Interview: Su Ling Chan On Her Latest Role In “Ejen Ali: The Movie 2” & The Rise Of AI In The VO Industry

Local animations, video games, and advertisements wouldn’t be possible without the talent of voice-over artists. These remarkable individuals have contributed to countless iconic works, and while we may not know what they look like, we’d certainly recognise their voices when we hear them. One such talented voice actress is Su Ling Chan, best known for voicing Bailu in “Honkai: Star Rail” and Ying in the English dub of “BoBoiBoy”.

In addition to these well-known projects, she has lent her voice to numerous productions both locally and internationally. We had the opportunity to sit down with Su Ling to discuss her latest role as Agent Elle in “Ejen Ali: The Movie 2”, her experiences as a voice-over artist, and her thoughts on the rise of AI in the industry. Be warned that the interview may contain spoilers for the film, so proceed with caution. Let’s dive in:

1. First, let’s talk about your latest project: “Ejen Ali: The Movie 2”. How was the audition process? What was your reaction when you received the call that you’re going to be in it?

I first auditioned for the character Alicia in “Ejen Ali” back in season one, and I’d been hoping to be part of the animation ever since. After that, I stayed in touch with the team, and one day, they said, “Hey, there’s this new character we think would be a great fit for you.” I said, “Okay,” went in to audition, and I felt really good about it.

It’s not really a spoiler, but the character carries a staff. During the audition, it happened to be raining, so I brought along my umbrella—one of those with a hooked handle that looks a bit like a walking stick. When I walked in, the audio director and engineer noticed and said, “Wow, your character has a staff too!” So maybe it was fate? They took about a month to get back to me, so I assumed I didn’t get the role and just moved on. Then out of the blue, they messaged me: “You got it. We need to record you.” I was like, “Oh my god, yay!”

The crazy part is that the staff was originally just a staff, but now, the weapon looks a little like an umbrella, just like the one I brought to the session. I don’t know if anyone on the animation team noticed, or if it’s just a coincidence. It’s a pretty common umbrella; you can find it in any supermarket in Malaysia, so maybe they just used a similar design. But when I saw the trailer, I thought, “Wait a minute, that looks like my umbrella.” The colour’s different, but the shape and design are the same.

2. Could you tell us a little bit about your character, Elle, in the movie? Did you draw inspiration from other characters to prepare yourself for this role?

Ah, yes. I think a lot of people, just based on how she looks, assume she’s a villain or an antagonist—but spoiler alert. She’s actually the new Ketua Teras in INVISO. So no, she’s not a villain. She just looks like one. I think every organisation needs both a good cop and a bad cop. She’s definitely the bad cop, the one in the background—she questions everything. She challenges ideas and asks the tough questions, like: ‘If this happens, who’s taking responsibility? One of us has to.’ She’s not trying to be difficult; she’s making sure everyone is thinking things through, rather than rushing into hare-brained plans.

When I first saw her character design, I immediately thought of Miranda Priestly from “The Devil Wears Prada”. It was so obvious—that cool demeanour, that low, composed tone. It was really exciting for me because I rarely get to voice a character like this. It’s not a tone people usually hear from me, so I thought, ‘This is so cool.’ I got to use my lower register—calm, cool, authoritative. She’s a total badass—asking the hard questions and keeping everyone grounded.

3. In what ways are you similar to your character, Elle?

I like that she gets things done her way—and that she really thinks things through before taking action. I think that’s something we have in common. As for being better than her? Hmm, maybe—not sure. I like to have a drink, I like to relax. She’s more of a legend. Whether or not she’s officially in charge, she has that presence, that aura. She’s not necessarily the leader, but she carries a lot of authority. And I’m like, well… maybe I can work my way up to that.

4. If you could be part of any animation or video game franchise, which would it be and why?

I would love to voice in a triple AAA RPG game like “Final Fantasy” or “Baldur’s Gate”. I grew up playing FF and would love to be part of that universe, and I spent way too much time on “Baldur’s Gate 3”. So yeah, something with an awesome narrative and well-fleshed out characters.

5. Name at least two of the characters you voiced from any animation or video game that you think would get along really well.

I think Bailu [from Honkai: Star Rail] and I would get along really well—we both love to eat, so we’d just go out and eat together. I’m not sure if I’d get along with Elle… maybe? I don’t know. And then—oh! Mayday from “No Straight Roads” would be really fun to hang out with. So yeah, bring her in, and then Bailu and I will just take care of this little kid. Let’s go, kid. Let’s go!

