That voice. The girl sitting next to you in your dreaded discussion has this voice you know you've heard somewhere before. Somewhere you can't seem to place.
Ever watch MTV's "Daria"? Then maybe you recognize the voice of Sarah Drew, a third-year drama major who just finished taping her fifth season on the show as Stacy, a member of the fictitious Lawndale High's elite fashion club.
Stacy, as described by the dry-witted main character Daria, "shows her navel, does nothing novel." But unlike the character she brings to life, Drew has a list of distinctive accomplishments.
Back in 1995, when Drew was a high schooler in Long Island, NY, she landed a role on the sardonic hit cartoon series about the trials of suburban high school. She was cast as the voice of Stacy, the insecure and often manic follower of Daria's sister Quinn, the ever-popular teeny-bopper.
"I really like how hysterical Stacy gets," Drew said. "She just cries and freaks out all the time. She definitely doesn't have any self-esteem."
Originally cast for a one-time appearance as an 8-year-old, Drew moved into the role of Stacy after producers created the high-school fashion club three episodes into the first season.
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Drew's acting coach, Flo Greenberg, introduced her to MTV when she landed Drew an audition for a cartoon about vampires that never made it to production. But the studio still kept Drew's resume on hand and invited her back to read for "Daria," their biting parody of high school life.
"They had me read for the character of Daria a couple times," Drew said of the audition process. "But I don't know why! My voice can't be that deadpan. It has too much animation."
Drew now tapes for "Daria" over the summers in New York City's Sync Studio, reading her lines in an isolated booth and following intonation cues from her voice coaches.
"I just go in and do my lines. I never hear any of the other characters or see any of the other actors," Drew said.
Drew explained that during a typical recording session, her voice coaches have her read a single line three times in different ways. After playing back the recording, they will suggest alterations to the tone or speed.
"Sometimes they'll ask me to do six sighs in a row," Drew said. "I'll be sitting there laughing in the booth all by myself, or crying, like my character does a lot."
From behind the plate-glass window looking into the recording booth, she said, the "Daria" voice-coaches will yell, "You're popping your 'P's'!" or "Your voice is crackly, take some water."
Drew's character Stacy is highly emotional, known to break into panic attacks so severe that she starts to hyperventilate.
In MTV's online "Daria" chat room Monday afternoon, members discussed Stacy's insecure character amid talk of the new season.
"Stacy's kewl. She kinda acts like me sometimes," typed brit_2.
"yea, i think she's an accurate portrayal of many girls in high school right now - completely afraid of being original and shut out," typed daria_fang.
As a member of Lawndale High School's highly prestigious fashion club - a club with the mission statement: "To support fellow students in achieving their appearance goals, even the hopeless ones with greasy bangs and rough, dry elbows. To spot trends, reflect upon them, and critique without malice or favor. Like why are all those girls with thick calves jumping on the Capri pants bandwagon?"
Stacy, who surrounds herself with mirror-gazing friends, is nothing like Daria, a self-inflicted outcast who sneers at conventional high school life.
"Daria gets on my nerves," Drew said.
Although Drew provides Stacy's voice, she rarely gets to see her work on TV.
"It's really sad because I don't have cable, so I haven't seen an episode in two or three years," Drew said.
Although Drew has not had many run-ins with megastars throughout her recording sessions, she almost had a brush with teen idol Carson Daly, the MTV host of "Total Request Live." Daly played a smaller role as a tutor in the new "Daria" movie and was in the studio recording right before Drew.
"His script was all marked up and still laying there," Drew said, a tinge star struck. "Then, I got to put on the headphones he was just wearing."
Although she was invited to the premier of the "Daria" movie and saw it as a chance to meet the other stars of the show, Drew had to be back in Charlottesville to rehearse for the Spectrum Theater's "Voices of the Class" production, a performance this weekend that highlights outstanding University admissions essays.
Born in Massachusetts and reared in Charlottesville before her family moved to Long Island, Drew landed the job while still a high school student. Surprisingly to some, she shrugged the stereotypical scenario of waitressing in New York while auditioning for every role possible. That will come later.
"I wanted to grow up a little more before heading out. I loved U.Va. It felt like I was coming home," she said.
Drew has found a home at the University, performing in last year's production of "A Chorus Line" and becoming involved in the drama department.
"What makes Sarah fun and great to work with is that she's a curious actor," Drama Prof. John Loschmann said. "She has an openness, a talent, and the intelligence to work with a lot of people. She wants to learn." Loshmann worked with Drew in last year's "A Chorus Line," and had her in his Dance for Theatre class.
"Sarah brings a lot of life and passion to class and rehearsal," he added.
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