Meet Vikram Rajan | Voice Actor and Casting Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vikram Rajan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vikram, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
If I had to pick one, it’s definitely the sheer amount of hard work that goes on behind the scenes – especially if you’re a remote actor as you’re doing this career basically on hard mode right out the gate. When we talk about and promote the projects we’ve been able to land roles on, that’s only like 20% of the wins and the other 80% are rejections. The industry can seem it’s about acceptance and rejection and all actors will experience it, it’s just part of the process. The right roles will come to you in time and your progress in this line of work is never linear so as long as you continue to hone your craft in all areas, no matter how much time it takes, you’ll be fine.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What I’m most proud of is being able to make friends and colleagues with so many amazing and kind people everywhere around the world. I was really introverted as a kid and I was pretty much always shy to talk to others and would be very secluded and keep to myself a lot. When I got into Acting and Voice Acting more over time, that fear just seemingly vanished and I’m really comfortable talking and chatting with anyone who chooses to give me the light of day and their time and permission to do so. And being able to do that internationally is even more amazing to me.

Getting to where I am today was anything but easy, there’s no set path for success in this industry – especially as a remote talent. I’m based in New Zealand, a small country with a small amount of opportunities to voice act because it’s either heavily looked down upon or heavily gatekept. I really wanted to prove that someone like me can do it and go far, proving all the folks wrong who looked down on me or underestimated my ability. And now, I’m really content with where I am. I’m at a place where I can be very proud of and am comfortable with. I’ve been able to accomplish a lot, even some dream opportunities too. I’m 22 and I’m often considered to be a young person at the moment and the fact that I’ve been able to get this far is really incredible and I used to never look back on how far I’ve come but now I do it frequently and it keeps me at ease if I ever feel insecure. The future looks bright and while I can’t predict what exactly I’ll get to do, my only goal is that I continue to work on cool things with cool people.

The biggest lesson and/or challenge I’ve learned along the way is to be kind to myself and my journey and that comes from not comparing myself to other people. At first, it’s a very hard thing to do and I’m still doing my best – I can’t claim to be an expert at it or anything but I am able to feel at ease with where I am now and where my progress has taken me thus far. It was really hard for me to cope with that at the start of this year, I lost friends along the way by being bitter, jealous, angry, fearful, sad and overall just really negative and I’m probably never going to get the chance to squash the beef and be friends with them again in this lifetime and that loss will always stay with me. Suffice it to say, I was not in the right place both physically and mentally at the time and I had to learn how to cope with what I can and cannot control and what I can do to be better and not return back to that dark place. I can safely say that I am content with who I am now as a person and I feel good. Happiness will come later overtime. Of course I have regrets and I know that not all things can be repaired and if it really can’t, at least it’ll serve as a painful reminder to never become that bitter of a person ever again. Really thankful to my friends, colleagues and family for being encouraging and staying with me to help me rebuild myself. There’s still lots to do and lots of healing to come but I’ll take it slowly.

Everyone at a point in time or multiple points will blow a fuse, makes mistakes and says things they’ll regret when they’re hurt. It’s what you do to learn and grow overtime to not repeat those mistakes that will show you the real change you are looking for. Again, it takes a lot of time – but it’s not impossible to come back on top from rock bottom. Not every person will like you and that’s okay – don’t give your time, energy and attention to people who will put you down for being yourself and not care about you as well as not treating you like a human being. You’ll find the right people at the right time and maybe you might find the wrong people along the way. Learn to give grace to yourself and most importantly, forgive yourself before you forgive others. The ability to forgive and let go is a privilege and a gift and is not an easy one to obtain. Give it time and surround yourself in a positive and comfortable environment rather than an echo chamber of negativity. Hurt people will hurt people.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If you were to visit New Zealand, I’d personally take you to the Auckland Harbour and also watch Theatre and/or Comedy shows in the evening. Then I’d take you to Wellington just so that they can get to see the artsy part of New Zealand such as Weta Workshop. Kaikoura is a lovely place in the South Island to go whale watching and Queenstown is hands-down my favourite place in NZ, it’s small, quaint, has a lovely community and has lots to do with great views. And of course, I’ll take you to Hobbiton too.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shout out Crash Tako Studios. It’s a Animation Studio based in the UK run by one of my closest friends; Lu Ka-Yun Dawkins. They’re an absolute inspiration to me and their work ethic and organisation is insanely good. They’re really committed to their craft, their work and they’re always passionate to follow through with their ideas, writing and more.

They also were one of the first few people that gave me the opportunity to cast and direct other actors in different projects and learn how the process is on the other side and I’ll always be grateful for that, especially considering how far my casting reach has taken me and all the amazing upcoming projects that I’m honoured to be working on with.

Overall, I really appreciate them and their studio and they deserve all the recognition in the world. They’re doing great right now and I bet they’re gonna be doing really awesome things in the future too. I genuinely believe that.

Website: https://www.vikramrajanvo.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsmevikkiva/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikram-rajan-60126a219/

Twitter: https://x.com/VikkitheVA

Other: Bluesky: @vikkitheva.bsky.social