Elle Newlands - Apex Legends | AW06

Have you heard about Apex Legends? Of course, you have. One of the biggest games with one of the largest player bases, at 100 million, also has one of the most colorful VO casts out there. With Apex Legends having such a dedicated fan base, I just had to bring in one of my favorite VO artists out there. Today we are joined by the multi-talented, sassy scot, Elle Newlands, who voices the beloved scientist-slash-badass, Horizon.

Elle and I had an absolute blast on this episode. We talked all about her experiences. We started way back when she was a wee little girl from Scotland to the day she moved to LA to pursue a music career, to now, as the voice of Horizon. I have to say, Elle has an amazing success story that you just need to hear. What are you waiting for? Go on and enjoy the interview with our sassy scot, Elle Newlands.

Show Notes:

[11:50] Elle’s childhood back in magical Scotland.

[15:50] How Elle moved to LA to pursue a music career.

[23:22] What inspires Elle to live the best life.

[37:50] Her experience as an Equine-assisted life coach.

[40:16] Elle voicing Horizon.

[43:58] Q&A with Elle during the live IgTV.

Follow along with Alicyn's Wonderland on:

Instagram: @Alicyn

TikTok: @alicynpackard

YouTube: Alicyn Packard

Twitter: @Alicyn 

Transcript :

