Kat Harlton
Photos: Provided via artist / CJ Creating
Rising Toronto-based actor Rain Janjua, was recently nominated for a 2026 Canadian Screen Award for Best Voice Performance for his role as Daniel Tiger in the globally beloved children’s series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.
At the young age of 12, Rain is already emerging as one of Canada’s most exciting new voices in the industry. Coming up next, he is set to voice Chase in the highly anticipated third feature film, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, coming out this August 2026. His co-stars in PAW Patrol include Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Bill Nye, Terry Crews and McKenna Grace.
Rain’s CSA nomination comes as no surprise, having already established himself as a rising force in the voice acting space, with standout roles including Gekko in PJ Masks: Power Heroes, Togo in CBC’s Go Togo!, Zeke in Work It Out Wombats!, and Jamie Crocker in Let’s Go Bananas.
Beyond acting, Rain is also an incredibly talented musician. In 2025, he released an original hip-hop track titled The RAiNaissance and has developed his skills as an advanced beatboxer.
I had the opportunity to chat with Rain about his Canadian Screen Award nomination, voicing beloved characters and more.
Kat: First of all, congratulations on your Canadian Screen Award nomination! What was your reaction when you found out you were nominated for Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood?
Rain: Well, my parents were away on vacation when I found out about the nomination, and I didn’t really know what the Canadian Screen Awards were. It was definitely a good thing, but I didn’t think much of it. But after they came back and explained to me what the CSAs are and what they’re about, I was really happy and excited. So, I went from confused and not really knowing anything about it, to really excited and proud of myself.
Kat: You play Daniel Tiger, a character loved by kids around the world, what’s your favorite thing about bringing him to life?
Rain: I feel like my favourite part is probably that I get to kind of be, like, the best parts of myself – I get to be warm, and happy, and energetic – I really like that. And I also really like that I get to make kids feel happy because kids already really like Daniel Tiger. The great thing about Daniel is that he teaches kids good life lessons and shows, like, good ways to handle difficult and new things through songs and fun episodes. That way little kids can learn how to handle everything from dealing with emotions to taking care of yourself, not being judgmental, and helping others. So, in a way, because I’m playing Daniel Tiger, I’m sort of like a role model and a big brother to them myself. And the fact that I get to be that for them is really meaningful because I get to help so many kids become better versions of themselves
Kat: You’re about to voice Chase in PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, how does it feel to join such a huge global franchise?
Rain: It feels a little scary, because, you know, the PAW Patrol franchise is very big, and it’s been around for a really long time, so I have big shoes to fill! But, at the same time, it’s also really fun and exciting; I feel really proud of myself for booking the role of Chase, especially because I grew up watching PAW Patrol. It feels pretty amazing and surreal that I get to be part of something that was part of my early childhood. I mean, I now actually get to be one of my favourite characters from the show! So it’s a little scary but also makes me very happy, and I feel confident that I’ll do a good job as Chase.
Kat: Did you do anything special to prepare for playing Chase, especially since he’s such an iconic character?
Rain: No, not really. Since I watched a lot of PAW Patrol when I was, like, 3 to 5-years-old, I already knew how Chase sounds and I knew sort of the way he says his catch phrases. I know that about the entire PAW Patrol crew, actually. It’s one of my special skills – being observant. I’m generally a pretty observant guy, so I notice things like patterns really easily, and I have a really good eye and ear. My parents call me a “human encyclopedia” because I know a little about everything and my mind just naturally retains information. So because of that, I didn’t really need to do anything special to prepare.
Kat: You’ve voiced several characters across different shows like PJ Masks: Power Heroes and Work It Out Wombats!, how do you make each voice feel unique?
Rain: For voices like Gekko and Chase, because those were also shows that I watched when I was younger, I try to match the energy a little more towards how the previous actors have done it, and then I guess I put my own spin on them. Generally, I just try to sound like myself – which is typically encouraged by voice directors – but at the same time for superhero characters, I try to sound more heroic and adventurous than I normally am. With Chase specifically, whenever I voice him, I still feel pretty much like myself; I just try to bring out the fun, energetic parts of myself whenever I play him, but I make sure to really tune it up. So that’s what I do for characters that are in shows that have been around for a while. But for new characters on new shows, like Zeke, I try to think about who the character is in the show. Zeke, for example, is the youngest of three siblings and is supposed to be 5-years-old. So, I try to make him sound as cute, and fun, and as happy as possible, and also make him very curious and energetic at the same time. Sometimes I tend to get a little more deeper in my voice and sound like a bit older like myself instead of a really young kid, and I have to remind myself to stay in that voice, and then, you know,
I get directed to try and sound younger for some of those lines. But generally the way that I do the voice for each character is a mix of both my natural instinct and myself – like, how I normally sound – and also a bit of direction and how that character is described. At this point, I feel like I just naturally change them up.
Kat: Voice acting can be very different from on-screen acting, what do you enjoy most about working behind the microphone?
Rain: What I like most about voice work is that there’s not too much pressure around how I look as there would be if I was working on-camera. When you’re behind the microphone, you know, no one can really see you, so I get to be really crazy and have, like, big expressions and, like, I can throw my hands really high in the air when I’m excited and I can jump with joy – maybe even literally – when I’m supposed to. So I guess it’s good to not have to look as perfect as you would need to on-camera, because there is no camera.
Kat: You’re also a musician and beatboxer, how has music influenced your acting or voice work?
