so white, and blah blah blah blah blah, and and all this. You know, yet it gets back to what I talked about earlier. If if I'm the true storyteller, then that's exactly what I'm here to do. Yeah, and and everyone attached to that project from the director, Steve Zalian. to John Turturro, to Nas, everyone there was committed to telling the best story possible and took it right back to basics. What are the basics of good storytelling? By exploring what's possible. What's possible, right? Getting outside of the box and really exploring the world beyond our own safe dimension.

Ryan: And—

Xavier Paul: So it was an absolute joy to— I guess I've always vibrated in that way based on— that's why I wanted to share my story with you today. Because for me, working on a show like Night Of was, okay, it's just par for the course. Just, okay, fine. This is just what we do. This is what I do. I tell great stories. I'm part of teams that tell great stories.

Ryan: Wow.

Xavier Paul: I see the importance of it, and I want to be of service to it. There was a lot about just the voiceover craft that opened up for me as a result of working on The Night Of, because Steve Zaillian would keep the camera rolling and have us do takes in a variety of ways. And it was up to us to be flexible and dynamic on the spot.

Ryan: Tell people actually what— I mean, you were a prisoner. You were in the prison with the lead. I don't want to give away too much of the story 'cause it's so detailed, but tell people exactly kind of who you were, what you were, who you interacted with.

Xavier Paul: Yeah, so my character was X, part of Freddie's crew. So, we have Michael Phillips' character, who is the guy who takes Nas under his wing, yet Freddie has a crew of henchmen, so to speak. And I'm part of that crew. And to sort of give Roz a good old-fashioned Rikers Island welcome, I was the guy who helped set his bed on fire during his second night there.

Ryan: Yes. Yes.

Xavier Paul: So, you know, it— well, I thought I was Farrah Fawcett. So it— the burning bed. It really had a flashback.

Ryan: I just heard a reference to that. I was watching a show about the NFL, how it almost died in 1985, and everybody watched The Burning Bed instead of Monday Night Football. Anyway, sorry. Cut!

Xavier Paul: Damn good show, damn good story, and Farrah Fawcett, one of the best. And so it was— and of course, you know, the way the show was done, the set, everything was done true to life. We were just in the element, and we believed it. It was— that reality was created totally, down to the finest detail. So we were all so— I guess you could say, in character or committed to the story we were telling while we were telling it.

Ryan: I got a dumb question. I didn't research this beforehand. Where did you actually shoot the prison scenes?

Xavier Paul: We were in Yonkers. It was a soundstage in Yonkers.

Ryan: In Yonkers?

Xavier Paul: Yeah.

Ryan: Soundstage?

Xavier Paul: Wow. Soundstage. Between the soundstage in Yonkers and then also we were at the Queens Municipal Building for some of the shots as well. So it was between Queens and Yonkers. Most of that stuff, the courthouse stuff. Yeah, between Queens and Yonkers.

Ryan: Man, just a brilliant show. Okay, can you tell me if there is a season— okay, I believe it's picked up for season 2. Is it gonna have anything to do with the plotline from season 1, or are they gonna kind of do a far go?

Xavier Paul: I certainly hope so. I didn't hear that they got picked up for season 1. Did you hear that? They never tell us.

Ryan: I heard that. Maybe I could be wrong. It might have been a dream because I wished it to be true, and maybe it's not true. But I thought I read that.

Xavier Paul: That's wonderful if so. I myself am writing. My writing partner is one of the guys who played one of the pirates in Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks. And we are working on creating some new ideas and show ideas for possibly HBO and elsewhere.

Ryan: Great.

Xavier Paul: And yeah, because working on Night Of really, for me, sparked a lot of creative juices. A lot of these projects that I do, spark just a whole new area. Maybe that's kind of what people are observing in my career. It's like a pinball machine, but it's a great pinball machine. It's like I love everywhere I am when I'm where that is.

Ryan: Well, hey, we got to talk about so much. People will hear me say it now, but we edited out some stuff. We talked about stuff I couldn't even leave on the show. And that happened. But too bad, I'm the only one that got to hear it.

Xavier Paul: That's what happens when you bring a guy from Night Of on the show.

Ryan: Yeah, exactly, man.

Xavier Paul: And I'm sorry I shanked you. I had to do it. Sorry. So if you—

Ryan: Hey, you know what? It happens to the best. This was great. I took way too much of your time. I always do. I'm so greedy with people's times, with the guests' time.

Xavier Paul: I look forward to doing this again.

Ryan: Okay, I'm gonna put like All your links on my site on the deal there. We'll share this over Twitter and Facebook, whatever else, but if people are gonna go look you up though specifically, I mean, do you wanna give out your Twitter? Do you wanna just give out the website? Do you wanna—

Xavier Paul: Yeah, I'll do both, sure. Go ahead and add me on Twitter @VoiceOverToday, and then website coolvoicemedia.com. Just go to C-O-O-L-V-O-I-C-E-M-E-D-I-A.com, and you know.

Ryan: Go from there. Yeah, right on. I will try and link— I got a lot of links for you. People are gonna want to see— I saw that comedy battle. That looked a little old, but that was funny, man.

Xavier Paul: Yeah, that was great. I just keep it all up online, you know. Yeah, sometimes, you know, the vintage, and then there's new stuff as well.

Ryan: Vintage, that's a good word.

Xavier Paul: People wonder, what have you done lately? What have you done lately? Okay, all right, I'll upload the new stuff as well. You know how it is. Most of our time is spent doing versus uploading. Unless it's—

Ryan: Yeah, it's tough. That is the beauty. Once you get a little successful and you're working, suddenly you don't really have time to promote. Of course, that's a whole other episode.

Xavier Paul: Indeed.

Ryan: That's a whole, you know, the balance of that.

Xavier Paul: Well, for now, I thank you for creating this great visit, Ryan. You've helped me walk down memory lane in a really transformative way. Best to you and the family.

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely, man. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Appreciate it.

Xavier Paul: Take care.

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