Intro Welcome to Alicyn’s Wonderland, I’m your host Alicyn Packard. Join us as we journey through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole into the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Hey, do a girl a favor and please subscribe to this podcast, and go on iTunes and leave us a good review. If you like the show, please help spread the word, it really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much. Alicyn Hi, Happy Wonderland Wednesday. Welcome, welcome to Alicyn's Wonderland. If this is your first time tuning in, my name is Alicyn. And this is a weekly interview show where we talk to some of the amazing people that work in video games and animation. Hey, Rocky. Hey, King. DoubleOSeven, what's up? Cousin Donnie. Hi, it's good to see you. Anyway, thank you everybody for who's tuning in right now. We have a special guest tonight. Her name is Elle, I was gonna say Elle Macpherson. The one and only Elle Newlands, and Elle is a sassy scot, a voice actress, a singer, an equine lover, and amazing photographer. She is a multi-talented creative and I'm so excited to have her on the show. Hi, Jeff. So guys, I'm going to go ahead and welcome Elle, and see if she is ready to join today. Let's see, is Elle here yet? We're going to give another minute. I knew she had one thing to just, she had to just get ready. How's everybody doing tonight? Give me one word on how you're feeling and how your week is going. Thanks everybody that's joining. Hi, Chris. Tonight's guest is Elle Newlands. Hey, Let'sTalkCartoons. Okay, let's see. So, Word of the Week. How are you feeling? How are you doing? Jeff says, "All right." Donnie says, "Great." Thanks, Peyton. Thanks for the nice feedback. Fantastic. All right. Vaccine shot Yay. It's a good feeling. Hey, yo, everybody's feeling good. We're feeling fine. Spring has sprung, and it's definitely I think, starting to feel a little lively, for me anyway. Feeling a lot of creative energy, and getting some fun ideas off the ground, and hoping to make some more content. If you guys have any thoughts or suggestions about what you want to see. I know a lot of people were loving some of the dubs and wanting to see some Yokai Watch dubs. Other people were requesting Mr. Men dubs. So if there's anything in particular that you think would be funny or content wise that you want to see. DM me with ideas, I would love to hear them. Let's see, I think Elle is. Jonathan asked to join live. Sorry, Jonathan, we're interviewing Elle tonight, but I do appreciate your always being so ready to jump on board. Thank you for that. Yes. Devii says more content. Devii, you guys go follow Devii. He's Let'sTalkCartoons. And if you're not already following him, he puts out every day multiple posts about what's going on in the animation industry. And he's a wealth of knowledge. He just searches all the resources and is kind of like I think the go to place for news on the industry. Orval maybe, Giovanni and reacting to your friends videos. I have to check that out. Okay, let's see. Where is Elle, not here yet. Okay, so I'm just kind of have to vamp. Okay, she's ready. Okay, she's gonna be jumping on in a second. Yeah, it's Wednesday, guys. You mean that's Hump Day. So, hold on a second. Elle's just texting me right now. Who do I have coming up after Elle? Well, actually, I'm really excited. I've got the next few weeks all lined up. So yeah, if you want me to check it out. We have Juliet. She's an amazing voice actress, the youngest person that we'll ever have, probably ever have on the show. Hey, Elle just joined. So actually, I'll bring all that up at the end. So let's go ahead and add Elle right now. And then we will get the show started. Welcome to Alicyn's Wonderland. Our special guest tonight is the sassy scot, voice actress extraordinaire. Elle There you are. Alicyn Hi, so there's a little smiley face at the bottom, the button. Elle I wanted to do like a fun filter, like I wanted to, no, not that one. I don't know. I was like, I wanted to do something fun, something silly. Alicyn Oh, yeah. Elle I have no clue. I don't know what to do. Alicyn This is a fun one, I think. Elle What's that one? Which one is that? Alicyn It's the one. It's kinetic frame by Instagram. I mean, I guess everybody has different ones at the bottom. Oh, that's sassy. That's a little sassy scot. Oh, I think, I think you nailed it. I'm in love with that one. Elle Yeah, I look like a, I don't know, like I'm going for, I don't even know. Oh my God. That one is just like, get out of my face. Yeah, I think you're right. It's like they, Oh, that's a good one. I don't know. I'm just being silly. I'm like, just trying stuff and being silly. Alicyn We love silly here. It's amazing. Elle I think that's the one you were using. But it's a horrible color, for me. It's like green or something. Alicyn This filter's called Narcissist. Oh. Elle Oh, yeah, that's really good. Because then you can kiss yourself. Yeah, I think this one because it's like, space themed. Maybe. Alicyn Oh, that's great. Elle Did I go really dark though? I can't tell because my phone's turned down. Like is that, is that really? Is it really dark? Alicyn No, I think it's fine. Yeah. If you're feeling that, go for it. Elle Oh,my God. Some of these are like frightening. That's cute. Oh, there you go. That's that one. You said Narcissist, I think. Alicyn Awe, hi, puppy dog. Elle Hi. Hi. Hi. Alicyn Hi, Elle. How are you doing? It's so good to see you. Elle You too. Can you hear me? Because I have my, I have my air pods in. Alicyn Yeah, I hear you just great. Thank you. I'm gonna go back to normal. Is this normal? Elle What's normal? I mean, let's be honest. Yeah, that's the one I did and I was like, That's horrifying. So let's just turn that right off. Alicyn Hey, guys. Who wants to see my nose hairs? Like, hi. How is my sassy scot doing tonight? Elle You know, she's had a day. Alicyn Yeah. Elle She had, just stuff, more personal stuff than anything. But just I was like, Oh my god, I need to get organized, and get on there, and be ready, and hurry up, and get ready, and 50 times. Get ready. Get ready. Get ready. Alicyn You look beautiful. That's the low-hanging fruit of like, Ig live is nobody, we don't got to go nowhere, we don't got to dress from the pants. You know, from the waist down. It's just like, let's go. Elle You know, I'm, I'm fully wearing pajama bottoms. Alicyn I'm in sweats. I'm in sweats. Elle I have pajama bottoms and like a top that's not pajamas, but the rest of me, I'm pajama from the waist down. No, my dog's trying to jump up. I'm like, please don't do that. Because you're going to knock the whole kit and caboodle off. So don't do that. In fact, I'm gonna push this back a little in case she does and like, and like, pulls everything down. Stop. Hi, sorry. Alicyn She would just like pull down the entire solar system, that is your beautiful room right now. Elle Yeah, pretty much. It's like, and actually for my Apex fans, there's Horizon in the background. Alicyn Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Elle Yeah, I wish I could, hang on, maybe I can like maybe I could, God I'm gonna move this and everything's gonna fall, wait and see. Like, I want to show you. For the Apex people, I don't know if this is gonna like, that's probably, no, that's probably, probably a bad idea. Let me see what I can do here. I have, Oh, my goodness. I don't know if it goes up. Like I have a whole wall of Horizon, guys. Alicyn Oh, my gosh. Elle Yeah. And I have, the one that's signed is actually signed by Sam and Amanda, who are the, who are the Horizon writers. So when I first booked Apex I, I did like a very, very quickly did a signing for streamily. And so I very quickly got art assembled. And so when I got my first set of prints, I mailed, I signed one, and I signed one each for Sam and Amanda and I mailed them. They're up in Canada, so I mailed them one and then they sent it