Meet The Woman Who Voiced Siri -- And A Lot Of Other Things, Too
You might also recognize Susan Bennett's voice from the airport, banks and more.
Lisa Capretto— OWN
LOADINGERROR LOADING
Everyone knows her voice, but few know her name.
Well, technically, you know her as Siri, but the woman behind iPhone's sometimes-sassy personal assistant is actually voice actor Susan Bennett. Susan appeared on "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" over the weekend and spoke openly about her experience as Siri as well as her lengthy voice career.
As Susan says in the above video, her foray into voice acting was a total accident. It happened many years ago, when she was a singer who performed commercial jingles. When the voice talent didn't show up one particular day in the studio, Susan was asked to read a few lines.
Advertisement
"I thought, 'Well, this is something I could do,'" Susan says. "So, I got a voice coach and an agent, and that was that."
Susan's first appearance as a machine was for First National Bank of Atlanta, for whom she voiced Tillie the All-Time Teller, an ATM. Later, the Siri gig came about, and it was quite the undertaking.
"The vocabulary that ultimately became the original voice of Siri was recorded in 2005, the whole month of July, four hours a day, five days a week," Susan says.
Advertisement
The original Siri was then introduced to the world on October 4, 2011. Susan had no idea it was going to be her.
"That's when I found out," says says. "A fellow voice actor emailed me and said, 'Hey, we're playing around with this new iPhone. Isn't this you?' I went, 'What!?' and went to the Apple site and checked it out... Yes, that's me."
“A fellow voice actor emailed me and said... 'Isn't this you?' I went, 'What!?'”
As iPhones evolved, however, so has Siri's voice.
"They changed all of the original Siri voices with the OS 7 system," Susan explains. "Many people can't tell the difference, but, of course, to me it's very obvious."
But you're still likely to hear Susan's voice out in the world in some capacity. She's done digital recordings for Delta Air Lines terminal gates, in-store messaging for retailers like Nordstrom and The Home Depot, and radio and TV voiceovers for everything from McDonald's to Nissan. Not even her own family can escape her voice in public.
Advertisement
"I was the voice of my son's bank in college," Susan says. "So you can imagine how popular I was with him at that time! 'I'm sorry. You are overdrawn.'"
If you haven't come across Susan's voice yet, that may very well change in the near future.
"I've been doing singing and voice work for decades," she says. "I absolutely love it. I plan to do it as long as I possibly can."
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.