Lake Bell Finds Her Voice As The Star Of 'In A World...'

In the new film "In A World..." screenwriter, director and actress Lake Bell offers a rare glimpse into the world of the movie trailer voiceover industry -- a field long dominated by men. The film, which blurs the line between fact and fiction, follows a vocal coach (played by Bell) who dreams of movie trailer stardom, and gets the chance to do so by following in the footsteps of real-life voiceover artist Don LaFontaine, who died in 2008. 

Bell joins us in studio to talk about her early interest in human voices, why she has a problem with the "sexy baby voice" that so many women use, and the reason it's so darn fun to say "in a world...." 

On her early interest in voices: 

It starts with cartoons a little bit. You start to mimic and listen to these voices. I remember the first time someone told me that a certain character was played by a woman, even though the character was male -- for instance, Bart Simpson. That kind of blew my mind -- oh my goodness, you can be anyone. You aren't judged by what you look like. You can be anything. 

On the lack of women in the movie trailer voiceover industry: 

When it comes to the movie trailer industry, that's where i found a massive dearth of female voices. That is without hyperbole. There's virtually none.... I thought, that's an opportunity to playfully talk about a more real issue that is perhaps feminist. 

On why women need to abandon what she calls "sexy baby voice": 

It's not even saying the word "like," but it's insinuating it. It's insinuating like you're "less than" the rest of the world.... I feel that if you talk that way, and you're trying to achieve the goals in your life, perhaps you're doing yourself a great disservice by putting yourself in a section that is not the contenders.