back to me so that, I framed it. I framed it. Alicyn So yeah, tell us a little bit how that all came about. How did you, how did you get the job? Were you familiar with Apex when you, when you had the audition come through? Elle I, you know, I was, I was familiar. I don't, I don't play. I'm not a gamer. So I hadn't played the game, but I knew what it was. And I had quite a few friends that were already in it. So that was amazing to know that I get to work with my friends. That's always nice. But yeah, I, Terry Douglas is a casting director and she reached out to me. I was moving house. And she reached out to me and she was like, oh, there's this amazing role that you would be perfect for and it's Scottish and you know, I'm gonna send it to you, make sure you send it back to me and I said, Yeah, yeah. I was moving house at the time. So it's like everything was in boxes. My studio. Oh, thank you. Someone said, My idol. Alicyn Do you know Terry Douglas is actually coming on the show in a few weeks. Elle Well, there you go. I did not know that. No, I didn't know that. But she anyway, so she had reached out to me. And she said, make sure you send this back. And so I did. And I got, I got a callback, and I went into the callback. And I don't know, I've said this before, you know, the Apex cast members, we've talked about this a lot. It's like, I feel like everybody, I mean, there's a couple of exceptions, like Darin De Paul is nothing like Revenant. So Revenant's, like an evil, like Darin De Paul is the loveliest person in the world. But a lot of us are kind of like our characters. And so when I did my callback, well, when I did my callback, I was just like, I just got to be me. I got to play like an element of myself. And it was just, it was delightful. And so I don't know, it was like, in the callback, I thought, I felt I was like, This is my role. Like, if I don't get it, I don't get it. But this is my role. And I've never felt that way about any other role I've ever read for or, you know, it's like, you fall in love with roles, and you hope you get them. But this one, I was just like, Oh, this is just, this is me. Like, it just felt like me being me for an hour and the callback, just even though I was reading lines, it was like, I got to play and bring out different elements of myself. So yeah, I'm really, really glad that I got it. Alicyn That is amazing. Yeah, I mean, so much of, you know, being born and raised in Scotland, and you know, you're such an intelligent woman, and you bring so much creativity to the plate. I can see why it was like a natural fit. Elle Awe, thank you. I feel like, I do feel that way. Alicyn Yeah, so you grew up in Scotland, and what was that like? I don't know, you want to tell us a little bit about your childhood and what kind of child you are? Elle Yeah, I was a, I was an outdoor child. So basically, it was, I just wanted, because I mean, I didn't live in the country, but I lived near the country. I was country-adjacent. But the town that I grew up in was like a new town. So we lived in what's called the greenbelt. So there was a lot of like, forest and fields, and I was, from about seven years old, I've been riding horses. So it was like, that was my element. And I love to, I just, in the summer holidays, it was like, I would be out. We were allowed to be out until the streetlights came on. That was kind of like, we were all free-range back then. So it was like, well, when the streetlights come on, you need to come in. And so I would just be outside, I'd be playing in the woods, I would be, you know, playing in rivers, collecting tadpoles. Yeah, and picking up stones like, because back then it was like things were undeveloped. So it was like, I would find rocks that turned out to be like, now, I've grown older, it's like I realized they're crystals. It was like I was finding like precious, you know, in the raw form, just in the woods. It was very magical. I have to say, I mean, I know it sounds like, you're like, Yeah, right. You grew up in Scotland. Of course, it was magical. But it was, it was like, you know, I, I think that's where I developed my ability to play which as you know, is so important as a voice actor. Like to be able to just play is, I don't know, like, that's paramount. And I think I got that from a young age, and just, I don't know, I see the magic and stuff like I'm, I don't, I'm very whimsical. I don't know if that's the right word, but like I just I see the magic in things. Alicyn Well, isn't your national animal a unicorn. Elle Yes, it is. Indeed. It's a very, it's the Lion rampant which is on the flag. But it's also the unicorn, it's like they couldn't quite decide, should we get serious? Or should we go you know, like camp? And so we have two. It's amazing. Alicyn Yeah, and then of course, like Land of the Leprechaun. No, that's Ireland. Sorry. Elle That's Ireland. No, we have, we have fairies. We, I mean, we have fairies like like, that's our thing is like, we've got fairies, and you know, I was in the brownies, and it's like, you know, you would have like the different brownie groups you would have like different fairies. Alicyn Is that like the Girl Scouts out here? Elle Yeah. Alicyn I was a brownie but it was like a girl, the girl scout, like is that the same? Elle It's like the brownies is for like young, like children, and then you go into what's, here you don't do the Girl Scouts, you do the Girl Guides. Alicyn Oh my god. I was a brownie too. See, I've always felt like we have a lot in common. Did you do the bridge, the Rainbow Bridge thing? Elle No, but that sounds fascinating. Alicyn That was like when you move to Girl Scouts, you bridge. Elle Oh, no, I did not get the luxury of that. That's cute, though. I like that. No, I didn't, I didn't get that. Alicyn Oh, so yeah, I mean, allowing your adventure to develop, and then and you were a singer as well, right? Elle I was, yeah. I still am, yeah, but, yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah. I mean, it's funny like when people ask me like why voice acting, I'm kind of like, there's just no other job I think I would have ended up doing to be honest. Because when I was a child, I impersonated people, and I did accents, and I would read my book at night, and I would do it in voices and accents, and I was creating, like characters back then. And yeah, I would sing, and I would write songs, and I was kind of, I was doing improv. When I was a very young child, so. Precocious. Alicyn I wish, I wish we got to know each other as kids. I think we would have had a lot of fun. Elle Oh, I think we would have too, but you know what? We're still kids. Alicyn We're still kids. Elle We're just big kids. We're just big kids. Alicyn Yeah, so how did you, how did you get from Scotland to LA. You cam to pursue a singing career, right? Elle Yes. God you're good at that. You're like, you're like Katie Couric over here. Yeah, if this voice over thing doesn't work out for you, you should go into investigative journalism. Very good. Yeah, I wait, what was the question again? Oh, how did I get here? To be a singer? Yes, I yeah, I came out here, I literally just showed up here with a guitar in one hand and a suitcase in the other. And I was like, I am going to pursue a singing career. I mean, I was acting a little bit in Scotland, but I was mostly singing from, again, from a younger age. I had, I was like a session vocalist in Scotland, and I sang in bands, and I was a backup singer. And like, when I was in high school, I went on tour in Europe. I mean, seriously, like, high school. Yeah. When I was in high school, and we didn't even get like. Yeah, it was nothing. Yeah, it was nothing to do with school. It was, I was, we have a Twin City in the town that I was in. And so they organized like the city chamber, and you know, the, whatever it was called, like, the Chamber of Commerce or whatever it's called, like, they were like, we should do an