Interview with Samantha Newark on Jem’s 30th Anniversary

Hey, it's your old bestie, Jem. Remember how

you loved getting me as a holiday gift? You ignored

your other toys for like three years. Well, you

can be that truly outrageously happy again with

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it comes with a rear -view camera. And Pandora

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soldier. Get something you'll love at the Happy

Honda Days sales event. It's your old bestie,

Gem. And you're listening to Showtime Synergy

with Mike, Amy, and Nicole. What a truly outrageous

podcast this is. Welcome to Showtime Synergy.

I am one of your hosts, TJ and Mike. Joining

me is Lady Rack. Hello. Hello. And Nicole Hellstorm.

Hello. Aloha. In the second Showtime Synergy

interview, we welcome for the first time ever

on the Geekcaster Network, the voice of Jam herself,

Samantha Newark. Yay! Yay! Hello. Hello, everybody.

How are you? I'm doing great. How are you? Eh,

let's skip that. Oh. As I heard, I heard you

have allergies. I've never seen the dogwood trees

until this year. I was living in Nashville before,

but our whole yard is like all, it's snowing.

It's crazy. And yeah, allergies for people that

suffer. I can't even imagine. I'm one of those

cold -blooded people where if it gets above 73

degrees, I'm dead to the world. Oh, no. You need

to go live in Alaska. Wait. In Kentucky. Yeah.

Where the humidity reaches 110%. Thank you. I've

lived here for 20 plus years. Thank you very

much. This isn't news to me, but this, God, I

can't believe we're even talking about this.

This winter was so bad. Now the summer is going

to be even worse because it's from one extreme

to the other. But anyway. Yeah. So Samantha,

what's, are there any, Let the listeners know,

before we get too far into this, what your current

projects are. Is there anything you can tease

up without getting in trouble or anything like

that? Oh, well, I did hear today from John Chu,

the director of the new Gem in the Holograms

motion picture, that we're going to be seeing

a trailer really, really, really soon. So they

say he said something. about possibly during

the screening of the new Pitch Perfect 2 movie

that's coming out anytime. So maybe they're going

to start showing trailers during that feature,

before that feature. I don't know, something

like that. So that's exciting. That's on the

horizon because I actually shot my cameo a year

ago this month. And of course, we're all waiting

with mad anticipation for, you know, to see anything

from it because I'm in the dark as much as you

guys are. So we showed a couple of teases and

I'm just like, come on, focus. Yeah, they just

really, really big. I know they're being so secretive,

but it's fun. You know, they're trying to yeah,

they're teasing the fan base hugely. But, yeah,

I just moved back to Nashville. I've been touring

in Dallas, actually, for the last two years with

a pretty awesome Pink Floyd tribute band. Epic,

like, you know, the Sights and Sounds of Pink

Floyd, Bricks on the Wall, we were called, and

touring the House of Blues venues regionally.

And that was just a blast. And now I'm working

on my third album here in Nashville with some

writers in Nashville and writers in New York

and hope to put something out soon. Just did

a voiceover for an audio book yesterday and just

all kinds of fun stuff. So, yeah. What audio

book was it? Actually, I digress. It wasn't an

audio book. It's for a new children's story.

And I did the. Did the reading of it. So it's

hasn't fully come to fruition yet, but it's,

it's a children's story and it's awesome. It's

absolutely awesome. I love, I loved doing it.

So I'm excited to see what happens with it. So

I'll keep you posted on that. And then I also

just did work on a new project. It's a short

animated feature. called HG Chicken with the

amazing creator. His name is Mike Salva, and

I worked with him on a project called Pound Dogs,

which kind of swept the animation film festival

circuit. And this is his newest work, and it

stars Bobcat Goldthwait. And I play an Illuminati

woman with a pink vest. Oh, my gosh. This sounds

like so up my alley. Yeah. He's great. He's twisted

and fun, and his projects are awesome, so I can't

wait until that comes out. So with the whole

Pink Floyd cover band, all I can think of is,

wow, she really is Little Miss Pink here in the

sing -along. Yeah, man. I was bringing the pink

to Pink Floyd. That is for sure. What's your

favorite song of theirs, too? Oh my God. I'm

just, I'm so in love with their catalog. I'm

so in love with, I mean, so many songs that I,

I didn't even knew, didn't even know before I

started working with them. I mean, obviously

the huge hits like comfortably numb and, and

machine and, and another brick in the wall and

you know, the ones that everybody knows, but

the more obscure stuff like Vera and just beautiful,

incredible music and the turning away and. Just

what a privilege. Everybody in that band were

stellar musicians and my friends. And I just

couldn't continue because they're regional and

it's too expensive to drag us all over the country.

So I needed to say goodbye when I moved back

to Nashville, but it was awesome. So anybody

that's in the Dallas area, New Orleans, Houston,

go check out bricks in the wall. You will not

regret it. Two and a half hour. Epic, epic show.

So much fun. Yeah. My husband used to live in

Texas. Almost every, almost every, every other

year we go see the Aussie Floyd where they, they

come to Phoenix and they do the whole laser light

show and everything. And it's great. So that's

what we did. Yeah. We had the whole laser light

show and the video screens. It's really authentic.

I mean, it's like the Pink Floyd experience.

You're going to get it in spades and we do the

new stuff and old stuff and everything in between.

So yeah, it was, it was an awesome time. It's

a fun concert. Yeah, it is. It is. Absolutely.

Do you know if there's any videos out there of

you on YouTube? I want to see this. Oh, yeah.

I've got some stuff on my official website, actually,

mostly of Great Gig. I shared, you know, the

epic song Great Gig in the Sky with my two beautiful,

amazing co -star backup singers. Tiffany Bell

and Rachel Bean. Yeah. So on my website, Samantha,

newark .com on my video page, I think I have

a few excerpts from us and then you can, you

can Google them on. Yeah. I'll troll your page.

Okay. Please do feel free to troll. So. Let's

go back in time. Where did you grow up? Did you

always want to be a singer or an actress or any

of that kind of stuff? Gosh, yeah. I grew up...

