Presented by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, voice acting’s biggest night brought together the industry’s finest talent in Los Angeles on Jan. 18, 2026, for the 12th annual SOVAS Voice Arts Awards. The ceremony highlights the vocal artists, producers, and creative professionals who shape entertainment across animation, audiobooks, video games, commercials, and beyond.
This year’s event made history with the inaugural James Earl Jones Prize, named for the legendary performer whose gravelly instrument spans “Star Wars,” “The Lion King,” and more. The award, which recognizes vocal excellence and cultural impact, was presented to acclaimed actor Laurence Fishburne. Best known for his live-action roles in “The Matrix” and “John Wick” franchises, Fishburne has also lent his sonorous voice to films including “Osmosis Jones,” “TMNT,” audiobooks like “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” and documentaries such as “History’s Greatest Mysteries.”
“We are so excited to introduce the James Earl Jones Prize at this year’s Voice Arts Awards!” explained SOVAS CEO Rudy Gaskins in advance of the ceremony. “Having honored James himself at our first-ever ceremony in 2014, we knew we wanted to find a more permanent way to commemorate everything that he represents to the voice acting community. We could not think of a more deserving first recipient than Laurence Fishburne, whose dedication to the craft sets the standard for generations of voice artists to come.”
The 12th Voice Arts Awards showcased career achievement through several other special awards, such as the Backstage Vanguard Award presented to renowned voice actor Redd Pepper during the That’s Voiceover! Career Expo.
Among this year’s notable winners, Auliʻi Cravalho took home an award for outstanding animation character in a motion picture for reprising her role as the titular hero in Disney’s “Moana 2,” while Matthew McConaughey was honored for narrating the audiobook for his personal work “Poems & Prayers.” Maya Hawke left the Upside Down to win a classics audiobook narration award for her reading of Joan Didion’s “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” and Karen Chilton claimed a history audiobook narration award for her “Misbehaving at the Crossroads.”
Here’s the list of nominees in major categories, with winners in bold, for the 2026 SOVAS Voice Arts Awards.
Outstanding Animation Character - Motion Picture - Best Voiceover
- Auliʻi Cravalho, “Moana 2” (Winner)
- James Hare, “Fat Chance! the Movie”
- Dwayne Johnson, “Moana 2”
Outstanding Audiobook Narration - Author Performance - Best Voiceover
- Tanya Eby, “The Narrator’s Handbook”
- John Green, “Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection”
- Alison Larkin, “Grief... A Comedy”
- Matthew McConaughey, “Poems & Prayers” (Winner)
- Bruce Vilanch, “It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time”
Outstanding Audiobook Narration - Classics - Best Voiceover
- Karen Commins, “Duskin”
- Andrew Eiden, “Desolation Angels”
- Sutton Foster, “Pippi Longstocking”
- Stephen Fry, “Great Expectations”
- Robert G. Slade, “Moby Dick”
- Maya Hawke, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”
Outstanding Audiobook Narration - History - Best Voiceover
- Karen Chilton, “Misbehaving at the Crossroads”
- Jack de Golia, “War of Supply: World War II Allied Logistics in the Mediterranean”
- Stephanie Németh-Parker, “The Time of My Life: Dirty Dancing”
- Martin Sheen, “Ghosts of Hiroshima”
- Maxwell Zener, “Building the Worlds That Kill Us”
Outstanding Casting - TV Animation - Best Casting Director
- Paulette Victor Lifton, “From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman”
- Paulette Victor Lifton, “Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.”