exchange where, because there was a big Music Festival in Denmark. And they were like, we should do an exchange, where we have some local bands go out to Denmark, and then some Danish bands can come here. So our band, I was one of three, I think, and our band got picked. And it was amazing. Like, it was a full on, like, music festival with alcohol. I was like, 15, I was like, totally under age. But it was like, you know, it was like, I don't even know, like back then, it was, like, people just, it wasn't as nutty as now. Like, people are still like, I don't know. I think like, kids now grow up like really, I don't know. It's like, I guess it's like that helicopter parent. It's an, even like in school, it's more like everyone's afraid of getting sued. Back then, no one cared. So anyway, we're all just like, you know, we're flying off to Denmark during this like week long, taking a week off school. I was a total rock star when I was 15. Alicyn That's amazing. Elle Anyway, so that's what, that's why I decided to come out here. I was like, I'm just gonna go see if I can get a music career in LA. And I did. Alicyn This is easy so far. Elle I mean, it wasn't easy. But you know, when you're, when you're young, you just, you're honest to God, like people have asked me this. Like, if I was to have waited, there's no way I would have come out to LA, there's no way I would have attempted to do this. Like I did it when I was like, 20. I don't even know. I was young. And I was like, I'm just gonna go and see what happens, so. Alicyn Totally, yeah, I, same experience. It's like, I think the more you realize how much you don't know, the less ballsy you are in your risk taking. So yeah, I always encourage people to just go for it. You don't need to have every single answer to shoot for the sky, you just have to just put one foot in front of the other and keep going. And then you learn along the way. And hopefully, you can find mentors and people that can help you avoid some mistakes, but you will make mistakes and you'll be okay. You know, hopefully. Elle I did not have any of those. So I made mistakes. No, I didn't have mentors. So I made mistakes, mistakes were made, things happened. But that's the stuff that you learn and grow from so that, you know, I was talking to my friend the other day, and I was just like, you know, when I look back on my life, I wouldn't change a thing. Like I really, really wouldn't change a thing. I just, I don't know, I've said this before in other lives, and I've said it in interviews and when people have asked but I had a friend that died when I was 17. And it was very tragic. And I was there and it traumatized me and for a lot, for quite a few years, I was very, very traumatized. I had PTSD, like, badly. And I came through such a difficult time with that. That when I got better, and when I first moved to the, to LA, I probably still had PTSD. I just was like, I just knew my time in Scotland was done and I was like, I'm gonna go, I'm just gonna go to another continent, and start over. And I knew one person and so I did. But the point of this is to say that I realized at a young age like how short life is because to be 17 and lose another 17 year old is, was so traumatizing. And he was, his name is James, he was so promising, he was super bright. We were in an art class together, we were both artists, we both wanted to go to art school together. You know, he was an athlete, he was everything. And he died. And it was just, for me, it was like, once I got past the trauma of it and kind of started to like, recover. I did not take a day for granted ever again after that. And everything I do is for him, like I think about him a lot, actually. And I just, you know, I'm like, he did not get the privilege of living this life. He was taken very young, and I feel sometimes that I'm doing it for him. So yeah, I don't know if I've ever told that story. I don't think I've told that story before. I just thought, I don't know, he's just been on my mind recently, because I have a lot of blessings. And I just I feel like a lot of my life, I just, I feel like a lot of my life has been guided by, I know this is gonna sound terrible, but like, there was a lot of tragedy. There was a lot of people who died in my life when I was young, like also other young people. And it just shaped everything. It was like, by the time I was 25. I was like, I know how quickly this goes. I know how fleeting this is. I know how fragile this is. And I did not waste a minute. I did not waste it. I made mistakes. I was 25, come on. But I didn't, I had that core concept of life is for living. And I'm gonna go out and grab it. And I'm just, you know, people are gonna say no, and if they close the door, I'll open another one. And I did. I just I don't know what it's like I just had I'm, I just have that drive in me to always live my life because it just goes like that. Alicyn What's your sign? Elle I'm a Leo with Cancer and Aquarius moon. Alicyn I was always getting stuck with Leos. Elle I know. So I think we were talking about this, like half the Apex cast is Leo. Of course, we're actors. What are you? Alicyn Libra. Elle Oh, you're very balanced. That makes sense. You're a Little Miss Sunshine as well, you're just like. Alicyn And Little Miss Snotty. Elle I can see that. I can see that. Alicyn But I mean, like I really take those words that you say to heart because I think, there's actually an app that reminds you multiple times a day that you're going to die. Have you heard of this app? Elle No. Alicyn It's a Buddhist practice of coming to terms with your own mortality, multiple times a day to reinforce your remembrance of the gift of life. And I think it is important that we can easily take it for granted when we are separated from the idea that, you know, this might not be forever. So what, what what we can give back in the meantime, there's so much and some of the smaller things that can take care of us emotionally can get in the way from us just being fully present. So I'm glad that you brought that up. And it really inspires me. Elle I'm glad I mean, I like I said it. I, I don't know why I'm talking about this. I think it's because I'm at this point in my life where I like, on a personal note, it's like I there's, there's a lot of endings happening and brand new beginnings. Yeah. And I'm really in this place of just being I'm just super present right now. And I'm just taken and there's a lot of really good things that are happening in my life that I did not expect. And like a lot of like, unexpected blessings are coming my way that I'm like, Whoa, this is amazing. And I'm realizing that if I'm not present, I might miss it. And sometimes it's you know, it's like I, I said this before, and I'm not just saying this, but I have said this before it's like ever since Apex came out in November. My whole life shifted, like, everything shifted for me. It's like I, I came in season seven, my character's name is Horizon. She went through a black hole, you know, she survived like 87 years in a black hole, which, if you've watched Interstellar, you know that time is like this. So it's like for the 80, for the one second that she was probably in that black hole, it was 87 years on earth. And so by the time she came back, her whole life had moved on. And when she left, she had a son. And so the whole, the whole genesis of that her story and like, how much resilience she had and I my season was called ascension, and I was like, I can't, I can't ignore this like and I really started to dive into like how I just started to dive into my own story and I was like, there's so many ways that I have been reborn there's so many chances I've been given. There's so many redos and, so much, there's tragedy, there's grief, there's like, there's resilience. And there's also joy. And I was just like, I don't know, it's like, I really feel like I had some kind of crazy rebirth. That's all I can say. And