Action Pulp!

January 28, 2026

By Adam Messer

Stuart Gauffi brings characters to life as an actor through hard work, perseverance and passion for his craft with an acting career spanning decades and a multitude of titles.

Please introduce yourself.
Hi, I’m Stuart Gauffi (pronounced GO-fee). I’m a voice actor, acting coach, and audiobook narrator. At risk of sounding like Troy McClure, fans of Action Pulp! may recognize me as the narrator of Bobby Nash’s Abraham Snow series. (And h/t to the inimitable and sorely missed Phil Hartman!)

What is your earliest memory of reading?
I don’t remember not reading, or being read to. I have a very early memory of having “The Wind in the Willows” read to me every night at bedtime. My family had an unabridged Random House Dictionary of American English–massive tome–that lived on a book stand in our living room. It was my favorite way to go “down the rabbit hole” in the days long before the Internet provided endless such opportunities.

When did you know you wanted to become a voice actor and narrator? How did it happen?
I was an actor before focusing on voice acting, and that occurred at a very young age: 7, to be precise. As it happened, my school was putting on “Pinocchio”, and I had never been involved in a play before. When the fellow who was to play the lead realized–at dress rehearsal a week before the show–that he’d have to wear that long nose, he refused. I stepped in, and at the show was immediately taken by the applause. I was seldom not working on a show from the next 14 years. Along the way, I was introduced to voice acting, and that became another outlet for performance.

I actually avoided doing audiobooks for a long time, because I’d heard horror stories from colleagues about the drudgery involved. But about 12 years ago, I was introduced to a colleague and mentor who gave me some insight into a way to leverage technology (my other love) to reduce the work involved. And I found that I loved being able to portray all the characters, and direct at the same time!

What’s one of your favorite scenes you have performed?
In terms of audiobooks, I think it was probably a scene from a series of novels about the “heavenly host”–the angels who existed before the creation of man, including those who chose to rebel and follow Satan. The scene was the moment in time when Satan, who at the time was an exalted angel, came to the conclusion that he was at least God’s equal, and probably more, and called on his followers to rebel with him. Performing that scene definitely involved goosebumps.

What makes a good character? A bad one?
What a great question!  Good characters are ones that the reader can relate to in some way. They have interesting backstories, and relationships that feel familiar (and often complicated in one way or another). Whether they are protagonist or antagonist, they believe they are right–unless their self-doubt is part of what carries the story, of course.

Bad characters are just flat and forgettable. Or worse, self-contradictory through the course of the book. By that I mean, the author hasn’t taken the care necessary to maintain a consistent representation of the character. Cliches are also dangerous territory. If used purposely, they can be good, but very often they’re just a sign of a lazy author.

What moves the story for you?
Curiosity. There must always be something that keeps me wondering what’s next, or how it all ends. I love mysteries, and opportunities to learn. So both fiction and non-fiction narrations can move me.

What is your favorite book and why?
Well, I have to say the Bible, just because it’s part of daily life–and also endlessly new, often in surprising ways. In terms of fiction, a recent favorite is “Clouds in the Future”, by Eric Goebelbecker. It’s part of his The Great War of the Worlds series, which is a sequel to H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, set during World War I (The Great War). In terms of non-fiction, I’ve had the pleasure of narrating Worlds Within Worlds: The Story of Nuclear Energy, by Isaac Asimov. It left me amazed that I could understand the fundamentals of atomic energy!

What do you want to say to your audience?
First and foremost, thank you. As a performer, it’s all about the audience. The one thing that’s hard about audiobooks, like any acting other than stage acting, is the lack of audience feedback in the moment. We have to send the performance out into the world, and hope that someone out there gets something out of it. The only way we know, other than sales figures, is when we hear from fans. So if you ever run into me at an event, please say hello.

What advice do you have for new voice actors?
Take the time to get good training, both for acting and specifically for voice acting and recording tech. Today, many narrators work from home studios and do their own production work (depending on their comfort level and skills). I was a stage actor for 11 years before I did any voiceover work, and then for 30 years after that before I did my first audiobook. It’s definitely a labor of love, not a get-rich-quick scheme. That’s not to say I’m typical, either. I have colleagues who took to narration like the proverbial fish to water, and ramped up quite quickly–through good training with great mentors.

Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Thanks for having me. This came about because of another of the great things about being a working narrator: the relationships you develop. Having been, as Bobby says, “The Voice of Snow” for his entire series, we’ve become good friends in spite of never having met in person. When you had him on the podcast recently, he thought it would be fun for his listening readers to hear my side of the game, and here we are. Many authors I work with are like that–inviting me to be a part of their creative world turns into a friendship in the real world. That’s just the best.

Website: https://www.stuartgauffi.com

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