I am a BBC Carleton-Hobbs and AudioFile Earphones award-winning voiceover artist, audiobook narrator and actress with a clear, warm, neutral British RP accent and nearly twenty years’ experience.

I record from my acoustically-treated professional home studio in Berkshire, or I can travel to a studio of your choice.

I trained as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and in audio at the BBC. After working for ten years in theatre, film, television and radio drama, I now specialise almost exclusively in voiceover and audiobook narration. I am also a tutor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Do drop me a line if you would like to discuss working with me. For a quotation for your project, please include as much information as possible – word count, licensing requirements, where the audio or video will be used and for how long.

Sophie Roberts Audio Website

Tell us about your time at Downe House.

I think I was quite a ‘run of the mill’ student: not super academic, not super sporty but always into acting, and tried to do it at every opportunity. In the 1990s, there was no Drama GCSE or A Level on offer – it wasn’t strictly part of the curriculum – but my extra-curricular activities were quite full-on in the acting department! I was lucky to have had some excellent acting teachers: Mrs Leefe and Mrs Burns were great champions and very imaginative with the plays they chose; I remember we were given the opportunity to perform ‘The School for Scandal’ at Basildon Park, in beautiful costumes hired from the National Theatre – it certainly gave me a taste for what might come after school! I also had a very inspiring History teacher, Mr Bayliss, and English teacher, Mrs de Vito, who brought history and literature to life in the most magical way.

While at Downe, I somehow produced and acted in a children’s show (‘Tickle’ by David Wood) and took it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with some other girls in my year. I had ‘the bug’ big time! I made a handful of really good, life-long friends at School, and still see them as much as I can.

Can you briefly describe your professional journey since leaving Downe House?

My parents were (understandably) fairly concerned about my desire to go straight to Drama School after leaving Downe. They managed to persuade me to knuckle down and get a degree under my belt: ‘just in case’! In hindsight, it was probably the best thing for me to have had three years at The University of York, where I read English Literature – still dabbled a lot in acting at university, but it was an important time to grow up and live in the world after being at boarding school for seven years. Post-university, I worked for a theatrical agent for a while and then applied and got into The Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study Acting for 3 years. That was such a key time for me; it was really hard work and I grafted harder than I’ve ever done before (or since!)

In my final year at Guildhall, I applied for and won the BBC Carleton Hobbs Radio Award, which gave me six months on the Radio Rep Company at the BBC. It was a fabulous first job, where I learnt to throw myself in, take responsibility for decisions about tone and character, and to muck in and learn from all the other hugely talented actors I met and worked with. Around this time, I contacted another DH alumna, Marylou Thistleton-Smith, who had recently started up her own Voiceover Agency, The Voiceover Gallery. I pretty much bullied her into taking me on as a client, and I’ve been represented by her now for nearly 17 years.

For the next 10ish years, I worked a lot in voiceover and radio drama, a bit of TV and theatre; everything from plays in tiny fringe theatres like The Arcola, to big budget West End shows; tours (with Shared Experience, Chichester and Theatre Royal Bath), culminating in being directed by Alan Ayckbourn in Scarborough, while 6 months pregnant with my first child!

After having children, I soon realised that the theatrical career I had enjoyed before wasn’t going to be possible in quite the same way, so I had to re-assess things. This was when I turned my focus back to audio and to the world of audiobook narration. Luckily for me it really paid off, and during the pandemic it became a pretty crucial avenue of work; most other options had, of course, been closed down.

I set up a sort of Blue Peter-style ‘duvet studio’ in the bedroom where I spent most of the pandemic recording books and voiceovers. It was our lifeline! When I was pretty sure the work wasn’t going to dry up, I invested in a professional recording studio. My family and I now live just down the road from Downe, and we have a lovely shepherd’s hut studio in the garden: my ‘commute to work’ is great! I record around 12-15 books a year and close to 50 voiceovers (everything from pharmaceutical explainers, B2B videos, glossy tv and cinema ads and crazy Greco Roman video games!) I feel very lucky to be kept busy with this work.

I’ve also combined audio work with some acting tutoring, which I love. I worked for a decade back at Guildhall on the audition panel, and I also mentored 3rd years students there. Now, I work at The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff for half of the year, where I tutor acting and radio technique. I really value this connection with students coming into the industry – it recalibrates my work and keeps it relevant and connected to the world. Plus, I learn a lot from the students too.