it wasn't just the character, obviously, the character is one thing, but the group of actors that I'm with, like some of my closest, most treasured people are in that cast. And I've only now been in that cast for like five months, but I've just, there's just some really incredible relationships that have come out of that. And the whole overall past and then the writers and the devs. And like, and just the company, it's like, there's something about Apex Legends and Horizon that just, it just shifted everything for me. It's, it's amazing. I've never I've never had that experience before with work. It's like, I've enjoyed stuff. I've never had like an actual transformation through a job, so. Alicyn That's amazing. Elle Yeah. Alicyn Justine also spoke about, you know, just a being really a career-changing experience Elle It is and she also has, I mean, I'm lucky because Horizon is a beloved character. They did such an incredible design, everything about Horizon just by the time I walked into her space boots, she was so fully formed that I brought her to life with my voice, but she was, she was incredible already. And that's the same, Justine's character's called Watson. And she's very similar. They're both scientists. They're like female scientists. Very smart. Very funny, like, you know, a lot of charm and personality, lots of puns. And it's just, and Justine is like that. Justine is just like her character, so. She's lovely. I'm a big fan. She's one of, she's one of the people I'm talking about. I love Justine. She was the first person that reached out to me. I mean, I knew people on the cast, but she was the first person I didn't know on the cast that reached out and was like, um, like, once I was announced. Well, actually. I was announced to the cast well ahead of when I was announced to the world, but she reached out to me and was like, she followed me and she's just, she's lovely. Hi Justine. The Justine fanclub I don't think she's there. I'm just saying. Promo Hey, guys. This is Alicyn Packard. Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know that if you like the show, please, please, please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much. Alicyn So you were talking about like some other big shifts in your life. I was wondering, I saw that you had started a certificate program to become an equine-assisted life coach. And that sounds so interesting. Elle Yeah. Alicyn Can you talk a little bit about that? Elle Yeah. So it was a few years ago, I did, well, four years ago, I went through a program called Hoffman Institute, which was part of the initial life change that by the time Horizon and Apex came along, that was done. But it was, it's a, it's a life, it's kind of like it's a week long. It's just transformational. I can't say too much, because it's one of those programs that you you don't want to spoil it for someone because it's that incredible. So I did that. And then I came out and I, I asked to be a what's called a group grad, which was like our grad to run a grad group. So it's a graduate group in Los Angeles, and through the grad groups, I met another Hoffman graduate, and she was talking about how she was just starting to do this equine life coaching or like equine-assisted coaching. And I have a horse and I've, like I said, I've ridden horses my whole life. And I had on the flip side of that, I had this, I feel, like, I feel like all I'm doing is transforming but I did. I had this transformational experience with my horse because she got diagnosed with an illness, diagnosed with a very, she's still alive, and she's well she got diagnosed with a genetic disorder. And through that I was able to hook up with some other people in the genetic world and like they created a test to the sequence of her DNA and know there's like these tests that are all over the world and like people are finding out more about like their, their horses have, you know, these genetic disorders. And so I had gone through this, like incredible healing experience with my horse. And so when she told me about that, I was like, that sounds amazing. But at the time, I didn't feel like I was in the right place. I was like, I've got no business coach, like trying to coach anyone right now. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing. And so that was like a few years ago, and so jump cut to Horizon, Apex legends. I went through this, this Christmas and New Year, and I just really took stock of my life and I was like, what do I really want to do? And I said, Well, obviously I'm an actor, and I love it. But I also feel ready now to, to commit to giving back in some way and all of this learning that I've been doing my whole life like it just all this, like, everything that, all the experiences I've had have led me to this point in life. And I'm like, I feel like I'm ready to learn this skill and just see where it goes. So on the on the first day of my coaching class when we did our first class, because we're doing it from zoom right now, but we're doing an on site, which is a we're going to meet in person in a month. But we're doing it on zoom. And so I said, I was like, I'm really honest. I said, I don't even know if I want to be a coach. I just know that I was drawn here. And I'm super curious. And I don't know if that's going to be, I mean, I think is, I hope it is, but I'm also really open to the possibility that something else comes out of it. Or I just learned something incredible. Who knows. But I have had a couple of friends come up to my horse and like we've practiced, and it's life changing, just watching people go from A to Z, and now working with a horse. Alicyn What's the thing about, about what equline life coaching is, because I'm not sure that I quite understand. Elle The horse. Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Can you repeat the question. Alicyn You're, are you coaching someone with the horse? Or, you're not coaching the horse. Are you actually? Elle No, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's assisted by the horse. Sorry, I keep talking over you. There's a weird choppiness that's happening a little bit, I think. You just oh, there you are you disappeared for a second. I think I'm talking over you. I'm sorry. Alicyn No, no worries. Elle So you were just saying that, like, it's, it's not the horse, it's the person. Alicyn Oh, yeah. Are you, so you're coaching, you're coaching someone that has a horse? Or is it just you're working with your horse to help somebody have breakthroughs in their own life? Elle Well, that's part of what, that's part of the unknown right now. Because like I said, I have no clue how this I mean, for all I know, I could end up buying a piece of land and running a center, or I could do, I could do retreats. Or I could just do one on ones, I have no clue. But for know what it is, is, yeah, I've been doing it with my horse. So people come to me. And we, we try to figure out what it is they want to work through. And like I did a session recently with a friend who's grieving, like she's actually working through grief. And, and that was amazing, because she just, she just sat with the horse and the horse, the horse, like you go in with the horse, there's different ways of doing it. So without getting way too technical, there's, I guess, there's like, people are coming in for change, and they're already in a great space, and they're energized. So that would be you probably put them on their feet. And they would try and work physically with the horse, and they try and move the horse and the horse, he would have that physical interaction, that's the kind of energy flow. But there's also some people who come who maybe are depressed or have had a traumatic experience, or, or you know, are grieving or whatever. And it's like, it's not as appropriate. So for them, a lot of times, they just want to sit in a chair, or stand still, and the horse will move around them. And either