Voice Actors
Listen | Voice Actors | Scottish Chamber Orchestra | Composers | Sound Designer | Players | MSc Sound Design
The Lost Book team included two versatile and talented actors: Cora Bissett and Sean Biggerstaff. They took on all the roles – despite not knowing who they’d be voicing or where the story would go after episode one!
Cora Bissett (Aileen)
Cora has an incredible track record in Scottish music, theatre, film and television. She’s rarely off the stage, making lead roles her own – most recently in the David Grieg premiere ‘Midsummer’ at the Traverse (a role which earned her a nomination for “best female performance” in the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland 2008-09) and the Fringe First winning ‘Slick’ at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival. As a director, she won the Arches Award for New Directors in 2007. She played Jo in the multi-award winning feature film ‘Red Road’ and is also familiar as Yvonne in River City.
One minute interview: Cora Bissett
Occupation:
Actor/director
Where were you born?
Kirkcaldy, Fife
Where do you live now?
Glasgow
How many books are there on your shelves? (Approx.)
200
What’s been the most fun thing about this project? (The first word of your answer must begin with L and the last word begin with B!)
Laughing in the booth (as in recording booth!)
Do you think that constraints are creative?
Yes, I think they can focus you to make decisions, and force you to find solutions you otherwise might not.
Who do you think stole the book from the National Library?
I am very undecided so far.
Which book would you most hate to lose?
My own diary(s). I’ve kept a diary since I was 11.
Who’s your favourite fictional detective?
Hong Kong Phooey
Who’s your favourite fictional dog?
Deputy dog Gromit… swung after watching xmas tv!
Which book has affected you the most?
Well probably the most recent one is freshest in my head….this was A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini which ruled my life for three days and I wept uncontrollably on more than one occasion.
When and where do you read the most?
On trains, in waiting rooms, in bed. Places where I am forced to sit still for a while!
Where’s your favourite ‘booky’ place?
Waterstones on Sauchiehall St. for the comfy chairs… library at GOMA, Tapa café in the East end.
What do you like most about a book apart from the story: its size, its smell, its cover, its…?
Its size… I like that I can take it anywhere, it can be my little companion.
For you what does a book lack the most – music, moving pictures, …?
I see the pictures in my head so maybe the sound of characters’ voices.
Have you ever used a book as a 1) doorstop, 2) missile, 3) an excuse not to do the washing up?
All of the above
Have you ever regarded a book as a friend, or indeed a monster?
A friend definitely especially if I’m somewhere I don’t want to be and feel lonely, or if I’m feeling self-conscious waiting for someone in a bar/café.
Sean Biggerstaff (Kyle)
Sean’s gained quite a reputation for his work on the stage, the small screen and the big screen. He won the Best Actor – Television Scottish BAFTA for ‘Consenting Adults’ in 2007. He played the lead in Oscar-nominated short film ‘Cashback’, and was so good that he reprised the role in the feature film. You’ll also recognise him as the captain of Harry Potter’s Quidditch Team.
One minute interview: Sean Biggerstaff
Occupation:
Actor
Where were you born?
Glasgow
Where do you live now?
Glasgow
How many books are there on your shelves?
>200
What’s been the most fun thing about this project? (The first word of your answer must begin with L and the last word begin with B!)
Learning how people in other disciplines work. I’ve never been involved with animation before.
Do you think that constraints are creative?
Hugely. I find that it’s much harder to focus and make progress when you have too many avenues open to you. Limitations make you think.
Who do you think stole the book from the National Library?
Peter Mandelson. This stinks of him.
Which book would you most hate to lose?
The old paperback copy of Catch 22 that I neglected to return to the school library.
Who’s your favourite fictional detective?
Sally Lockhart
Who’s your favourite fictional dog?
Mutley
Which book has affected you the most?
Ooh. Tough one. Water Music by T.C. Boyle is right up there, as is The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee.
When and where do you read the most?
Whilst travelling.
Where’s your favourite ‘booky’ place?
Any book shop with a coffee shop in it works for me. I like combining the two.
What do you like most about a book apart from the story: its size, its smell, its cover, its…?
I like small, well worn hardbacks. They make the most satisfying little ‘clunk’ when you close them with one hand.
For you what does a book lack the most – music, moving pictures, …?
Physicality. Your imagination can fill in all the other gaps, but you cannot physically interact with the events in a book.
Have you ever used a book as a 1) doorstop, 2) missile, 3) an excuse not to do the washing up?
1) I can’t remember doing so but I probably have.
2) Lots. At school.
3) I’m not sure how that would work
Have you ever regarded a book as a friend, or indeed a monster?
Both. My own volumes (that I prize above my dukedom) are dear friends. Everything that I only read because a teacher made me was a monster.
The Lost Book is an animated web series where you wrote the plot.
