‘Dora the Explorer' voice actress Kathleen Herles recalls keeping role a secret at school

Voice actress Kathleen Herles was just a child when she started voicing Dora in the hugely popular TV show “Dora the Explorer.”  Herles reflected on her career, childhood and experiences growing up on “The Joe Vulpis Podcast.” 

Herles, 35, shared that while she was in the show, she  still went to school,  living what she thought was a fairly normal childhood.  Unlike live-action child stars who are easily recognizable, nobody knows who she was. It was easier for her to separate her job from her everyday life.

She didn’t really grasp how globally popular the show had become back then. She loved doing it that she intentionally tried to hide the fact that she was the voice of Dora. 

She would avoid telling people at school because she didn’t want others to think she was trying to be “cool.” 

“I just want it to be something that I do outside and for me and for my family.” After awhile, kids started finding out and she became more and more reluctant to share it.

At school, kids made fun of her when they found out. When her family later moved, she told her mom she “didn’t want anyone to know” she was the voice of Dora at her new school. 

Her mother coordinated with the school so that the staff and guidance counselors would be informed of her daughter's situation, hoping Kathleen would enjoy some privacy. Unfortunately, that plan fell apart on the first day of school. 

The guidance counselor explained Herles' situation to the homeroom teacher but they were not alone.  Kathleen lamented, “I hear her telling the teacher, but while she's telling the teacher, there's a student there.” The student overheard everything.

“Oh my God, it’s happening,” saying it was exactly what she had tried to avoid. “So immediately, the student goes back to the classroom and starts telling one person, then tells another person, and that was the end of me trying to keep it a secret.”

Word spread quickly in the campus, ending her attempt to be anonymous. Kids began teasing her, just like in her previous school. She found the comments directed at her annoying and uncomfortable. It made her feel like she had a lot on her plate at a young age.

Vulpis expressed surprise that she was essentially a global phenomenon but still chose to live a normal school life. Herles agreed, but added that as a kid, she didn’t really think of it that way. She said she was just “a kid trying to be a kid” who happened to do voiceover work.

Looking back, the experience made her very reserved, reluctant in talking about her work for a long time. She has become more open about it as an adult. Her husband has encouraged her to speak more confidently about her time as the voice of Dora.

Herles returned to the franchise years later in the 2024 reboot of the series voicing Mami—the mother of Dora. Herles has truly come full circle.