EXCLUSIVE | Yashaswini Dayama on voicing for ‘Marvel’s Wastelanders’: ‘Who would say no to a Marvel project?’

Yashaswini Dayama is an Indian singer and actor who rose to prominence with her portrayal of Jackie in the Alia Bhatt-starrer Dear Zindagi in 2016. Early Life. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Yashaswini Dayama is the daughter of recognized television and film actor Ramakant Dayama and his wife.

While talking to Firstpost, she spoke about voicing the character of Valeria Richards, the daughter of his most hated enemy, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four in Marvel’s Wastelanders.

The actress said, “ It was very exciting like, right off the bat. I remember when Mantra told me that this is coming up and they wanted me to test for the part, and I heard her voice, the American version. And I was fully intimidated because she sounded so badass. And I was like, how am I supposed to fit into this world? I read up about it, but then they explained to me that that she is definitely badass, but there is a sort of vulnerability to her character. There is a sort of realness to her, which is something that I could really relate to. And then I just had to dive deep into the material, like, all the episodes, the scripts for it. And as the story unraveled itself to me, I understood her deeper and deeper, felt confident, found my own moments to relate to her and just trusted the process and just trusted trusted the studio and Mantra to guide me.”

On working with an ensemble in an audio protect 

There are so many other great actors that have already voiced for different different characters in the past 4 seasons. But the thing is with the audio format, I didn’t really actually get to record with any of them physically. Like, I heard chunks of their performances if they had already recorded their stuff beforehand, and that helped me understand what kind of universe we were creating. I did get the chance to record with Taarif, a bit here and there.

So that really helped, create the character’s relationships and bring that in. I wish I could have actually worked with them, like, been in the same studio. But I think I just have to do that from my own home and I’ll listen to the episodes once they’re out.

On the awareness about the world of Marvel

I’ve been aware of most of the characters and more than aware. Like, I’ve been fans of a lot of the characters that was immediately a big massive point for me to say yes to this because who would say no to being a part of a Marvel project in any way or form? So jumping in, I wasn’t aware of Valeria Richards’ character as much, but I knew that she was Doctor Reed’s daughter. So she was part of the Fantastic Four franchise. But, it just gave me a chance to just look her up and just understand that universe and that that, franchise a bit deeper.

Facing challenges for the character she voices

I think one of my challenges was trying to find my version of the character because I obviously had the American version to listen to as my guideline. And, it took me a while to figure out how to get the emotions right and not try to imitate how the other actor has done it and to find my own version of her. And then once we did find her, it was just so much fun to just keep going. And then it just became about the actual physical exhaustion of it because we’re doing a lot of action sequences, and we’re screaming and with punching and flying and running and falling.

So a lot of that doesn’t happen sitting down. You have to get up and you have to pretend, and you have to throw your arms in the air and step behind and scream your lungs out and cry. So as much as it’s just an audio show, it’s not just an audio show. It’s a complete experience in itself because how else would you create this world of imagination for the listeners? You have to give it your all.

On the power of audio storytelling 

I’m not alone when I say this, that we have really short attention spans, and we’re always doing three things at the same time. I used to love reading as a child, and I don’t get the time to do that anymore. So audiobooks and audio CDs and audio podcasts are the best way to keep your brain still engaged even though you have other responsibilities that you need to address, whether it’s household chores or commuting or anything. Or you’re just going for a run because you want to be healthy, and you don’t want to be sitting in the same spot and watching something on TV. You want you want it just helps you, just transport you to the universe that you want to be transported to whether sometimes it’s just such a great escape. So I’m a massive fan of this format.