Mainly, well, I was born in England, lived there

till I was six and a half. And then I moved to

Africa and I saw a kid singer perform live. She

was actually Scottish and she was very famous

in England and Scotland. And she was touring

in Africa when I was a little kid and my parents

took me to see her and watching her show. I just

completely was just so beyond dazzled by what

she was doing that I made up my mind. As a little

kid, that's what I want to do with the rest of

my life. That's what I want to do. And I ended

up starting to sing professionally not even that

long after I saw that performance. She signed

my album for me. I bought a record, she signed

it, and I learned every song and then started

singing at old people's homes and swap meets

and wherever I kind of could. And before long,

I was... My dad started managing me because they

recognized I really could sing and had a talent.

And then I took one of the roles on a tour called

the Meet the Stars Tour in South Africa and toured

all over Africa with a band with other African.

stars and i made a record and it's a long story

a long time ago but yeah so i've always sung

since i was a little kid and um when i came to

the states i was annie washington dc and i almost

went to london to play annie and um and then

gem was just this magical amazing thing that

i auditioned for because i had a commercial agent

And a theatrical agent. And they started sending

me out on voiceover auditions. And it was the

first animated voiceover thing I ever had auditioned

for. And I got gem. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I know.

Even though, I mean, I've been in the, you know,

lucky, lucky, amazing break. But I'd also been

in the business since I was seven years old on

a million auditions for a million things. So

it was lovely to finally land something. that

wonderful. And to be here talking to you guys

about the show all these years later, I mean,

gosh, who knew? Just so, so awesome. Such an

amazing show. Totally agree with you there. I

can't argue. I love it. So, cause you, you were

a musician and then you, you got into voice acting

then it was this. kind of a package deal, just

kind of like, Hey, I want to do that too. Now

that I can do all of this other stuff. Yeah.

And that really was my dad because, you know,

when I played an Annie, I was acting and, you

know, it, I think, um, you, you act when you're

singing, when you're a performer, you're interpreting

songs, you're, you know, kind of possessing different

sort of archetypes in your characters and your

songs. So, you know, I, I never studied acting

or anything like that, but, uh, just started

auditioning for i did like a slew of mcdonald's

commercials and i know there's video out there

somewhere being a polyester uniform pimping mcdonald's

hamburgers and um yeah i was like almost uh i

screen tested for days of our lives and i was

like 13 and um yeah and i did a i did a horror

movie uh actually around the same time i did

gem called summer camp nightmare and um So I

don't even remember what the question was. I'm

going off on a tangent. Oh, no. You did more

in your first 15 years of life than I have in

my nearly 40. It's like, oh, wow. Yeah, it's

been a ride. I was basically the family business

from the time I was seven until I started working

on Gem. And then obviously I was young and wanted

my independence. You know, was making, was earning

money, my own money. And so that was the start

of a whole new chapter of my life. And then,

of course, getting into songwriting in my early

20s was a really wonderful avenue. And that's

just bumped up my, you know, just my whole musician

world into a whole new place for me. So I've

got a lot of published songs on, you know, TV

and film projects. been in a million different

bands and i can only imagine i mean i know how

hard it was for the guys and women that were

doing you know the adults that were actually

doing some of the the classic 12 and a half 13

and a half hour long wally burr sessions i can

only imagine what it was like for a kid yeah

well it was you know i didn't know that sessions

were not supposed to be that long. But I was

just, I mean, honestly, I was like the new kid

on the block in the voiceover world. And I just

was wide eyed and excited as hell to be working

with, you know, Wally Burr and working with these

amazing. other actors um that obviously had done

a lot of a lot of voiceover work sue blue charlie

adler patricia albrecht you know everybody townsend

coleman and so what an amazing place to cut my

teeth in the voiceover world and you know my

experience of wally burr was phenomenal he is

Awesome. And, you know, I'm so grateful to him

that he believed in me enough to, you know, believe

I could carry the lead in a series. And he was

just a joy to work with. I mean, he yelled at

us occasionally because, like, Charlie Adler

and Patricia Pizazz and Eric Raymond, they would...

cuss a lot and just crack everybody up. So we

were always laughing and he had to like reel

it in. I would love to hear the bloopers and

outtakes. Oh, I would too. There were like cuss

words flying and I was like a really good girl,

you know, real good manners. And man, I learned

words that I things and I didn't even know about.

You learned to swear like a sailor. I sure did.

Yep. And I was loving every minute of it. It

was awesome. That's brilliant. It kind of reminds

me, like, you know, anytime anyone says anything

about bloopers, it always reminds me of those

classic Thundercats bloopers and Earl Hyman playing

panthro. Sam O 'Flanche. What the is a Sam O

'Flanche? Yep, that sounds about right. Yeah,

that's awesome. And we used to record ensemble

back then, which, what an incredible thing that

was, because... And I've talked about this before

to like be standing in a, in a room with all

the other voice actors sharing microphones and

have pizzazz like next to me with her body language,

like coming at me as she's screaming at me, you

know, you're like reacting because the energy

is like coming at you and then you're giving

it back. And it's right there together in a studio.

You're not just reading to a page and then there's

somebody phoning it in. So that was amazing.

I loved, loved, loved. being in the studio with

everybody and working with them like that was

great. What was the, cause for those that may

or may not know, you were also Orion Pax's girlfriend

over on Transformers. What was the difference

in the sessions between the Gem cast and the

Transformers cast? I know you were only in there

one episode, but. Yeah, I did like three different

episodes. I did Ariel and then she, For those

people that don't know, she was Orion Pax's girlfriend.

Orion transforms into Optimus Prime. And then

she transforms into Alita One. And the voice

of Alita One is the voice of Synergy and Jen,

Maureen Aragon. And so that was kind of interesting.

I so did not put those two together. Oh, gosh.

RC is the voice of Sue Blue, who is Stormer on

Gem. So we did jump ship, you know, and if they

needed extraneous characters, like I played Elise

Presser, the human girl on Transformers. I think

I did two episodes with her. She's trying to

build a robot. And then I did the Zamajan Empress

as well. But because there was not a lot of dialogue

and there were guests. star guest roles um i

didn't record ensemble with the cast i went in

separately and recorded my voiceover i believe

with wally just um you know with copy with the

script and um him directing me in the booth so

so i didn't have the same experience obviously

on transformers that i did with jem but I feel

so lucky to be a part of the Transformers brand

as well because, you know, how incredible. It's

just gone into the stratosphere. It's amazing.