Rain: When I first started in voice acting working on Work It Out Wombats! and PJ Masks, I had to do a decent amount of singing, and at the time I wasn’t really confident with my singing, but thanks to my awesome vocal coach, Jenni Walls, I’ve gotten a lot better and a lot more confident in my singing. So now for shows like Daniel Tiger, where I’m singing in almost every episode, it’s really helped in my musicality and my tone. It’s also made me a lot more confident in terms of singing in front of other people. I mean, I still can’t sing in front of crowds yet, but at least I can do it for the directors and producers.
Kat: Your track “The RAiNaissance” shows a different side of your creativity, do you see yourself continuing to balance music and acting in the future?
Rain: Yeah! I feel like they’re both part of the entertainment industry and they kind of always go together. And I really like listening to music, even just on a regular basis I listen to a lot of music. And I feel like I’m definitely going to, maybe not necessarily sing and rap, but I really want to get into producing music and making beats and stuff. But yeah, I think I’ll continue doing both.
Kat: You’ve already worked on so many exciting projects at a young age, what has been your most memorable moment so far?
Rain: Hmmm…I feel like there are so many! But three really stand out. For voice acting, when I was recording Work It Out Wombats! we started recording the show during the pandemic, so at first we all recorded from our homes. I would spend hours by myself either in a closet, or under blankets, or eventually in a sound booth once my parents bought one. The thing about Work It Out Wombats! is that almost every time we recorded an episode, we were doing ensemble recording, so producers would record a few actors interacting at the same time. For most other shows it’s different because you’re usually in the booth by yourself. But for a long time, even though we were all on zoom together, it was pretty tough and pretty lonely. And once we started going to the studio to record, I remember it being super fun because there were multiple people in the booth at once! It was a few of us kids together, we would just feed off of each other’s energy, and I really enjoyed that. I’d say another moment is probably recording part of an episode of the Chucky series – it was one of the first things I did. I remember the prosthetics were very cool. I was a little freaked out by them – actually, “a little” is a bit of an understatement – I was pretty freaked out! One of the adult actors had his prosthetic put on and we were doing a scene together. So this prosthetic – without giving away the story, let’s just say it doesn’t end well for him, so you can imagine what kind of prosthetic it was – it was creepy! And before we went to shoot the scene, he would chase me and the other kids around the trailers! At the time it was pretty creepy, but looking back on it, it was a great experience. And the last moment I remember was from the very first ever booking I got, which was a Hershey’s Chipit Hearts commercial I did with my mom. It was really funny because I remember not eating breakfast on purpose because in the commercial I was going to be eating a cookie. Since I knew there would be a lot of different takes, I figured I would be eating a bunch of cookies. But then on set when we were recording, I got really sad because every time I bit into the cookie, they yelled “cut” and they made me spit it out!
And I really wanted the cookies – they were really tasty and I was hungry! But nobody on the production team knew that I skipped breakfast and was hungry and really wanted to eat the cookies – only my mom and I knew that. So I had to keep spitting out these cookies over and over. But they did let me have a few cookies after we were done filming. They were tasty. So yeah, those are probably the most memorable moments I’ve had recording.
Kat: For kids who look up to you and want to become voice actors, what advice would you give them?
Rain: Well first of all, anyone who’s inspired by me, thank you very much. I really appreciate it – especially the fact that you look up to me. That means a lot to me because, you know, at the end of the day I’m just—I’m still a kid – well, I just turned to a teenager so I can’t say I’m a kid anymore! But thank you for that. So I have some advice for kids who want to start voice acting. You know, some people might say you need fancy equipment, but I say you don’t need that, especially if you’re just starting out. As long as you have a nice closed space that muffles sound from the rest of your house, that’s enough. Like, when I first started, I would go in a closet and I would record. And I think you just need a simple voice recording app on your phone. I still use it now for auditions. So those are very easy. Another piece of advice I have is for auditions and after you get booked: when you’re talking and when you’re voice acting, don’t be afraid to make really really big facial expressions. It might seem really weird and really out of pocket and random, but if you have a really big facial expression, it will 100% convey the emotion through your voice, whereas if you have a smaller one it won’t convey as much. Like, if you’re super happy and you smile as big as you can, the listener can hear that and that’s what you want. But you really have to exaggerate. I remember when I first started it felt really weird, too, but I’ve gotten used to it. And also, don’t forget to drink water – it gets really hard when you don’t have water. That’s one mistake that even now I still make. Always make sure to stay hydrated because it’s a lot of talking. So, I think water is your best friend.
And the last and most important advice I would give no matter which form of acting you do – theatre, on-camera, voice, or a combination of all three – do not expect to get booked on your first try or early on. You may not get booked for a REALLY long time, and that’s okay. You know, there have been many times when I, for example, haven’t booked on-camera roles not because I wasn’t a good actor, but just because I didn’t look close enough to some of the other actors – I didn’t resemble them, so I couldn’t pass as their family. For voice acting specifically, sometimes producers are looking for a replacement in the middle of the season so they need someone who sounds exactly like the previous actor, so you may not book it if you don’t have a voice match. Also, you may not get a booking if they’re looking for a different type of voice from what yours sounds like, like a little more raspy or a little more high pitched or anything else. Whatever the case, do NOT let that get you down. It doesn’t mean that you’re not good or that you’re doing anything wrong – you never know what the producers and casting directors are looking for specifically, and most of the time it doesn’t have anything to do with you. It’s a process, and it took me a very long time for me to get my first booking. Just keep auditioning, keep trying and learning, and don’t stop. That’s my advice.
Connect With Rain On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therainaissance