- Sara Jane Sherman, “Haunted Hotel”
- Sara Jane Sherman, “Krapopolis”
- Sara Jane Sherman, “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”
Outstanding Casting - TV Commercial - Best Casting Director
- Sound & Fury, Krispy Kreme
- Sound & Fury, Nike
- Sound & Fury, Starbucks
- Stephanie Ugbeye, “The Rise of Appbility”
- Susie Valerio, “Brawl Stars Ad - Juju”
Outstanding Commercial - TV or Streaming - Best Voiceover
- J. Marcell Baker, “Guinness on Premise”
- J. Marcell Baker, “Standis - Make Brands Work”
- Jerry Beharry, Bethany White Group spot
- Ellen Dubin, “Amor En La Cesta”
- Matt Fogarty, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre - “Carry the Fire”
- Gm Hakim, Apple - “Hey Son”
- Julia Knippen, CVS - “Here for All of It”
- Elsa Levytsky, Nespresso - “The Perfect Gift”
- Jeremiah Mullins, IHOP
- Peter Wicks, Patch Plants - “Plants Made Easy”
Outstanding Promo - TV or Streaming - Best Voiceover
- Debbe Hirata, U.S. Women’s Soccer - “She Believes Promo”
- Joey Iannitelli, Scholastic - “Bad Guys Recap”
- Simon Kennedy, “Best Fest - Summer’s Most Wanted”
- Simon Kennedy, “Big Kids Big Action”
- Simon Kennedy, ABC Kids - “Pirates Aplenty”
- Simon Kennedy, “The Strange Chores”
- Uku Leili, Netflix - “Single’s Inferno: Choices - Official Game Trailer”
- Jeremiah Mullins, “Sharkweek”
- Keith Tan, “Blockbuster Sunday: Godzilla Vs Kong”
- Torran Wakefield-Thompson, Pluto TV - “Many Faces of Eddie Murphy” Promo
Outstanding Promo Campaign - TV or Streaming - Best Voiceover
- Chloë Elmore, “Olympics x Toyota: Memories of the Future”
- Chris Fries, “NFL on CBS”
- Debbe Hirata, Oscars 2025 Promo Campaign
- Christian Lanz, “Disney on Ice” - National Promo Campaign
- Torran Wakefield-Thompson, Pluto TV Campaign
Outstanding Toy Character - Best Voiceover
- Erin Culpepper, Poe the Storytelling Bear
- Vanessa Marroquin, Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn: Learn & Serve Coffee Café
- Amanda Turen, Tonies™ Lalalinos - Bumbaloo Beats - Cosmo
- Alaina Wis, Disney Princess meReaders
Outstanding Video Game Character - Best Voiceover
- Harry Frost, “Wizard of Legend 2”: Hieronymous
- Rae Lim, “Wuthering Waves”
- Eduardo De Los Reyes, “Digimon Time Story Stranger”
- Peter Wicks, “Among Ashes”
- Shel Wyminga, “Mechwarrior 5: Clans - Ghost Bear: Flash Storm”
Outstanding Video Game Trailer - Best Voiceover
- Chloë Elmore, “Path of Exile 2 - Dawn of the Hunt”
- Weston Heflin, “How to Play US Aircraft Carriers - World of Warships”
- Devon Irelan, “Eve Online: Equinox Expansion”
- Alaina Wis, “Become the Ash That Ignites the Stars - Tower of Fantasy”
- Kimberly Woods, “Wanderstop”
Outstanding Animation Character - TV or Web - Best Voiceover
- I-Ling Chen, “Hamsters of Hamsterdale” - Nickelodeon
- Wesley Eagle, “Wands Deep” (Winner)
- Chloë Elmore, “Loud & Proud”
- Brandon Miller, “Paw Patrol: To the Rescue” - Mayor Humdinger
- Azman Zulkiply, “LK: School Daze”
Outstanding Animation Character - Film or TV - Best African Voiceover
- Simisola Gbadamosi, “Iwaju”
- Jennifer Eniye Kanari, “Explore Our 2025 Impact Report - The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet”
- Jennifer Eniye Kanari, “Path of Exile: Risu’s Rescue”
Outstanding Commercial - Radio or Web - Best African Voiceover
- Oluwaseyi Ajagbe, Action Against Hunger Ad
- Olalekan Akinleye, “West Africa Economic Summit 2025 Commercial”
- Eniola Keshinro, “Showmax - Bring Your Own Internet”
- Eniola Keshinro, “Visa - Globetrotter”
- Tolulope Kolade, Airtel 5G
Outstanding Dubbing - TV or Series - Best Arabic Voiceover
- Habiba Bahaa, “Barbie Mysteries”
- Weiam Dribaty, “Koroko”
- Ibrahem Jalal, “Naruto”
Outstanding Commercial - TV or Web - Best Chinese Voiceover
- Phoebe T. Lim, “Wall’s New Pop Cornetto - New Pop Cornetto”
- Angelia Liu, “Project Be Brave: Early Detection for Breast Cancer PSA With Davey the Puppet” - Mandarin
- Angela Liu, “Project Be Brave: Early Detection for Breast Cancer PSA” - Mandarin
- Erika Huey Shiun Tan | Beauté Library Commercial
- Hugo Sean Wong | “McDonald’s - Mushroom Season Drops At Mekdi!”
