Photo: Rich Fury
The voice says a lot about a person — andLake Bellknows it.
The 43-year-old actress/director debuts her new audiobookINSIDE VOICE: My Obsession with How We Soundon Nov. 1, an exploration of the social science, cultural constructs, mechanics and psychology of human voices.
“I have spent this past year writing the manuscript and creating this project based off of my genuine passion and love and obsession for voice,” Bell tells PEOPLE. “I think of it a little bit as this extension of my already documented vocal obsessions viaIn a World…, my feature that went to Sundance and put me on the filmmaker map as it were.”
Like in the 2013 film, the upcoming audiobook explores the power of the voice. She says she felt compelled to spearhead both projects because “the voice is patently the most underrated and under-qualified tool of communication in that it is not considered as much as how we outwardly face our peers.”
“Usually we lean so heavily on visual forms of communication or body forms of communication versus the very sound that we emit,” she adds. “I feel that I would just argue in a respectful and loving and playful way that our voice is broadcasting our entire personal history.”
Pushkin Industries
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Bell explains that everything from “physicality to personal histories and traumas and loves and losses to influences” can impact one’s voice: “It’s your passport of everywhere you’ve been.”
INSIDE VOICEfound its grounding when Lake spoke with Malcolm Gladwell, co-founder ofPushkin Industries, the audio company that is publishing the book.
“Malcolm Gladwell and I have been friends for a very long time, and he knows that I will not let go of this subject and that there is still a rich landscape of subjects that I needed to explore. And so this is really an exploration of all of those things,” Bell says of creating the audiobook.
Along with taking listeners through her journey of exploring the voice, Bell’s audiobook also includes interactive exercises and games, spoken-word poetry and interviews with iconic voices, likeDrew Barrymore,Tracey Ullman,Jeff Goldblumand more.
“It’s a highly kinetic and playful ride for the ears because it’s all about what we hear and how we sound our ideas through our voice,” Bell says.
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Bell’s fascination with voice has been lifelong.
“I think I noticed at an early age that voice was my ticket for a laugh around the dinner table; this tool, this mechanism to make the adults laugh was purely vocal,” Bell recalls. “That was really my entrance into storytelling via in front of the camera and behind the camera. So voice and voice manipulation and vocal play is really the roadmap for a lot of narrative. It’s something I take with me everywhere I go.”
“So there are moments that are more somber when we talk about trauma and losing your voice in relationship to your physical experiences of trauma,” she continues, “and then also we get to talk to the voice of Bugs Bunny. Even when we talk about serious things, we allow for there to be space and love and healing.”
INSIDE VOICE: My Obsession with How We Soundis out Nov. 1.
source: people.com
