You may know her best as Jem/Jerrica from Jem and The Holograms or Ariel from The Transformers, but Samantha Newark has a career that spans decades and media. She will be a featured media guest at Nerd Con 2025.
Interview content by Matt Hollis, of the Baytown Sun
1 ) You have been doing voice work since the 1980s. IS there a particular moment in your career where you realized this is what you were meant to do in life?
A: Getting the role of Jem and Jerrica in Jem and the Holograms really was a huge boost to my confidence because I was brand new to the voiceover world, not to the entertainment industry, but this was my first real big voiceover job, and working with my fellow actors and just being in the midst of something so imaginative and creative was what made me feel like I could maybe do this for a career.
2) How were you able to capture a rock goddess and her secret identity’s spirit through your voice?
A: I feel like I had the advantage of already being on stage, growing up as a performer in the music business. I basically got to live out my rock star fantasy through Jem. I could relate to the secret identity aspect of my character because I was always the new girl and the kid that sang and did TV and had newspaper press. I went to many different schools in England, South Africa, and America before age 10. I learned real quick that if I keep my career stuff a secret then they got to know me as Sam, and I’ll get to see who my true friends really were.
3) Do you have any good or funny memories of Chuck Connors from “Summer Camp Nightmare” you can share?
A: He was lovely, actually, very gentle and kind and professional, and he was the tallest person I’d have ever met in my life. He was like six foot ten or something. Only fond memories of him, but I’m sure he had his moments of thinking, What am I doing here with all these crazy teenagers in this movie?
4) What advice would you give an up-and-coming voice actor?
A: The honest answer is voice acting is acting. So I would encourage anybody that wants to get into the industry to start to develop as an actor, go to class, get involved in theater, do as much acting as you possibly can and grow in your craft.
It’s wonderful today to have platforms like YouTube and learn from so many working pros out there on how to get started even how to build your own VO home studio.
Nerd Con is November 15, 2025, at the Eagle Pointe Recreation Center in Mont Belvieu, TX.