Chris Nichter is the voice behind Matt Dibrindisi mascot Pepperoni the Great. Ahead of Halloween, we sat down with Chris to talk his origins as a voice actor, interesting projects and the ups and downs of Halloween.
Matt Dibrindisi: What drew you to voice acting?
Chris Nichter: Well… even as a kid I liked watching cartoons and imitating the voices and then later my career in radio gave me a professional platform to use and develop my talents and in the new millennium, I started working with voice acting coach Toni Silveri. What appeals to me about voice acting is that it can get me out of myself and be someone else. It’s just fun. So much of it is narration and just straight stuff, but creating characters is the fun part.
MRD: What is the most interesting/ridiculous project you’ve done? What have you enjoyed doing the most?
CN: I can’t really remember all the stuff I’ve done (laughs). One of the most fun things that I ever did and probably the biggest and most noteworthy thing I did was doing the character for the voiceover on the documentary series Wild Mississippi on NatGeo Wild, where they asked for a Sam Elliott-type. [In a southern drawl] Just kind of a cowboy sitting on the porch telling a story, y’know? It was fun becoming that character instead of doing it straight.
MRD: What do you enjoy most about Halloween?
CN: My favorite part of Halloween is that I get to do character voices and that I get to create and be someone else, whether it’s Pepperoni, something sinister or spooky.
I don’t really like Halloween, apart from the fact that it gives me an opportunity to create characters. I grew up way out in the country and there was no place to trick-or-treat anyways, so… [laughs] maybe that’s why I really don’t care that much for Halloween!
MRD: [laughs] You have my condolences.