way, it's like, you know, it's like, horses mirror heartbeats. And they can actually like the mirror your energy. And so apparently, I think this is I don't want to get this wrong. But when they're, when they're in a group, they all get onto the same heartbeat, so that if there's a predator, all of their heartbeats go up at once, so they're all aware. So it's not a noise, it's an energy and it physically, it's like an actual, like, experience, the horses experience the world, through their bodies, they don't think, they experience it through emotions, and they experience it through energy. And they're extremely, like, they can feel your energy from like a football field away. And so when you work with a horse, you end up sinking up to their heartbeat, and they sync up to yours, and you end up like really, energetically like the horse. I don't know, it's like they move you, that's all I can say. And every session is different. And every client is going to have again, I'm not a certified life coach yet. So I'm speaking from what I'm learning, but every client is going to have a different experience. But basically, the, the, the, what you want, the conclusion that you want is for it's, it's, in my opinion, it's different. It's like it's probably very, it's funny, it's extremely different from talk therapy, cause talk therapy keeps you in that cycle. Whereas if you're working with the horse, you're moving stuff out of your body and you don't even realize it. Alicyn Your coming into the present moment more. I feel that way with my cat sometimes to be honest. When I'm meditating he'll sometimes just come like lay on my head. And just like purr into my head. It's very, very soothing. Elle Yeah, yeah, I had cats. And my dog to like I have a dog and she's the same. It's like sometimes she'll just lie between my legs and I do energy work like not my clique. I go to a person and they work energetically with me. I love it, and my dog comes and my dog will just like move around my body. It's like she knows where I need to be like grounded. It's quite amazing. Alicyn I know, so you have horses, are they at your house? Or do you have a stable you keep them at? Elle I have one horse and she is, she's near my house. But like I said, I, I'm hoping that, I'm hoping that my voiceover career is so successful that at some point, I can just keep saving money and at some point I can, I can buy like a horse property and land and probably build some kind of center. Alicyn Yeah, move up to Canyon Country by Vasquez Rocks or Ohio, or something that'd be great. Elle Yeah, who knows? I have no clue, again. Alicyn We know, let me just plug in my phone too. Elle I want to play your piano while you're gone. Dee dee dee dee doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo. Alicyn A little bit here. You got it. Yeah, you can now, you get to ramp. While I readjust. Elle Well, everybody's just looking down your shirt. You know that right? It's the Mad cleavage action. Alicyn Hey, guys, this is what your gonna get? Elle Dinner and a show. Alicyn Did I tell you, Elle, and everybody that's listening, I have some big news about the show. It is becoming a podcast. We're kind of reverse engineering this and what used to be, what is, what was the podcast, became an Instagram TV show, and is now going to be a podcast again. So these episodes are going to be turned into audio and then submitted a podcasting network. So unfortunately, people won't be able to see my cleavage on the podcast. Elle That's alright, we can we can imagine. There's an, there's an, there's a there's an imagery there that like now this whole episode, every single person that's listening to this episode for the rest of the episode will just be thinking about your cleavage. That's how this works. Alicyn They can always go to Instagram. And get out there. Watch the replay, because the replay, everybody if you miss any portion of this, the replay will be available later. Okay, so let's get back on track. So, gosh, you have so many talents. Also, just want to chat real quick about your astronomy photography, because you take the most amazing. Elle Oh, that's right. Yeah. Alicyn You gave me some tips, one time I went out and I tried to take some pictures and it is so hard and I gave up. So the photos that you are capturing are stunning. How did you get into that? Elle Um, I had a friend that did it and just showed me kind of like showed me like, how to do it. Because like I told you, there's really only a couple of seconds to do the Milky Way. For example, there's really only a few, you just need the equipment. You need the tripod, you need the DSLR, the camera and the right lens. But really, it's like, as long as you have the settings, you can capture the night sky. So you know. Alicyn And you captured it in LA even. Elle Yeah, I am I yeah, like right behind me like out the window. It's like over the, over the mountains. I'm like I don't want to say where I live because that's weird. But I you know, it's like, Alicyn Plenty of mountains in LA, could be any of them. Elle Yeah, I live in an area where there's more, where there's less light. And so I think we're class five. There's like a thing called the bortle scale. And it's like, it's like, class one to class 10, I think. And it's like, anywhere from five to 10 is like light pollution and what. So LA, this part of LA is like less on the on the light pollution scale. So yeah, I was able to capture some pretty epic stuff last year, just from my backyard. And I'm, by the way, I'm just it's impressive, but it's there's so many, but like, I'm not that good. It's like I can take a picture of the night sky. But there's some people out there that are just like, you know, I follow a lot of different, I've been, I love I mean, I've always loved the sky, and I've loved stars for a very long time. Since I was a kid. You know, I've always wanted to see the Milky Way. And then I saw it with my naked eye. And then when I saw it for the first time, like through a camera, I was like, oh my god. So you know, it's like, it's, it's, it's not that hard to master. I guess like you just have to, you just have to, like, it's kind of patience. And like I said, there's it's like a it's a varied bunch of settings, so. Alicyn Cool. Well, I mean you have a creative eye and it's definitely, I love following you here on Instagram because I get to see so much of your creativity and that's, it's so fun. So, you finally have your voice over character catchphrase. Elle Oh, which one is that? Alicyn In March there is like a couple, now you have so many. Do you feel like, you feel like, you know treating our audience to any of your catchphrases? Elle (As Horizon) "Another soft landing." That's one of the favorites. (As Horizon) "Up and away, Newtie." What else. Help me out here people. Alicyn Down below there's a box for questions that we're going to save a little bit of time at the end for questions so go ahead and type your questions for Elle in the box down below. Elle Yeah, and whatever quips you want to hear another wee pick or wee pick me up that's another I think another soft landing, or yeah, I think there's a couple that that that that people spam and say in the game because it's hilarious. Like it's just like they just keep spamming my line over and over. And I guess like another soft landing is a really really annoying one. And there's another one. Come on guys. Help me. Alicyn I love your darlings. Is that one? Elle Yeah, darling is like that's one of her catchphrase. But Oh, (As Horizon) "Oh no! Did that hurt darlin'?" I don't know. There's like so many. I'm horrible guys. Like I, I should have my catchphrases memorized. But my brains a little COVIDy, COVIDy, pandemicy brain. What else, what's like another one I love. (As Horizon) "Time for experimentation, evaluation, and a wee cuppa tea." Alicyn Fill a large cup of tea. What's the opposite of wee? Elle Large. Alicyn Large, large cup of