As a young actor, I would be invited to the CBC radio drama department to do voices for different characters, and I found that I could do quite a few of them. I wasn't a visual presence, and I found it easier to construct a voice from the written page.

Trivia:

Has stated that the voice of legendary American film actor John Wayne had some influence on his choice for the voice of Optimus Prime. However, he clarified in an interview for the 2007 Transformers video game that the inspiration for Prime's voice was actually based on an impression of his older brother's voice -- the authoritative tone he used while serving as an officer with the Marine Corps ...