6. Voice acting often involves solo recording sessions. How do you keep your energy up and stay in character without other actors to play off, especially when there’s a time difference?

I do a lot of mental warm-ups before a session. There’s the physical part, of course, but more importantly, I focus on the mental warm-up, usually starting about an hour before. It really helps me get into character. For each character, I have a few anchor words. For example, when I’m preparing for Elle, I use “control” and “power.” I repeat those to myself, especially when I’m driving to the session, because, wow, animation sessions are always an hour away.

So mentally, I’m already warming up. I also listen to what I call “control and power songs”—music that puts me in the right headspace for Elle. For Bailu, it’s totally different. The anchor words are “gremlin” and “cute.” Literally—gremlin and cute, cute, cute gremlin. Because that’s exactly what she is—a little gremlin! So yeah, for most of my characters, I assign anchor words and pair them with specific music. That’s how I mentally get into character. Anchor words and music—that’s the method.

7. You’ve been in the voice acting business for so long now. Could you share with us your experience on how the industry has evolved over the years?

I think in the beginning, at least in Malaysia, voice acting wasn’t taken seriously, especially outside of commercial work. For things like animation and video games, it was often just handled in-house. You’d have people from the animation studio voicing the characters, like a very “just get someone from the team” kind of setup.

But that’s changed. The trend has shifted, and now there’s a growing recognition that, “Okay, we actually need people who do this professionally—people who are genuinely interested in voice acting, who’ve studied it and built skills in the craft”. From an international perspective, I think COVID really accelerated that shift. Suddenly, remote work became viable—and not just viable, but necessary. It proved that remote voice acting could work.

Even though a lot of work is starting to move back into the studio now, there’s still a significant amount that remains remote-based. COVID opened the doors to the whole world, and that kind of access is something we didn’t have before.

8. Do you prefer recording in the studio or at home? 

That’s a good question. I like both, honestly. But I think I lean toward studio sessions, mostly because my home studio is quite small, and there’s really no way for me to make it bigger. I love that when I go into a professional studio, I don’t have to worry about anything. The space is well set up, everything’s taken care of—and there’s air-conditioning! So yeah, that’s definitely a plus.

9. You’ve worked on countless projects, both local and international. What are your thoughts about the voice acting industry in Malaysia? How is it different from overseas?

It’s a whole different thing—that’s because of the genre of VO. The overarching term is “voice over,” but voice acting is specifically for what we call character work. That’s just one genre under the broader umbrella of VO, alongside commercials, narration, and audiobooks. Here in Malaysia, the industry is primarily geared towards commercial and narration work. I’d say about 90% of the jobs fall under those two categories. Animation and video games do come up, but they’re very rare. That’s why most people here refer to themselves as voice talents or voiceover artists—it makes sense because the majority of the work is commercial.

Most of my local projects are commercial or narration-based—things like corporate videos or announcements, like “Welcome to KLIA.” That kind of work isn’t really acting. It’s more about delivering a clear, polished voice. So the mindset is very different. But when you shift into character voice work, it becomes more about acting than just the voice itself. In commercial or narration work, it’s often about whether the client likes a specific type of voice—they can direct the performance around that. But for character work, the focus is on bringing the character to life.

I recently helped cast a video game for a local company, and we had two final candidates. One had the perfect voice but didn’t quite bring the character to life. The other didn’t match the voice the developers had in mind at all, but they really captured the character. In the end, they chose the person who nailed the character, even though the voice wasn’t exactly what they envisioned. That’s what makes character work so different. It’s less about the voice itself and more about the acting, really embodying and breathing life into the character.

10. Compared to live-action performances, the behind-the-scenes process of voice acting, particularly in Malaysia, is rarely seen. What has been the most challenging aspect of your work, and how did you overcome it?

I think it really depends on the material. There are two different dynamics at play. For commercials, it’s often about figuring out what the client wants—and sometimes the client doesn’t even know what they want. That’s the truth. There are usually too many voices on the other side: the agency might direct you one way, then the client wants something else, and then it depends on who has the final say. Sometimes it’s the marketing team, or the CMO, or even the CEO—and if the CEO doesn’t like it, everything gets scrapped and you start over. It can go up to 60 takes just because no one is sure, and the real decision-makers aren’t even in the session. So, in commercials, I’ve learned to just keep my cool. Give them everything they ask for, don’t take it personally, and just roll with it. I’ve seen it all.

