Siri’s Voice: Susan Bennett Said She Was Afraid To Come Forward
Siri’s voice has been a mystery for years, but now singer and actress Susan Bennett has stepped forward to claim that she is the voice behind the ubiquitous Apple assistant.
Bennett said she was reading an article on synthesized speech published in The Verge that focused on Allison Duffy, a voice actress with a bright and youthful sound. The article described a secretive project Duffy had been working on, one that took her well beyond her normal range of doing voiceovers (VOs) for commercial spots.
“It was like the Ironman of VO,” she said of the project. “I had not experienced anything like that. I am the queen of the 30–60 second TV spot. That’s my safe place.”
The article then delved into the work it took to put Siri together, leading many to conclude that Duffy was the well-kept secret behind Siri’s voice.
Susan Bennett, who actually voiced Siri, said she never had any intention of coming forward with her secret, and wasn’t sure if she was legally allowed to anyway.
But Bennett said the confusion that came from the Verge article prompted her to come forward.
Bennett seemed to understand the confusion. She and Allison Duffy have worked in the same Atlanta voiceover studio and crossed paths many times. And the assignment to serve as Siri’s voice was shrouded in secrecy when Bennett took the assignment.
Bennett has a deep resume, with voiceover work for Ford, Coca-Cola, and the Cartoon Network. She’s also performed in the band Laugh & Cry at The Berklee School of Music and served as a backup singer for Burt Bacharach and Roy Orbison.
The assignment to serve as Siri’s voice actually came close to a decade ago, Susan Bennett revealed. She did the recording for a software company called ScanSoft, which at the time kept details about the project quiet.