It's amazing what's happened with these shows.

Who's next? Oh, I was going to say, how did you

become the voice of Jim? But we've already answered

that question. So how about you, Nicole? You

got one? Okay. Well, this is one thing. Because

I hear that you're very talented music -wise.

You're a musician and you're a singer, you're

a songwriter. So what was the reason they only

hired you for the speaking role of Jem and not

the singing role? Right. I get asked that a lot.

And they were very clever. It was an illusion.

Nobody knew that it was two people. When I auditioned

for Jem initially, my agent told me she's a singer.

And I was like, oh, my God, it's so perfect.

I'm so excited. come to find out that the singing

voices and the music was all um already cast

in new york and it was all being produced on

the east coast um and then all the voice actors

were being hired and produced on the west coast

so this was before the digital age where we could

shoot mp3 files and you know it was all two inch

analog tape and so that's how that's how it was

cast so anybody that um Because Britta does voiceovers

too. And Britta Phillips is the singing voice

of Jem. And we finally met after all of these

years through Jem. Yeah, I know. I reached out

to her, I think in 2003, when I was starting

to see all of the craziness with Jem on the internet.

You know, Google Jem and the holograms. And I

was like, all of this stuff came up. I was like,

oh my gosh. You know, who would have thought?

And so eventually I... I emailed Britta, and

I was like, oh, my gosh, Britta, I thought it

was finally time. We said hello, you know, to

each other. She was really sweet and wrote me

back. And we've since met. We met at a GemCon,

which is a convention entirely dedicated to Gem.

And that's in a different city every year. And

we were at the one in New England in 2010. So

we finally got to meet each other. And I met

the singing voice, Ellen Birdfield of Pizazz.

And Anne Bryant, who wrote all the, who wrote

all the Gem music and the Misfits music. Just

an incredibly talented woman. And yeah, GemCon

has brought the whole cast back together. It's

just been. just amazing. You know, who'd have

thought we're all like reconnecting. It's just

surreal. And then I hadn't seen Sue blue since

the show. And I did a transformers convention.

I did bot con last year in June. And I was there

with Sue blue and we did a women in animation

panel and it was just surreal. I was like, Oh

my God, I haven't seen you since Jen. I'm bummed.

I was there, but I had a table, so I couldn't

really get away. Oh, so you couldn't get away.

Yeah, so I couldn't really get away to go see

some of the panels. Yeah. Oh, that's awesome.

I know what that's like, too, because usually

when I go to conventions, I'm at my table, and

I'm so busy, I don't really get to walk around.

If I do get to leave, it's like to go to lunch

and come back. You run to go to the bathroom

and get back. Yeah, exactly. What is one of your

most memorable experiences while you were working

on Gem? Oh, my gosh. There are just so many,

so many moments. You know, it was the beginning

of my independence as a young woman, which was,

you know, I do remember what was going on in

my life at the time. I got to, you know, buy

myself a little car and I got to have my own

apartment for the first time. you know it was

that it was the launching of my life as a young

woman and um that was incredible and then there

were just there were so many moments during the

show working with the actors just in the studio

just great great moments of watching charlie

adler work and watching patricia work um some

of my favorite episodes are ones with patricia

because she's so funny and some of the lines

are you know the writing christy works writing

it's so good you know it's i often say now it's

like the little kids used to eat their cereal

and watch gem and now these little kids are adults

and now they're watching gem and drinking cocktails

because there's so much in there for grown -ups

now it's like watching the show in a whole new

way and things that like went over your head

as a kid you know there's so much uh so much

fun stuff there for adults now so That's so true

because now that we've been watching it and reviewing

it ourselves and seeing the little things and

seeing how adult it is, but yet when I was a

kid, it was like, oh. felt like it just spoke

to me that type of thing yeah and then you know

some of us are sharing it with our kids so which

i love i love and love i'm meeting so many little

ones now that are coming up to my tables at conventions

and they're like four or five or maybe a little

older and they're they're kind of confused because

i'm a person and not animated but i i tell them

i tell them that i'm synergy you know that synergy

is the one that um You know, I have to call on

Synergy because I have to be a person when I'm

here, but then I change back into Jem with my

earrings, and they kind of can wrap their little

minds around that a little better. Oh, that's

adorable. So cute. Because I didn't get to meet

you guys when I was doing the show. I had no

concepts, really, that, you know, it was going

out to millions of homes all over the world.

Like, it's only over the years that I've started

to realize the levity of how successful. the

show was, you know, and it never really went

away in the hearts and minds of so many people.

A few years ago, I... I had the chance to interview

with the man twice, but the first time I interviewed

Larry Kenny, the voice of Lionel from Thundercats,

he told us a story about him being in a Toys

R Us. Do you have any Toys R Us stories? I do,

yes. I love Larry Kenny, by the way. He's a sweetheart.

And apparently he's seen a sneak preview of the

Gem trailer. Yeah, I saw him at a convention.

It was last year. And he said, I was in a movie

theater and I saw a trailer for Gem, the new

Gem movie. He said it was really super, super

short. He said, but a bunch of girls started

squealing in the back of the theater. And I was

like, yep, that sounds about right. So that was

last year. That was funny. But anyway, Larry's

a sweetheart. Yeah, I was in Toys R Us back in

the day during the run of the show. And my dad

had said to me, you know, you should probably

get yourself a doll because my dad's very business

minded. And he's like, probably wore something

one day. And well, you should have one anyway.