tea. Elle There someone said, (As Horizon) "Now there's a vast and densely populated universe." "I'm carrying." What was that? A galaxy of carrying a singularity in my backpack? I should know these. I'm sorry, guys. I used to know them. Alicyn Are you still, are you still recording for Apex? Elle Yeah, it's every, we're like, we're an ongoing thing. So we are currently in season, I was season seven. We're currently in season eight. We're moving towards season nine, which comes out? I can't remember because I was November. I was November, December, January, then February, March, April. It's every like quarter. Let's see. So yeah. So I'm always updating my end game lines. It's a great job. It's a great gig. Alicyn Yeah, not a lot of video games continue after the game is released. Usually when the game released, your job is done, so. Elle This is an extremely unique, it really is like the Cadillac of voiceover jobs. It's an extremely unique situation on every single level. Like there's a community, you know, our Apex community, which consists of pretty much 100 million players we just hit that. Alicyn That's amazing. Elle That's, that's ginormous. That's gigantic. This isn't just big. It's huge. It's like a noggin and a tooth. Yes, it's very large. So yes, so there's that. But we have a very, we have an extremely active community, an incredible gamer community and fan base. And we love, we love you guys dearly. If you're here from the Apex community, we absolutely adore you. Alicyn You guys see the corner? If you're here from Apex, give Elle some love. Give the apex community some hearts down there. Or you can type it in the timeline. Elle Yeah, people are saying I love you. So yeah. Awe, there's my heart. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Alicyn Wow, so, so what do you think has been some of the biggest changes for you since joining Apex? Elle As a person? Or the actor? Alicyn I guess in terms of your career? How do you think it shifted? I mean, I know, you certainly got a lot of followers in a short period of time and went from sort of, yeah, getting a lot more exposure. How was that? How did that change things? Elle Well, that's amazing. I mean, that's like for an actor, that's amazing. Just because you get to, that's what I mean about it's such a unique situation, because I've been in AAA games, but I don't have like this connection to the fan base, or the gamers. I don't have, you know, it's like I or I don't know, but with this community, it's very vocal, and we're all very connected and like, I don't know, you follow me on Instagram, you see, like I interact with everyone like here, on here and on Twitter. So it's like it's it's great. It's part of a family, on a, on a life and like on an actor level. It's, it's opening some doors. Alicyn NDA guys. NDA. Elle It's Apex Legends, man. It's like, it's kind of like being the Friends. Like, this is what Johnny always says, he's like, this is like the Marvel of video games. And it kinda is. It's amazing. It's like, you know, there's it's a it's an incredible franchise. And so you know, I don't know, that's, it's opening doors because people know what it is. And they recognize that it's has a very large following, which as you know, as an actor, has become important to what we do. You know, game developers and companies love when an actor has like a very robust and strong following, because it helps everybody it helps. So that's it's definitely, it's definitely an incredible. Alicyn Is that the feedback that you're hearing more from the developer side or from your agency side, or is this because, Elle All of it. Alicyn Yeah, it's becoming, Elle All of it. Yeah. It's like, all of it, like people like I guess, like, also. It's like, people are seeking me out to do things as a scot, well, no, they were, they were before. But the, it's like, oh, that's that girl from Apex legends. That's the actress from Apex Legends. I can even say Apex Legends. So yeah, it's helping. I will say it's helping. But even if it wasn't, even if it wasn't helping, I wouldn't care. Because it's still the best. It's still the best and most fun experience overall. So I love it. Alicyn Yeah. Yay. And what about, um, in terms of creative projects? I mean, is there anything coming down the pipeline, not just for VO but, any music, or any particular things? Elle Yeah. I have like some stuff like so I did a, an episode of something for the BBC. Shout out to wee Claire. So yeah, I did. And then, like, I just recorded something for the BBC, BBC social. And from that, my, my friend Claire, and I, who's the interviewer, like, we've been talking a lot. She's in London right now. But like, we're planning to do some stuff together, like some online content together. And Mela and I are cooking up some stuff. She's extremely, Mela plays Lifeline. She's extremely creative. And she's an incredible businesswoman and watch her fly, by the way, guys, because she's got some amazing stuff coming up. But yeah, it's like there's a lot happening. But it's all just behind the scenes and slowly. Music wise, I haven't really been doing as much music recently, because I kind of got busy, you know, doing this life coaching thing. But I do know that there's a lot happening. I have some, I have some stuff that's on the horizon. That a little too close to the bone? Alicyn We are very excited for all you have on the horizon and can't wait to support and share your projects. So keep me posted and I will be happy to help spread the word for your next great endeavor. I do want to save a little bit of time for audience questions. So if you guys want to go ahead and type them in the box, we can move over to a little q&a. And I want to be really conscious of your time because I said I was gonna save 10 minutes but. Elle That's fine. I can stay for as long as you need, I just, in 10 minutes, this is how rock and roll I am. In 10 minutes I might have to pop off because I have to turn off my oven because I'm cooking the chicken but other than that. Alicyn We have you for 10 minutes. What kind of chicken are you cooking? Elle A whole one. I stuff it, yeah, I stuff it with, I'm sorry for any vegetarians or vegans. I stuff it wit,h it's the only meat that I eat though, I eat fish and chicken and that's it. I can't eat red meat. I don't eat children like veal or lamb. I can't eat any of that. But I stuff it with rosemary and garlic. Human children? Depends. Oops, depends how much their parents feed them. Alicyn I got a chubby little one in my room. Elle Is nobody asking questions? Come on guys. Alicyn No, there are, there are questions. Elle Okay, good, good, good. Alicyn Jeff has a question. What has it been like to discover teaching during the pandemic? Elle Oh, yeah, that's right. Forgot about that one. See, that's got a lot going on. Yeah, I've been coach, I've coached a couple of times done, video game coaching a couple of times. And yeah. Alicyn That's amazing. Elle I realized that I actually really love to coach and direct, like I that's another string I'd love to add to my ball later on when I have you know, some time. Is to maybe do some directing of some kind because I was like, that's what it was really fun to just run with people live and be like, Alright, let's try this way, let's try it this way, let's try it this way, and like and see people just, you know, see actors like, take the direction and like change just more before my eyes. It's very very cool, though. Yeah. Yeah. Alicyn A lot of people wondering how you're feeling today, how's your day, how are you, how you doing? Elle I can't comment on anything about the game because I'm not in charge of, like a lot of people ask me questions about buffs and nerfs. And just all of this stuff that anything related to the game, I cannot answer that. Alicyn Is this no comment? Elle I don't know. Alicyn As the voice of Horizon, do you agree that horizon is OP and needs so many nerfs? Elle