- Xiè Sōngfàn | “UOB Bank ‘Doing Right by You One Bank’ for ASEAN”
Outstanding Body of Work - International - Best Voiceover
- Yukiko Fujimura
- Takayuki Kondo
- Chilu Lemba
- Tamara Linke
- Noella Menon
Outstanding Radio Commercial - Best Japanese Voiceover
- Taeko Mukumoto, American Airlines Spotify Spot
- Natsuki Terauchi, “A Place That Supports the Growth of Engineers”
Outstanding Animation Character - Film, TV, or Video Game - Portuguese Language - Best Voiceover
- Lucila Bach, “Vamos Brincar com a Turma da Mônica”
- Andrei Duarte, “Jorel’s Brother”
- Audrei Hüllen, “Pipas”
- Jose Augusto Sendim, “O Coração Delator”
Outstanding Audio Description - TV or Film - Portuguese Language - Best Voiceover
- Krysna Bezerra Dias, “Martinho E Zeca - Projeto Samba Rock”
- Luciana Priami, “Maria E O Cangaço” - Disney+
Outstanding Dubbing – Video Games – Portuguese Language - Best Voiceover
- Lucila Bach, “Poppy Playtime”
- Dudu Fevereiro, “Destiny 2”
Outstanding Narration - E-Learning - Portuguese Language - Best Voiceover
- Rafa Depieri, “Globo Gente - Um olhar para os pais contemporâneos”
- Andressa Mello, “Seja curioso - TED-Ed - Tudo o que você precisa saber para ler ‘Frankenstein’“ – Iseult Gillespie
- Carolla Parmejano, “Disney Junior - Mickey”
Outstanding Animation Character - TV or Web - Best Spanish Voiceover
- Nicolas Daza, “Bakugan 3.1”
- Natalia Rosminati, “Plim Plim”
- Victor Ruiz, “Mejores Momentos de Catnap en Gametoons”
- Demian Velazco Rochwerger, “Hilda - Tritón”
- Ximena Viver, “Moomin Valley”
Outstanding Commercial - TV or Streaming - Best Spanish Voiceover
- Javier Delgado, “ ‘Stretch’ - Premium Class Alaska Airlines”
- Sara Delgado, “Guainía Ancestral”
- Sara Delgado, “MiniMed™ 780G Diabetes”
- Belu Heredia, “Expresate mejor con BIC”
- Pedro Labattaglia, “Clight - ‘Let’s prepare what’s good for us’ ”
- Alfonso Lugo, Tostitos Esquites
- Jose Paz, “Güitig - Emociónate Otra Vez”
- Michael Rojas, “Perezoso invita a Madrid a visitar Costa Rica”
- Memo Sauceda, “Silverdado Hermanos y Rivales”
- Lizet Vásquez, “Delta y LATAM: Destinadas a Estar Juntas”
Outstanding Radio Commercial - Best Spanish Voiceover
- Marly Figueroa, Kamala Harris 2024
- Douglas Hernandez, Soy Hyundai
- Maria Camila Peroni Franco, “Somos Selva” by Johnnie Walker Blue Label
- Facundo Reyes, “Naranja X - Día de la madre”
- Lizet Vásquez, “Maiz ‘El Poderoso’ ”