So I went with my mom to Toys R Us in Burbank,

California, and they had the glitter and gold

dolls. And so I was my mom said that. she started

talking to this little girl and um anyway we

went over and this little girl was picking out

a gem doll and my mom started talking to the

mom saying hey this is gem and she's trying to

explain to this mom and the little girl that

i'm actually gem and the mom didn't believe it

and looked at my mom and i like we were being

ridiculous and so the little girl bought her

gem doll and i bought my gem doll we went on

our separate ways and i have a glitter and gold

doll That I still have in the box that I bought

and she's really precious. But yeah, that's my

Toys R Us story. She didn't believe me that I

was Jen. Those dolls are worth a lot right now,

too. Yeah. I'm looking on Amazon. They're, like,

going for, like, 600, 700 bucks. Oh, yeah. Oh,

my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Wow. That's, yeah. I'm

sure when the movie comes out, people are going

to, the people that maybe haven't thought about

Gem in a while or haven't, you know, caught it

on Netflix or, you know, the kids' channel, Discovery

Kids. they're gonna start digging in their their

attics for sure okay now i have gen dolls calling

their moms mom you didn't throw my stuff out

did you so true yeah well we were talking about

wally burr just recently uh so can you give us

any behind the scenes stories about him or about

your fellow voice actors we love the behind the

scenes like where something goes wrong or someone

played tricks or oh yeah Well, I mean, I was

the youngest in the room, so, you know, I wasn't,

like, going out to lunch with anybody in the

cast or anything like that. I mean, they had

nothing in common with me, really, you know,

because I was a lot younger than them. But Wally

was painstakingly professional and amazing and

just so good at what he did, just catching nuances.

He has to be so, so, so, so on top of the storyboard

and on top of everything. Because if you can

imagine, time is money, so there can't be a mistake.

Like if I were to say a line and I'm running,

so I'm saying it like I'm out of breath, if he

weren't paying attention to the storyboard and

the direction, I might say that line like I'm

laying in a pool and I'm chilling. So that would...

be completely the wrong direction so he's sitting

there behind the booth with with you know just

really really being on it and that's why of course

there couldn't be a lot of room for screwing

around because he's trying to concentrate like

a lot of responsibility to make sure everybody

is on point and doing what we need to do um but

That being said, there was a lot of laughter.

And one of the things I do remember, because

we would have a rehearsal, we'd get to the studio

and then we'd have like a table read. And we'd

all sit at this big, big table, conference table,

get out our scripts, and we would highlight our

parts and go through the script and any sort

of, and we'd be given a storyboard, which shows

the action that's going on. And so whatever notes

you need to make on your script. helps you when

you're in the studio to remember what's going

on that type of thing well one time we got a

storyboard and I haven't talked to any other

of the actors besides Patricia about this but

they they drew them naked they drew all the characters

the storyboard people were just like having fun

one day I guess and they sent us naked storyboards

and I remember that and I wish you know I was

like am I hallucinating because I do remember

that and I wish that I had kept it because that

was hysterical um to like open up your storyboard

package and be like oh my gosh they have no clothes

it was great so oh my gosh that's hilarious yeah

that is crazy oh my gosh yeah and that was fun

to have you know the co -stars come in the special

guests like i remember i wish i could remember

his real name he played james at 15. Kind of

had a crush on him. He was very cute. Just the

different co -stars that came in to work on the

show. And it was just great. What a great, great

experience. Well, I got a question here about

the next film that's coming up. Yeah. We show

that you've been credited with a cameo appearance.

Yes. Can you give us any clues on who you play

or what part of the movie you're in? No, I'm

not allowed to say what I did at all. I don't

want to get sued. You're a grandmother, aren't

you? Yeah. I had to sign a non -disclosure agreement.

Oh, man. But John Chu is a huge... He grew up

with Jem, so he's a huge fan of the cartoon,

and he's been... wanting to make this movie for

a long time and pitched the idea like 10 years

ago. And I guess the timing just wasn't right.

So finally, they said yes. And, you know, it

is unfortunate that Christy Marks is not involved

in it. But she is involved in the film, though.

She wasn't involved in the writing of the film,

but John Chu gave her a cameo as well, too. So

look out for Christy Marks. Yeah, when we talk

to her, my theory is that she's going to be the

voice of Synergy. That's my theory. I have no

idea. You know, I'm so in the dark. I just had

my own tiny little part of the script that was

just for that day. And a lot of it wasn't, you

know, what I did wasn't even scripted. It was

kind of just on the fly, you know. So, but I

do have pink hair in the movie. Oh, cool. Yeah.

And in fact, what's strange is that I talk about

like serendipity. It's really weird. I was really

tired of my blonde hair in about April of last

year. I was like, Oh God, I'm so bored with my

blonde hair. I'm going to change it. And I saw

this picture of Sienna Miller and she had like

this rose gold color. And I was like, Ooh, let

me do my hair rose gold. So I did. And it was

gorgeous. And I rocked it and then it started

to fade. And then a friend of mine was like,

you know, rose gold, it's very pink. Why don't

you just do pink hair for God's sake? Like everybody

wants you to do pink hair, just do pink. And

I was like, yeah, okay, I'm going to do pink

hair. And then it wasn't even a few weeks later

that I found out that John Chu got in touch with

me asking me to be in the film. And then I was

like, oh, no, I have pink hair. There can't be

two people with pink hair in this movie. Uh -oh.

Well, Aubrey's pink hair is probably a wig. Yeah,

but I was like, you know, is it going to be one

pink -haired gem too many in the movie? So anyway,

my manager sent him – I told him that I had pink

hair, and he's like, well, you send me a picture

of it. So I took some pictures, and my manager

sent them to him, and he loved it. And he's like,

I got a great idea. So yeah, so it was fine.

I got to keep it and I was happy about that,

but that's all I can tell you. I was going to

say that was, that was my next question. Well,

if you can't tell us what you're doing in it,

how about you tell us about how you were approached

to cameo on the movie? Yeah. Good thing I checked

my Twitter page because, I mean, as a musician,

gosh, I mean, how many more social media portals

does one have to have? It's crazy. I have YouTube

and my website. I have YouTube. I have two Facebook

pages. I have Twitter. I have Instagram. It's

like, ah, too many passwords and usernames. But

anyway, I was on Twitter. and realized i had

a private message and it was from john chu and

he said i'm a big fan of yours which was kind

of mind -blowing because he's you know wonderful

and this big hollywood director and and he said

i would really love to include you in the movie

would you be interested of course i said yes

and then uh made arrangements to fly to la and

was on the set for a day And I have to tell you,

I just had this surreal moment of when I was

walking through the lot and there were the trailers

for the girls and the trailer doors said Aja,

Shana, Kimber, Jem. And I'm getting chills even

now talking about it because I kind of had this

moment of like, is this really happening? I'm

on the Jem and the Holograms movie set. All these

years later, how crazy is that? So it was, it

was pretty awesome. And the girls are fabulous.

