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Michaela Keenan Dietz (born November 1, 1982 in Incheon, South Korea) is a Korean-American actress and voice actress. She is best known as the voice of Amethyst on the Cartoon Network television series Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future, Dolly Dalmatian on Disney's 101 Dalmatian Street and Darryl McGee on The Ghost and Molly McGee.

One of Dietz's first acting roles was voicing Riff on on the children's television series, Barney & Friends, serving as the original voice.

Career[]

Barney & Friends[]

After school, Dietz moved to New York and her agent sent her out on a project titled "Dinosaurs". Despite never doing a voice over audition, she rapped "Happy Birthday" due to producers telling her the character she was auditioning for was "edgy" and "urban". Dietz booked the role, flew to Dallas, Texas and found out that what she auditioned for was for Barney & Friends.[1] Dietz debuted as Riff's voice in 2006.

During the show, it was difficult for Dietz to maintain the voice. Dietz's foundation for voice acting came from watching Dean Wendt, Julie Johnson, and Patty Wirtz, who respectively voiced Barney, Baby Bop, and BJ during her time on the show.

Dietz voiced Riff until 2011.

Post-Barney[]

After her time on Barney & Friends, Dietz would meet many fans of the show and the character of Riff at different conventions. Dietz appeared in the 2022 limited documentary streaming television series I Love You, You Hate Me, discussing about the character of Riff.

Credits[]

Barney[]

Riff[]

Gallery[]

Barney & Friends[]

Behind the scenes[]

Trivia[]

Barney & Friends[]

  • Barney & Friends was Dietz's first paying acting gig.
  • Prior to being a cast member, Dietz had seen Barney & Friends when she was too old to be watching it.
  • Dietz doesn't remember much from her time in Texas (where Barney & Friends was filmed).[2]

Videos[]

Interviews[]

References[]

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