Business & Tech
Quack! Aflac Holds Public Auditions in Buckhead for the Next Duck Voice
Stilwell Casting is holding auditions as part of the nationwide search
A group of people sought duck immortality Monday, hoping to quack their way into stardom.
“We need a new voice,” said Jon Sullivan of Aflac, which is looking for a new actor to speak for its duck in the company's popular TV commercials. Stilwell Casting, located in Buckhead, opened auditions Monday morning for the Atlanta division of the nationwide search to find the next Aflac duck voice.
The Aflac duck became the insurance company’s mascot in early 2000 and has been in 52 television ads since then, increasing the company’s brand recognition from 10 percent to 93 percent according to the Aflac press release.
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The comedian who recorded the original shouting and quacking duck, Gilbert Gottfried, was recently fired after he posted insensitive comments on Twitter about the Japan disaster, a spokesman said. The company does the bulk of its business in Japan.
So what makes a good Aflac duck voice? Sullivan said Aflac is looking for the person who can best convey a large range of emotions in a single word.
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Annette Stilwell of Stilwell Casting said “[The word Aflac] needs to come to life.” She said a dynamic duck voice is a talent not everyone is born with.
Brian Beegle, head casting director of Stilwell, told prospective ducks, “Emote with just that one word.” In the audition, each person was recorded saying “Aflac” with a variety of common emotions (happy, sad, angry). Actors were also prompted to say “Aflac” as if the duck was walking on a tight rope, falling in love, sky-diving, greeting friends on a sidewalk, or quickly passing by.
“Quackers” as Beegle called people auditioning, were a mix of professional voice actors and those who have never recorded their voices before. Jamie Smith said her first voice practice came from imitating her British pop star idols of the '90s, the Spice Girls. Paul Paris said he has been doing Donald Duck impressions all his life. Lori Preston said she auditioned because she has a unique voice for a woman. David Andrews called himself “the man of a hundred voices.” Jim Atkins of Marietta called his duck voice a God-given talent.
“It’s exciting to see each person’s take on what is a fictional character,” Beegle said. Stilwell said the most important part is to present a duck that is unique, and not an imitation of the previous Aflac character.
Sullivan said the auditions are open to the public because talent can be found anywhere. “Why not?” he said. “We may find that diamond in the rough.”
The open auditions proved to be attention-grabbing. Sullivan said every city casting site filled its time slots for the Aflac audition within two days of when schedules opened. In addition to Atlanta, other cities holding auditions are New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas and Austin, Texas. Online recorded voice submissions were accepted through April 1. Sullivan said Aflac received 11,100 auditions online.
First call-backs for the Aflac Duck voice will be held in mid-April. The Atlanta auditions will continue Tuesday.