They are super talented. All of them, all of

them sing, all of them are just the loveliest

girls. And I'm, I'm just so excited for them.

I think they're going to do an amazing job. I

can't wait to see it. and you can tell they're

really good friends like they're they really

care and love love each other and that is so

much of what jem was about like they've captured

that spirit because those girls are unified they

are they love each other and i just loved seeing

that it's going to be interesting seeing what

Hayley Kiyoko does as, as Aja. Yeah. I've seen,

I've seen her in a few other things. Yeah. And

I'm trying to think, how is she going to pull

that off? She's great. She's badass, man. Yeah,

she is. She is. Yeah. She's got the whole Aja

thing down. I was like, wow. Just don't let her

get behind the wheel. Yeah. It's a running joke

here on the podcast. Every time that we saw it.

We should have turned it into a drinking game,

but every time we saw Aja driving in the cartoon

series, it's like, oh, take a drink. You know

that car is not going to last. Well, whenever

there's a car accident, she's the one that's

behind the wheel. I think it's Roxy in one episode.

She's like, it's not our fault that Aja can't

drive. Exactly. That's one of my favorite lines.

It makes me laugh at the time. It's so funny.

Came from Roxy, that's why. She rocks. So what

is your favorite, like, when it comes to voice

acting, there are so many different versions

of how to be a voice actor, voice actress these

days. What is your favorite type? Animation,

commercial, video game? What, you know, ensemble

or if you're in a booth talking to yourself,

what's your favorite type of voice acting? Oh,

gosh, you know, I love the different mediums

for different reasons. I mean, doing this audio

book the other day was just myself in the studio

with the engineer and actually no director. You

know, I kind of got to just run with it. It was

a children's thing. So I brought very much the

essence of gem to it because it's talking to

little kids. But, you know, obviously the ensemble.

medium is great because the unexpected happens

in that. And, you know, you never know what somebody

is going to do to raise your game. And, you know,

it's just fun. That's really, really fun. And

then, you know, the video games. Yeah, I guess

I would say the ensemble is the most fun. But

then there is something. cool about reading copy

that's very very introspective and you're just

in a booth um with low lighting with a director

and you know there's there's that and capturing

emotions and it's very intimate i love the intimacy

of that so that's a whole different realm that's

that's really cool and reminds me of recording

vocals for songs or vocals for games and that

type of thing. Cause it's more of an intimate

exchange and I enjoy that too. So I can't say

I have a favorite really. All right. Shall we

get into some words of wisdom, Amy? Oh, absolutely.

Who are some of the other voice actors that you've

listened to that have influenced you? Oh my gosh.

You know, I think I was such a newbie at the

time when I did Gem that I didn't have any influences.

I was just kind of flying by the seat of my pants

and just trusting my instincts, really, which

I think I have pretty good instincts. And, you

know, the thing about voice acting and on -camera

acting, the voice acting medium is so much about

listening. taking direction because you can do

a great performance but you also you're you're

taking on somebody else's idea somebody else's

project so you're being hired to do something

for somebody else so you want to do what they

want you know what they want it to look like

and sound like and um so you have to be able

to take direction and listen and really be able

to interpret You know, when somebody wants you

to tweak it a certain way or try this or, you

know, gosh, doing radio spots is really interesting

because you have like 30 seconds and you have

to come in on time and you have to accentuate

certain words. You may read this 30 second spot.

you know the way you think you should read it

and then suddenly it's like okay so can you put

a little more emphasis on this word and can you

shorten it just a little bit and then i want

you to soften it here and then can you take a

beat just between this and your breath was a

little harsh on this okay go you know and you

just have to kind of be able to absorb all that

and and go yeah you gotta go yeah you have to

listen you have to really really listen so it's

so much about listening as well as it is performing.

And it's, yeah, it's cool. And I love that. I

love that because I, I think I am a good listener.

So, yeah. But as far as influences. You know,

gosh, I would love, love, love. I'm dying to

seek my teeth into something, you know, like

a Cate Blanchard kind of voicemail that's more

dark and deep and, you know, like Queen Empress

of some video game with my British accent because

I still do a really good English accent. And

yeah, just that kind of thing. And one thing

I can't stand in. voiceovers and i hear it a

lot now and it's driving me crazy i don't know

if it drives you guys crazy but it's this uh

people that talk like this and it's all grumbly

and uh it's horrible it's like i think they call

it vocal fray it drives me nuts It drives me

nuts. And sometimes I find myself doing it and

I'm like, ah, no, stop. It's good to know that

you could recognize that, though, when you're

doing it yourself. Yeah, I try to. Because, I

mean, you hear it all the time and then sometimes...

You do catch yourself doing it. It's a kind of

lazy way of talking, but I'm hearing it now all

the time in voiceovers and on the radio and I

hear it in spots and I'm thinking, wow, okay,

I'm not a fan of that. They're misunderstanding

the gravelly voice with the... That voice. With

the, like, I have a... I'm Batman. I have rocks

in my throat. I have rocks in my throat. Right.

It's not pretty. I love the lilting, you know,

I mean, you can have like a... you can have any

kind of timbre of voice, but it's that gravelly

vocal phrase stuff. That's driving me crazy right

about now. Now you start to notice it everywhere.

Let's make it stop people. It goes through phases,

you know, where it happens once it's okay, but

you happen more than once. And it's like, okay,

it's overkill. Yeah. Unindating the market with

too much of it. Yeah, exactly. When did that

become cool? Well, I've got an odd question for

you. Okay, so Jim's been around for 30 years,

but you still look like you're in your 20s. What's

your secret for being so young looking? You're

so sweet. Thank you. I'm a hologram. Synergy

is real, people. No, I appreciate so much you

saying that, you know, I think it's, I take really

good care of myself. I've never been a sunbather.

