You could almost say that every Finn has heard the voice of Sari Ann Stolt from Espoo, but few recognize her on the street. In this story, you can listen to the classics of his voice.
From Espoo By Sari Ann Stolt a beautiful sound fills the Nokkala lighthouse in Nuottaniemi. A pleasant, soft voice is pleasant to listen to.
And that’s a good thing, because the sunny and energetic Stolt talks a lot. In between his interview answers, he throws benevolently curious questions to the reporter and cameraman.
“A good voice actor doesn’t run out of words, he talks until someone says that’s enough,” he says and smiles.
Few people know Stolt by name or recognize him on the street, but almost every Finn has heard his voice.
Stolt has given his voice to the signature jingles of Instrumentarium and R-kiosk, for example. Likewise, his voice was heard for years on Radio Aalto in the channel’s signature tune.
Doing business is fast and comfortable.
Instrumentarium, look and life!
Radio Aaltoooo…
You can listen to Stolt’s evergreen voice from this link: sound archive.
Stolt, who lives in Matinkylä, does a lot more than sound work. He also works, for example, as a real estate agent and is a member of both the Finnish Sauna Society and the sailors of Nokkala Harbour. He also works as the station manager of the Espoo sea rescuers.
Stolt has also done a huge number of dubbing roles, where he has created voices for the most diverse characters.
The group has included villains oozing malice, gentle mothers – such as the mother of Disney’s classic film Bambi -, energetic little boys and princesses.
“In the movie Rio 2, I play the poison frog Gabi, whose singing melody is in the range of a soprano’s voice. It was challenging and making a completely different sound than, for example, in the movie Matilda, where my voice is heard in the role of Korston’s Miss Trunchbull,” says Stolt.
Miss Trunchbull is the tyrannical headmistress of Matilda’s school, one of Stolt’s latest roles. The film appeared on Netflix in December.
“There’s really no beautiful singing about it, just a kind of roaring. Afterwards, I almost had the feeling that it was already too terrible?”
“
“I have such a tin throat.”
Although singing is not a prerequisite for the job of a voice actor, as a result, the range of roles is wider. Stolt is indeed an exceptional singer. His impressive three-octave sound range seems to lend itself to almost anything, from Bossa Nova to musicals.
Singing also develops the muscles needed for vocal work.
One could imagine that the production of different sounds would leave its mark and manifest as, for example, hoarseness. However, according to Stolt, his voice has held up well in a nearly 40-year career as a voice actor.
“I have such a tin throat. The voice has never gone from singing or shouting.”
One of the roles that consumed his voice the most is also the one for which Stolt is best remembered: he lent his voice to Ash Ketchum, one of the main characters of Pokémon, from 1999 to 2003.
“At that time, many hours were made of the same character and I remember feeling like I was about to have vocal paralysis. Ash Ketchum’s voice was really compressed and it hurt to do it,” says Stolt.
Now Stolt thinks that such a character should not have been made for as long as it was made at the time. It could have permanently damaged the vocal cords.
Later the production moved to another location and at the same time new actors were cast in the roles. Stolt has thought that it must have been a salvation for him.
However, Stolt’s voice as Ash Ketchum made an indelible impression on many Finns. Some 20 years later, he still receives fan mail about his performance, and his website guest book is full of praise for that role.
“Your voice will always be one of my fondest childhood memories,” writes one fan.
“You were amazingly good in the role of Ash in Pokemon. I’m not at all surprised by the glow, after all, Pokémon was so important to us born in the 90s,” writes another.
In a way, Stolt wouldn’t want to be always associated with Pokémon and remembered for that role. It feels confusing. Ash Ketchum was one of Stolt’s first dubbing roles and since then there has been an endless list of others.
“Although it feels nice to be remembered.”
When Stolt moved to Matinkylä, he looked at the sea and realized that there is an incredible element in it that he has not yet mastered. Through the lifeguards, he learned everything he needed about moving at sea, from lifesaving to firefighting exercises.
Although Stolt has been successful in working life, otherwise life has not been all about dancing with roses. As a child, for example, he was bullied at school, and the alcoholism of a loved one has overshadowed his life.
Stolt feels that his voice has carried over difficulties. He considers that a great gift.
“When I was bullied, I knew I had this secret, this power. A bit like the main character of the movie Matilda. I am extremely grateful for that.”
Creative work has served as therapy, and in the sound studio you can refine energy from adversity.
“There you can chew, disassemble and use it as material. Everything remains in the emotional memory, and that is an asset in an actor’s work.”
Sound work is also really fun from Stolt. The characters are rarely boring. When doing caricature-like roles, you can throw yourself “quite crazy”.
Stolt usually goes to the studio with his jacket open and jumps right into his role. On the screen in the studio, the voice actor sees the scene for which lines are being recorded. They are recorded from that sitting.
Contrary to what many might believe, the voice actors do not record their lines together. Stolt would like voice actors to spend more time together with others in the industry.
“This work is best done alone. In the movie Coco, for example, we sang Walter Torikan duet with, but we’ve never even met.”
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