Fern Eliza
Fern is an award-winning artist with a BFA in cinema production as a director. She has been training as an actor since 2013, and is now working as a professional voice actor.
Having a passion for storytelling, all things fantasy, and of course - comedy, Fern is best known for her character work. With a wide range of dialects, character voices, and the analytical mind of a director, she is a strong choice to help bring a variety of projects to life.
Disability Advocate - Connoisseur of comedy - devotee of D&D - appreciator of pigeons
When I was a year old, my dad was convinced I was old enough to paint. My mom was not so sure. I picked up the paintbrush, studied the easel intently, then smushed the paint all over my face. Thus my dad, dismayed, proved my mom right - but hey, I had fun.
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From as far back as I can remember, I've always been an artist. When I was in university for filmmaking and directing, I grew a passion for silent film comedies, analyzing color theory, and of course - curating performances. I was excited to focus on the psychology of film, and how to effectively bring people together on relevant issues or shared experiences.
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And then I got sick.
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I later learned that chronic illness had been creeping up on me all along, but I distinctly remember working as a set designer on a night shoot doing back to back 12 hour days when the whole world started spinning and I found myself laying in the grass in the dark, staring at the stars, listening to the sounds of the crew continuing to shoot. I wasn’t able to shout for help, time seemed a bit wonky, and I was unable to do anything but think, “This is it, isn’t it? My body isn’t my own anymore.” The producer found me an hour later in the cold, distressed and annoyed that no one had noticed me missing, then bundled me away in a car home.​​
My dreams shattered. I was devastated. I was angry. Watching films that told the stories I thought I would help tell broke my heart. After a while, I thought it would hurt less if I gave up hope of ever getting back to doing what I loved. I tried that, and unsurprisingly all it brought me was the type of pain you shove out of your mind to never deal with and then some time later you’re reaching in a drawer for a spoon to eat soup but you accidentally drop it on the floor and everything just explodes inside, and people are looking at you cry like the world is ending over a spoon and you feel absolutely ridiculous.
When you're dealing with that type of pain and fatigue everyday, it's often hard to do much more than wallow in the couch, so my partner got me to try playing video games. I didn't consider myself a gamer by any means, but with a love of fantasy and D&D I gave Baldur’s Gate 3 a try.
For the first time in a year it seemed, I was laughing and smiling again, mostly due to the delightfully dynamic performances of the actors. And then the story got me. I was so invested in the lore, journey, and world building of all of the characters. I felt for them, I connected with them. They healed parts of me I forgot I needed. Suddenly that wall of forced nothingness in me broke, and I fell in love with making art again. I realized I wasn’t ready to give it all up.
For the first time I started to think about how putting my own needs first would change my perspective of the future. My thoughts changed from, “My unreliable body can’t handle back to back 12 hour days on set,” to, “What exactly ARE my needs, so I can express how to work with others?” And then with my love of film, storytelling, directing, and performing…the answer was literally right in front of my face the whole time.
I made a tiny home studio in a closet, and began adapting my skillset to voice acting and directing. Since then I’ve connected with wonderful teachers and actors, and had the opportunity to work on many creative projects. Who else can say their actual real life job involves giving a voice to cannibalistic sheep, or being murdered professionally? I’m delighted by the unexpected strangeness of the stories I’m given.
Writing this, I was reminded of my original desire, right before everything fell apart - to focus on the psychology of film, and how to effectively bring people together on relevant issues or shared experiences. I’m very excited to see how I can help further storytelling as well as disabled representation in this industry along in the future.
STories Matter.
They have the power to change lives and minds.
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Your story matters. We're all in this together.