At this point, I’m so used to it. If the client is being difficult or unclear, or if a lower-tier team didn’t get the boss’s approval beforehand, that’s not on me. I’ve even been recast before because someone higher up suddenly went, “Who approved this voice?” But hey, I still got paid, so I just said, “Okay, whatever,” and moved on. It’s part of the job.

Now, for character work, it’s a bit different. Sometimes I might not be in the right headspace, and I can’t fully get into the role or convey the intent. That can be frustrating because that’s where the real acting comes in. It’s a technical craft. Some days, you’re just off. Or maybe the director’s having a rough day and giving really unclear or rigid direction. That happens too. In the end, whether it’s commercial or character work, I try to remind myself: everyone just wants to get the job done. That’s the goal. So I focus on that, stay grounded, and just keep going.

11. As everyone is aware, creative jobs are increasingly at risk due to the rise of AI technology. This wasn’t a major concern in the past, but it is now becoming more evident. Could you share your experience and thoughts on this issue?

Yes, I do think AI poses a threat, especially to those of us in creative industries. But one of the most interesting things I’ve ever heard came from a voice actor colleague and mentor: AI cannot breathe. From a voice perspective, don’t be afraid of breath, because AI doesn’t breathe like we do. Also, I realised my voice isn’t what most would consider “typical” or “industry standard.” There are some voices out there that sound very common, pleasant, and expected—so much so that, honestly, I sometimes can’t even tell them apart. But my advantage is that my voice is unique. And if you want something to sound “industry standard”, AI voices can do that—smooth, similar, often monotonous in texture and tone.

Before AI entered the picture, I often wondered why my voice didn’t sound like those getting the most work. Those voices, though from different people, shared a similar timbre. However, those were also the same voices AI cloned first—because that’s what people expect. Those of us with what I like to call “character” voices—voices with unique tones and textures—may actually be at an advantage, because AI can’t replicate that yet. So I’ve stopped wishing my voice sounded like those “nice”, typical voices. When people say, “Oh, you have a nice voice”, what they usually mean is that it sounds familiar, precisely the kind of voice AI learns to mimic first.

Then there’s the breath. Being more human than AI means we just have to keep honing our craft—whether that’s audiobook narration, acting, or something else. When it comes to commercials, I don’t believe AI will ever fully replace human voice talent. Why? Because AI would need to understand and respond to the ever-changing, often chaotic demands of clients. If you’ve worked with clients, you know how unpredictable it can get. Programming AI to satisfy everyone—from the junior marketer to the director, the CMO, and the CEO—is nearly impossible. The client will flip the table before that happens. So yes, I do have concerns about AI. But when it comes to the messy, emotional, beautifully imperfect work of real storytelling and collaboration, that’s something AI still can’t do. And for now, that’s a comfort.

12. Speaking of technology, in this era of social media, it is simultaneously easier and more difficult to break into the business, as there are more competitors. What would you advise someone who is trying to start their career in voice acting?

Honestly, I think it’s a great time to be in voiceover. Of course, any time can be a great time—but right now, we’ve truly reached a point where remote voiceover work is completely viable. The technology is there, and it works. When I work with international clients, they often use programmes like Cleanfeed or Source-Connect. I simply perform on my end and record a backup, while they capture the live feed and route it directly into their Pro Tools or other production software using these connectivity tools. The audio quality is so high, it’s as if I’m right there in their studio—just using my own mic and interface remotely.

The software is expensive, but studios in the West rely on it because they frequently work with remote voice actors. That’s how advanced things have become. Local voiceover sessions still aren’t quite “true” remote sessions yet, but the technology is absolutely there—it all comes down to how much effort and dedication you’re willing to invest. It takes a lot of effort. I shared this during my panel at Comic Fiesta a few years ago: in my first year of doing international voiceover work, I auditioned for around 1,000 jobs. The competition is fierce. I spent a significant amount of money on workshops just to improve, both technically and artistically. 5 years later, I’m working on games I once only dreamed of. It took a huge amount of hard work, along with a bit of luck and good timing.

It really comes down to how badly you want it and how much work you’re willing to put in. Ten years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible—a Malaysian voice actress being cast in Honkai: Star Rail? Unthinkable. Even six or seven years ago, before the pandemic? No chance. It was all local actors and local casting. But now, it’s very possible. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. And I genuinely believe—it’s a really good time to be in this industry.

13. If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Just stay the course. You’ll end up somewhere, okay? Honestly, I don’t have any regrets. Looking back, is there anything I would’ve done differently? No, I wouldn’t change a thing. I think it’s just about trusting the process. Yeah, there really isn’t anything I’d do differently. 

Check out our Reel with Su Ling Chan!

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