I've never like gone out there and baked myself

in the sun. Maybe a couple of times I did and

I shouldn't have, but you know, it was just never

my thing. And I. been moisturizing since I was

like 16. And, you know, my mom's always looked

really young for her age. And so I think it's

good genes. And plus, you know, I think it's

a vibration. It's an energy. It's like I refuse

to give up. I'm not going to give up on my youth

and my energy and that fun, playful thing that

we have. That girl, you know, there's a girl

that lives in me. I don't want her to ever go

away. I love her. You know, I think some women,

they give up. And you can see it. But then again,

also, I love the women that don't do a million

things of plastic surgery. And there need to

be more role models for us ladies, you know,

to not be terrified of growing up. You know,

it's like 60 -year -olds are not supposed to

look. like 20 year olds from back and they turn

around and then it's like oh god what did you

do to your face like that's that's scary and

you know and the sad thing is all i can think

of is a league of their own ellen sue dotty i'm

married a plastic surgeon I mean, it's such a

youth obsessed culture. It's just the way it

is. And in Europe, it's not like that. You know,

women in their 60s are sexy and beautiful and

they have so much to offer. And, you know, I

think America is catching on. I do. But yeah,

that's a whole other subject right there. So

it only took 30 years, but Jim finally has her

own official ongoing comic series. There are

currently two issues of the series out, written

by Kelly Thompson, with art by Sophie Campbell.

Have you read the first two issues, and what

are your thoughts on them? I have. I absolutely

love them. I know the fans were, you know, the

fans are so protective of this property. They

love gems so much that I know there was a lot

of, you know, they were, they had trepidation.

I can't even speak. Trepidation. Trepidation.

Thank you so much. Word, please. They had trepidation

about what this was going to incarnate into because

they're very, very attached and protective of

the brand. But the feedback has just been so

wonderful. And, you know, I just think Sophie

Campbell's done an incredible job and Kelly Thompson.

They really have captured, like I said about

the movie, the sweetness and the sisterhood,

which I was hoping that they would and they did.

And I just think it's lovely. And I love the

artwork. It's so colorful. It's so magical. And,

oh, my God, the first time I read the comic,

I got a. happy tear i mean i was i just was like

well done well done i think it's wonderful and

um i think the biggest problem everyone had or

at least what i was seeing online was when the

first interviews came out with the first kind

of preview images of like oh my god jerica has

stage fright that means she can't become jim

and oh my god the world is ending idw has killed

her childhoods No, it's not that bad. Wait until

the story comes out. And as we call him, Captain

Continuity himself, John Barber, has been saying

he's been wanting to do a Jim comic for 30 years.

And, you know, I always defend the show. And

everyone's like – everyone I've ever talked to

online for the most part says, oh, jamming the

holograms. That's for girls. Hello. The show

has exploding cars, musical instruments being

thrown at people. It has bombs going off. It

has – Roxy trying to kill the holograms, which

she should still be in jail for. It has all this

action stuff in it. And I'm like, how is that

not for boys as well as girls? You know, it's

amazing. When I'm at conventions, I'd say it's

50 -50. There are a lot, a lot, a lot of straight

boys that watch jam. And obviously has a huge

gay boy following, big time. But so many kids,

just guys, girls. I mean, it's right down the

middle. It's equal, just the love for Jem. Because

like you said, they had car chases and Tech Rat

and Eric Raymond and cute girls and kissing.

I mean, everything. There was something for everybody.

And they were like little soap operas for kids,

you know, really cool stories and adventures.

And yes, there was Pink. a lot of pink, but there

were lots of other things for boys, so I totally

agree with you. Oh, man, we love Tech Red on

this show. Don't touch my stuff! I know. Brilliant.

Well, you mentioned fan... Oh, go ahead. No,

go ahead. No, your turn. Oh, I was going to say,

you've mentioned fan conventions, and I absolutely

know that you enjoy them. What... Would you like

to share with us any other convention stories

that just kind of pop up into mind? I know I'm

not giving you much to go on on that, though.

Oh, gosh. You know, I've often thought, because

sometimes my mom has been able to go with me,

because how do you explain to people what you're

experiencing? They have to kind of sit there

with you. And I swear, there are so many moments

that move me to tears. You know, people that

have not had happy childhoods that said that,

you know, this cartoon was the only thing that

they looked forward to and they felt like they

had a friend. They felt like it was the only

comfort that they had as kids. I've heard that

story more times than you should ever have to

hear that story. And I start to talk to them

and they burst into tears because, you know,

I'm. the voice of their childhood in that way.

And it's such, I don't take that responsibility

lightly at all. I'm honored. I'm honored to be

a part of something that made them feel better

as a kid. And just incredible stories. You meet

the most amazing people. I was telling somebody

today, you know, sometimes I think people, not

so much anymore, but they would make fun of geek

culture. And yet the people that I meet at these

conventions, there was a girl dressed in a princess

outfit. This was a couple of years ago. She was

running around and, you know, I think she was

like 28 or 30 or something. No, actually, she's

older. She was in her early 30s and she had a

princess outfit on. she said she used to watch

jam and she was like, Oh my God, I told my eight

year old self that I'd be talking to you right

now. I would never have believed it. And I was

asking her what she did for a living. And she

was a fighter pilot. Like that was her job. And

that, and to sort of be on the other spectrum

and, and sort of, uh, nurture her creative side.

She knits and she goes to conventions and she

makes her princess outfits and she was brilliant

and amazing. And I met one of the top, designers

for google every time you come to my table it

was this new fantastic costume with a mask or

like a helmet and he's like it's me again and

and found out like he's a major programmer for

for google like he's a brilliant guy and you

just get the whole spectrum you get um a lot

of people that have uh osbergers or autism um

they're very focused you know very very uh fixated

on pop culture references and they love it love

it love it and you know they're maybe not so

they just feel safe in that social world and

dress up in their favorite costume and i meet

people from all walks of life and it's it's just

never no none are the same and i always leave

saying what an honor and a privilege to get to

meet all of these wonderful people and i've met

some of my closest friends you know some of the

artists and um Sarah Richard is tonight. Sarah

Richard, the comic book illustrator for the two

comic... I can't talk anymore. She does the subscription

covers. Yes, thank you. That's what I was reaching

for. Yeah, she's become a friend of mine. And

she's so talented and so cool. And, you know,

I meet the writers, comic book writers. And this

guy, Sean Taylor, like an amazing writer. And

Bobby Nash and just great people. that I'm privileged

to know. And then of course, my, my gem boys

that are becoming my dearest friends, you know,

this tribe of boys that love the cartoons that,

yeah, it's just incredible. That's awesome. Yeah.