Oh, yeah, that's, I just don't know. Like, I don't, you know, the thing you have to remember about a game like Apex Legends is it's it has to be balanced for other. There's so many different characters that they all have to kind of balance each other out. So I fully expect that she's going to get tinkered with, you know, but I'm sure it's like, I've have heard from people who main Horizon and they're like, they still love playing her. She's still very OP, she's still very OP. Alicyn Well if you guys have questions like that, you can also ask the other people in this room right now and start a little conversation down below. Elle I just I can't answer it just because I'm not in that, that's not the side of things that I'm in and they don't tell us that, so. Alicyn Hey, Tommy was asking what do you think of Elizabeth's royal blue gown for Bioshock? You know, this gal he speak? He's speaketh of? Elle Yeah. Is that Elizabeth Comstock? Is that her name? Was she a, she a Comstock? I don't know. I was in Bioshock. But I wasn't like one of the main characters. I love royal blue. So I have a lot of blue around my house. I do love it. I love it. And gowns are spectacular. They've got very, they've got really cool. Is that the steam? Do they have steam punk? It's more of that steam punk look? Kind of period? I'm just guessing. No. Alicyn I guess bottom line is, it's awesome. Elle It is awesome. It's blue. And not only because it's a very, very royal color, so. Alicyn KingTaketh19 asks, What's your favorite thing about your career? Elle Honestly, to get paid to bring a character to life. And I mean, you can talk about that too, Alicyn. It's like to be paid to, to bring a character to life and, and see that character's like past. Because when you're in the booth, you're like, you're just voicing and then when it comes out, no matter what medium it is when it comes out, and you see your voice with that character, that reveal to me is always amazing. Like, no matter what the no matter what the medium is that whatever, character, whatever. You know, I don't know what I'm trying to say, job? Like whatever is, I love when I see, when I see my voice, and I get to see like the body that it's coming out of it, I'm just in awe of that whole process. You know that because when we're voicing it, like, we're usually a hit, like sometimes they show, the often show was concept art. But you're still so early, like earlier in the process, because they automate to us right a lot of the time. So it's like you get to see that and when the character comes out, it's just amazing. Yeah, I Alicyn I remember the first time that Elle I met was actually, we were both working backstage, doing on the soundstage, doing ADR for Simpsons. Do you remember that? And we totally hit it off then, and then we did Mark Evanier panel at the beginning of the pandemic? Elle We did, that was, I want to say that was July though, but yeah, it was, it was 2020. It was like, right, it was like within months of the pandemic heading, but that was so fun. Alicyn It was fun. Yeah. Elle It really was. We had a good, we had a good laugh on that. It was a good group. Alicyn So a lot of these questions are kind of covering a lot of the same thing. No, Apex is not the game that you first acted in. We talked about that. What's your favorite Horizon voice line? Do you think, do you have a favorite? Elle I mean, I genuinely just love spamming people and going "Another soft landing." I love anything that just like, it's like the quippy, the quippy ones. I mean, I do love "Time for experimentation, evaluation, and a wee cuppa tea." Like, you know, like that's so Horizon, like, that's just very Horizon to be mixing science with drinking tea. Alicyn Is there, do you do anything special to care for your voice? Elle Yeah, I try to avoid screaming, and I'm not being glib, like, I tend to, I have no wish to blow out my voice. And so if I'm in a session where I have to be screaming, which happens, I have, I have noticed that the industry has become very, very respectful of that. And then so oftentimes, if I have to, I'll just ask to take a break. Or sometimes we have to end the session because your voice is going, and they'll, they're very respectful of that. But on a general basis. I sing, I like to sing. And I that's agree, just singing alone really helps your muscles like it's a muscle. And it's also very joyful, brings me joy, Alicyn What is the, what is the one thing that you hope that your fans get out of your performance and multiple creative outputs? Elle Um, I honestly, I just, I just want to, I want to be uplifting and even sometimes you don't have an uplifting character, but I want to take whatever opportunities that I'm given, and as a human being like, outside of the character, just as me on social media, I just, I want to spread positivity and just like, I don't know, like, be real, be a real person, and try to encourage people that, and I have done this, like, I've seen a number of people mentioned the ADD thing, like my character has ADHD, Horizon does. And so there have been a number of people who have reached out to me or I've done, I did some galaxy con appearances. And, and I, you know, people bought one on ones and they told, they just some of the stories that I've heard about how much this character means to people because she is so smart, and she is so positive, and she's brilliant, and she's, you know, she's a scientist, but she's not nerdy. She's like, really relatable. And she's a mom. And so, you know, I've had a lot of people reach out to me from all different walks of life, I've had parents reach out to me, I've had young people reach out to me, I've had people with ADHD, I've had people on the autism spectrum, I've just had a lot of people reach out to me and tell me how much she really really means to them. Because she overcame something, and is thriving, and she's this incredible force of life. And so, I don't know, it's like, I'd like to think that in some small way that I get to do that too, for people that just by being the voice for her or any other character that uplifts or inspires somebody, you know that I embody that a little and I tried to give that back to the community, so. Alicyn I love that. Okay, one last question before we call it because I think your chicken's calling you. If there was a song in your heart, what would the name of the song be? Elle Does it have to be a real song or just? Alicyn No. Any song in your heart. Elle Love is everywhere. Alicyn Love is everywhere. Do you feel like singing it? Elle Love, love, love, love is everywhere. Oh, love, love, love everywhere. Alicyn Sing it. Elle It's in me. It's in you. It's in everything. Alicyn Exactly. But yeah. Well. Elle Love is everywhere. Alicyn Elle, can you just say, real quick, before we go on. Say your name and say this is Horizon from Apex Legends and check out Alicyn's Wonderland. Elle Hi, this is Elle Newlands. I am Horizon from Apex Legends and darlin, I need you to check out Alicyn's Wonderland. Alicyn Thank you. Guys, thank you so much for tuning in. Elle Thank you. Alicyn Juliet Donenfeld is next week's guest. She's an Annie Award nominated voice actress. She's the voice of Cakey on Gabby Dollhouse for Netflix, which is an adorable show. She is incredibly talented, and I think she's only 12 years old. So she has a bright career ahead of her. I'm very excited to have her on the show. So, thank you guys so much for tuning in. Give it up for Elle. Elle Thank you guys, love you. Alicyn I'm going to go post the stream to this right now. So the replay will be available if you missed any part of it. And tune in next week. Thanks, guys. Elle Bye. Outro Thanks for tuning in to Alicyn's Wonderland, where we explore the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Please remember to subscribe and leave us a review. For more episodes of Alicyn's Wonderland, please visit us at www.Alicyn ackard.com. See you next week.