Describe a typical day for you.

One of the things I love about my life is that there is no such thing as a ‘typical day’! However, the great thing about working in audio is that I can generally be around for my children: dropping them at school and picking them up. Mornings tend to start with a dog walk – it’s so important to get your body moving if you’re going to be sedentary all day! – I might be prepping for an audiobook in my studio; working out the different character voices and checking tricky/ foreign pronunciations, sending off voiceover demos, recording a voiceover in a live session with another studio. Sometimes I might be at The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, where I tutor. Other days, I might be in a recording studio in London – it’s good to ring the changes! I try to dedicate some time in the week to marketing: following up on contacts, networking and sharing new things on my website. It’s also so important to keep learning and honing your skills, so I try to attend online masterclasses and workshops throughout the month. If you’re self-employed, you are your own business; so you’re the talent, marketing manager, finance operations officer and general dog’s body all in one!

What are the most valuable skills for someone to be successful in your career field?

Be curious, be open, say ‘yes’ to learning new things, be prepared to throw yourself in. Develop a resilience and resourcefulness, make connections and nurture them. Keep a sense of who you are and what is important to you. It’s a school of hard knocks and learning to ‘cancel and continue’ when a work opportunity doesn’t come your way is crucial, and something that one keeps learning to deal with throughout life! Create your own work: look at Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Michaela Coel: they wrote their own work and look at them now!

Above all, you’ve got to want to do it beyond anything; if you have any doubts, don’t do it. Seriously.

What has been the greatest accomplishment in your career?

When I was at Drama School, I remember we were warned that after 10 years, only a handful of us (of the 25) would be working as actors. The fact that I’m still here, keeping going, making a living in the industry after nearly 20 years is something I’m pretty proud of!

What have been some of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your career?

The pandemic was certainly a major challenge for us actors. My husband is an actor too and works mainly in tv and film: he had five jobs cancelled in 48 hours at the beginning of lockdown. It really forced us to think outside the box and work out how we were going to pay the mortgage! Setting up our home studio turned out to be a godsend. I ended up doing pretty well out of the pandemic as a result, which was definitely an unexpected outcome. I had to learn how to operate all the editing software and manage the tech side of the recording process, which was really good for me; I’m not sure I ever would have done that had I not been forced into a corner.

How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance and prioritise your wellbeing?

It’s always challenging to balance work and life when you have children and a career, but I’m fortunate that, to a certain extent, I can determine when I work, and plan it out so that during school holidays I can be around a bit more for my children, than if I were in a regular 9-5 job. Also, my husband and I can try to work around each other, so one of us is always there for the children: it’s a bit of a tag-team effort.

Shortly after moving out of London, we bought a puppy, and this has been an amazing way to ensure I get out and have a proper walk twice a day. As I spend most of every day sitting down in my studio, it’s so important to ensure I move and stretch as often as possible…I also go to Pilates classes regularly and have the odd massage if I’m feeling flush!

What career advice would you give to our girls who are thinking about pursuing a career in your chosen field?

Find out as much as possible about the industry. Speak to people, ask for advice, have a look around the Drama schools, if that route interests you. See where the actors you admire trained. Go to the theatre! I would also say, don’t rush into a training: some people are ready at 18 – one of my best pals went straight from school to Drama School – but she was far more mature than I was at 25 when I went. Taking some time to grow up and live in the world before training was, for me, the best possible decision. You only get one chance at Drama School, and you want to get as much out of it as you possibly can. Also, back yourself and believe in yourself.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years?

If I could keep working in this industry, that would be enough. But I would love to do more animation and video game work. I’d also love to be a ‘go-to voice’ for a brand like M & S or Classic FM! I’m open to saying ‘yes’ to opportunities that may at first seem disconnected to what I do. In the past, I would have said ‘I can’t imagine doing anything other than acting’, but I think I’m a bit more philosophical these days.

Finally, please indulge us with a random fact about yourself!

My husband is also an actor (Richard Goulding). He has spent quite a bit of his career playing Prince Harry in a silly Channel 4 comedy called ‘The Windsors’. Oddly enough, we were married in the same place as Harry and Meghan (though we got there ten years before them).