Nicole, do you have something? I have one last

question. You don't know about this question.

uh it's an ongoing joke with with our reviews

oh no please tell me you're not you are not gonna

hassle her about her boyfriend yes rio pacheco

love him or hate him because i have so many issues

with this guy you and a lot of people You're

supposed to suspend your disbelief. But I know

that's hard when, yeah, when you're like, really?

He's in love with Jem, too. And, like, doesn't

he get that it's the same person? But, you know,

I think I've often been asked, Riot or Rio? And

I would say Rio because at the end of the day,

he's a really, really sweet, sweet person. And

he's just, you know, he's young and his hormones

are crazy. Jim and Jerrica, but he's, you know,

he's just growing up. I think you're right about

that. Totally. I don't want a boy that's prettier

than me and spends more time on his hair than

I do. I'm sorry. Not going to happen. I don't

do it with pretty boys. No, thank you. Awesome.

We can just bring that up next time we review

with Riot and say, yeah, well, you know. We know

who Jem would pick. Most of the listeners will

know that we actually had to pre -record most

of the podcast, so the episodes that are coming

out now, this will actually air in between episode

8 and episode 9 of the podcast. and because that's

where our season one season two kind of kind

of thing happened and uh so we pre -recorded

most of the show and as we're here in 2015 and

the 30th anniversary we are up to recording episode

20 which is right when the podcast which is right

when season three is kind of coming to a close

and yeah kind of puts a perfect spin on it that's

awesome yay um rio did get introduced into the

comic so i'm kind of interested to see where

kelly takes him i know because he's not and it's

interesting because you said that you know he's

a really sweet guy that's what they capture i

at least i thought that they captured that in

an issue he seems like a really sweet guy so

i'm like yeah there you go Yeah, which, you know,

he needs to be in the Holograms camp. He can

only be in the Holograms camp if he has integrity,

because that's what they're all about. So, yeah.

I just hope Kelly does not, you know, go back

and forth, back and forth, back and forth with

a secret for 65 issues. Okay, so what would your

opinion be? Because they never... in the tv show

they never said that jerica gems gave the secret

what what do you think would have happened if

she came clean what was your opinion on that

i think i think he would have he would have accepted

it finally there probably would have been a big

blow up and and then she would have coaxed him

back in because he really loves her and it would

have been okay but then there would have to have

been but then the the secret identity would still

be transferred to some other new characters that

I know Christy Marks was interested in introducing.

So, you know, it would have gone on. She had

so many amazing, you can only imagine. She's

told us like so many amazing, cool ideas for

new characters and new storylines and, you know,

ah, makes me crazy. I would have loved to have

gone on that journey with her and, and done more,

more shows. There was so much more to tell, you

know? Well, hopefully if the, obviously if the

movie does well maybe we'll get a new animated

series maybe we will that would be pretty cool

yeah that would be awesome because i i don't

remember i've i've talked with christy well nicole

and amy have talked with her once here on this

podcast but i've talked to her like three other

times on other things and i think i asked her

in one of them so will you tell us if you know

your vision of what jim would be in the 21st

century she said i have a vision i know exactly

what i want to do with it but no i'm not going

to tell you in case i can't sell it she said

something similar to that i'll have to link the

other interviews i don't want to misquote the

lady yeah no no i think that's pretty much what

she said the last interview that the last interview

you were on but we were on as well because i

remember thinking oh it'd be so great if we could

have another show or even um if they put her

on like the comics for whatever reason and she

could like develop some stuff there maybe they'll

come with a second a second maybe if the movie

makes it big that they'll be able to have a second

title and you know they can add some more stuff

to it it'd be really fun so we'll see yeah i

hope everybody goes and supports the film and

you know i think i think the fans are going to

be uh pleasantly surprised. I, you know, I just,

I felt like John Chu is a really sweet human

being and loves the show. And obviously it's

going to be different. It's going to be different,

but you know, I I've told the fans we will always

have the original cartoon. It's not going anywhere.

It's, it's there for everybody to love and enjoy

and, you know, have gem marathons till their

heart's content. And, you know, just to see all

these new expressions of gem happen is, I don't

know. I'm open to change. I have to live my life

that way. That's just the way I live my life.

And I think so far I've been very impressed and

pleased with what they're doing. So, yeah. I'm

just glad to know that you still have passion

for this character, that you actually enjoy doing

it and still have that love for her. I think

that's awesome. I do. Yeah, you know, because

I think there aren't enough role models in the

world and there aren't enough characters for

kids to look up to today. And the holograms were

those kids, those... role models. And I just

love the gem archetype. She's the Pollyanna archetype.

She's always rallying for everybody to get along.

She protects people's feelings. She's got massive

integrity. And, you know, I give that that mad

props. I think it's it's it's we all hopefully

are trying to live our lives to some degree that

way. So, yeah, you know. I aspire to be like

Jen. Well, it sounds like you're living the rock

star life. That's for sure. Hey, you know, I'm

just doing what I love. I'm doing what I love.

I can't not do it, you know, because, I mean,

it's a crazy journey. You know, the music business

is not an easy road for sure. And I figured out

a long time ago those many times that I wanted

to just quit. I couldn't. I just can't. You can't

not do it. any musicians out there that are fighting

the fight and walking the path you know don't

give up keep doing what you love so yep awesome

that leads me into my last question would be

what what words of wisdom would you have for

any listeners or anybody out there that's doing

what you're doing now what what would you tell

them well as far as voiceovers um you know I

had cut my teeth in the business for so many

years. So it had been a long, long, long journey

already of honing my craft. And I would say if

you want to get into voiceovers, you know, they

have incredible workshops available. And I'm

sure they're doing Skype sessions now on Internet

workshops. So you could be in whatever. place

you want to live and be learning your craft that

way but i think it would be really great to get

into a workshop and you need a really good tape

and then you probably need to move to a city

where uh you know stuff is going on um but there

are also websites like voice123 and and um where

they do a lot of uh what do you call it like

non -union stuff and you know you've and and

just learn as much as you can about the craft

and, and work, work, work, work. And, and don't

give up, be persistent because that's a huge

part of it is just not giving up. Yeah. Huge

part of it. I think Seinfeld said one time, if

you stand in the line long enough, you're gonna

get to the front. And I have needed to hear that

so many times. I can't even tell you. So, you

know, just stand in the line and do the work.

