Millions of Australians have heard Taylor Owynns’ voice, but few would recognise her on the street if they saw her.
For the past 20 years, he has been the iconic voice of New South Wales trains and trams.
Melbourne-born Taylor, who Now call Sydney home, he started acting in his early twenties, but he never expected his most famous line to be “Watch the space.”
She recently came across a viral Facebook post about her role in transportation commercials and was touched by the public’s affection for her voice.
“I love this job, I really do. I was so surprised by how much it meant to people. I’m incredibly touched,” she told FEMAIL.
‘When I shoot commercials, I always have people in mind because I know what it’s like to be on a platform.
“There are distractions, there’s a lot of noise, you might not speak the language, it might not be your native language. So I always keep that in mind.”
When she was younger, Taylor moved to New York, where she knew no one and only stayed there for a year after realizing how “difficult” it was.
Taylor Owynns (pictured) has been the voice of NSW trains and trams for the past 20 years. Many on the internet have called her an “Australian heroine”.
Passengers across the state will be familiar with Ms. Owynns’ reassuring voice as she shares which train will arrive next or the next stop.
Taylor then moved to London, where he thought he would stay for the rest of his life, only to return to Australia two years later.
Throughout his career he has voiced hundreds of radio commercials and audiobooks, but it is the work in NSW Transport that interests him most.
He even briefly lent his voice to Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station.
Passengers across New South Wales will be familiar with Taylor’s reassuring voice reminding them of safety rules and which train will arrive next.
“Like every opportunity I’ve had in life, this one came out of the blue, but I’m so glad it did. At the time, they wanted to change my voice from male to female,” she explained.
Throughout his career he has voiced hundreds of radio commercials and audiobooks, but it is the work in NSW Transport that interests him most.
Most of the time Taylor prefers to keep a low profile, but on rare occasions she – or at least her voice – is recognized in public.
“Sometimes I get asked to take a selfie or two. Most of the time, strangers say, ‘I recognize your voice from somewhere,’ but they can’t pinpoint exactly where. So I feel compelled to confess and maybe do a live impression,” she said.
One time he was in the middle of the French countryside and met a German man who had lived in Sydney and recognized his voice.
Taylor said the technology for public transport announcements was “very different” when she was first hired for the job.
The complete sentences heard over the public address system are actually words and phrases recorded separately and strung together, known as concatenated speech.
His recordings had to be consistent in tone and timbre because “everything had to blend together as if it were one phrase even though it was actually a combination of several.”.
Before landing the job at NSW Transport, she starred in the popular 90s children’s show Bananas in Pyjamas and played the teddy bear Lulu (right).
Before landing a job with NSW Transport, she starred in the popular 90s children’s show Bananas in Pyjamas, in which she played Lulu the teddy bear.
Ms Owynns played the role for 12 years and said it was sometimes physically challenging because of the size and weight of the costume.
She described it as a “very different job” compared to her job advertising trains, allowing her to “be a kid again”.
“It was like we were playing like little kids. The teddy bears must have been eight years old, I think. It was a fabulous team,” he said.
‘The suit was heavy. The feet were built around trainers and were very large, the hands had four fingers and I could only see through the nose cone.’
“I love this job, I really do. I was amazed by how much it meant to people. I’m incredibly touched,” she told FEMAIL.
Transport for NSW also shared images of Taylor on Facebook, prompting commuters to flood the comments with praise.
“I love the way Taylor advertises Leppington and Edmondson Park. He makes them sound like magical places where unicorns roam. It’s always a highlight of my day and makes me smile,” wrote one Sydneysider.
Another called her a “national heroine”, while a third said she was an “Australian icon”.
“It’s nice to put a face to that iconic voice,” wrote another.
Surprisingly, many confessed that they thought the voice was that of TV presenter Gretel Killeen.
