Voice and Dialect Coach Amy Hume on Her Craft and Career Advice

Amy Hume, an internationally trained voice and dialect coach based in Melbourne, works with actors and corporate professionals across Australia and beyond. She describes her role as teaching actors to sound like someone else, emphasizing that dialect coaching is about storytelling and supporting the director's vision. Hume explains the process of finding a primary source—a real person with similar background to the character—and balancing authenticity with believability for the audience. She contrasts theatre and film work: in theatre, actors have weeks or months to refine an accent during rehearsals and performances; in film, pre-production time is used to teach the accent, often with only a week of rehearsals, and actors must perform accents while doing other tasks like carving a chair or riding a horse. Hume advises aspiring dialect coaches to become great listeners, have a sense of play, and give themselves permission to make mistakes. She notes that further study (possibly overseas or online) is usually required, and a background in voice, linguistics, languages, or performance is helpful. She acknowledges that the industry in Australia is small and competitive but says there is always room for good people.