Yeah. Awesome. How about as a musician? Same

thing. Same thing. And, you know, I've always

tried to really surround myself with people that

raise my game. I've been so fortunate to work

with incredibly, incredibly talented people.

And, you know, I really try to surround myself

with a team of people that, you know, know. just

a bit more than i do so i can learn from them

it's it's all about being teachable and and growing

as an artist and trying to learn as much as you

can from talented people all around you and um

yeah so it's it's it's not an easy road and you

just you have to love it you absolutely have

to love what you do because otherwise you won't

you you won't cut it you have to have that passion

for it But if you love to do it, just hang in

there and sing and perform everywhere you can.

And even if it's for no money in the beginning,

of course you do it for free because you love

it. And then just do what you love and the money

will come. Sounds kind of cheesy, but it's true.

Nothing cheesy about it. Between the three of

us, we've all been podcasting. seven eight nine

years wow and i don't i don't do this i've been

podcasting since 2008 i don't do this for money

yeah neither do i you know yeah it's it's nice

every now and then if one of my fans you know

shoots me some money to get on you know get a

comic or get you know shoots me a dvd set or

something like that but yeah i don't get paid

on the regular for this i do this because i enjoy

it and i want to do it exactly yeah that's that's

some you know I think there is that thing with

people expect music for free, which can be troublesome,

you know, because we all work really hard to

put our albums out and it costs money and it,

you know, all of that stuff. Music is worth something.

But yeah, you do do stuff for free. And I love

that you guys are doing this podcast and it's

your passion. And yeah. That was one of the biggest

pieces of advice from a podcast I listened to

over on earth -2 .net. Michael David Sims, he

was doing a 100 -episode podcast reviewing all

of the DC Animated Universe cartoons that came

out back in the day, Batman the Animated Series,

all that stuff. One of the biggest pieces of

advice he said is if you don't care about the

content or if you don't care about the show or

if you don't care about what you're talking about,

people are going to know. And you shouldn't do

it. I wouldn't have done, you know, all the,

I mean, in seven years, I've probably, I've probably

done over a thousand podcasts. Wow. That's a

lot. Yeah. I'm a workhorse. I'm a podcast machine.

That's awesome. You need that t -shirt. I'm a

podcast machine. I wish. That would be kind of

awesome. Before we let you go, remind everybody

about the upcoming projects you can talk about.

You said something about, you know, you're doing

new music, new album. Is there any, what's the

status on that? Yeah, I'm writing with some writers

in New York and Nashville and Los Angeles. And

I'm just, yeah, I'm working on my new record.

I'm trying to do something. like a concept kind

of thing. And I don't want to give too much away,

but if it's not out this year, it'll be out early

next year. And I'm very excited about that. And

I'm going to start putting a band together eventually

as well. But right now I'm working on the traveling,

doing all the convention appearances. I'm going

to be in Knoxville, Tennessee on the 5th and

7th. Oh, actually this is going to be taped.

So that will be over by then. But if people want

to find where I'm at, just go to my website,

SamanthaNewark .com, and I've got my tour schedule

and my music up there, and I've got comic books

up there. You can get autographed comic books

from me. Yeah, just leave me a note on my guest

book. I do read them. I love the thing in the

store where it says you can buy a voicemail from

you, and it says, you ever want to hear Little

Miss Pink Hair and the sing -alongs on your voicemail?

It's been so much fun. Well, I've been at conventions

and I've done people's voicemails for them so

that when somebody calls their phone, it's like,

hi, this is Jem. So -and -so can't answer their

phone right now because they're too busy helping

us with everything. So it's so fun. So I've been

sending those out to fans and you can get your

own personalized voice message from Jem. Yeah.

We'd like to thank Ms. Neuer for taking time

to chat with us here in this truly outrageous

Showtime Synergy interview. We'll ask you to

hold the line. We'll be back in a moment, folks.

this is Samantha Newark and you're listening

to the truly outrageous podcasters of the geek

cast radio network. All right, folks, there you

go. She is such a delight. Oh my goodness. I

couldn't imagine someone nicer. Really? That's

just. North of an hour with Samantha Newark,

the voice of Jem from Jem and the Holograms.

She was also the voice of Ariel. She's also a

masterful musician as well. It's just so great.

Check out her stuff on her website, SamanthaNewark

.com. Yes! Absolutely. And her music is awesome.

My eight -year -old self is just doing a little

dance right now going... I I've been smiling

this whole interview that my face literally hurts.

Oh, you and me too. It's like, Oh my God. You

know how I feel every time we do one of these

podcasts. That's because I'm sharing the pain,

right? It's a good pain. It's a good pain. Uh,

we do, we will have other voice actress and voice

actor interviews, hopefully coming up in the

future. Um, I think my next goal is to maybe

get a certain. Well, she's, she's jailbait most

of the time in my mind. So, you know, I might

try to get her on here. Who knows who else? Honestly,

I might be going after pizzazz next. Oh my gosh.

How awesome. See if we can't get Patricia on

here. That would be fantastic. But, yeah, there

you go, folks. Samantha Newark. You know, since

we've already had Jem, you know, Pizazz needs

to have her time, too. Oh, man, I would die if

we could get Charlie. If we could get Charlie

Adler on here. Because he's not just – everybody

always forgets that he's Eric Raymond because

everybody's always, oh, Starscream from the Transformers

movies or Buster from Tiny Twin Adventures or

whatever else the man has done in his extensive

career. Oh, man. That would be brilliant. One

guy we'd love to hate, but somehow we still love

him. Well, he still has standards. There are

some things he won't do. There's one thing that

Steve Blum won't do, but that's a story for another

day. Anyway. No, it's in the... Anyway, thank

you for listening to this Showtime Synergy interview

with Samantha Newark. For now, I am TF2 and Mike

with... This crazy fan known as Amy. The one

girl that's hurting so much that her teeth are

about ready to fall out of her head. A toothless

girl. I am really, really happy right now. I'm

not kidding. We'll just call you toothless. There

you go. I'm not that... I know I'm adorable,

but I'm not that adorable. You don't want to

breathe fire and slime people. Thank you for

having a truly outrageous time here with us on

Showtime Synergy. We will catch you next time.