Tajja Isen (born June 29, 1991) is an award-winning Canadian voice actress of mixed First Nations/Trinidadian descent who has been doing voices for animated series since she was 11.
Her very first gig was as Sister Bear in the 2003 The Berenstain Bears animated series created by Nelvana, but she is also well-remembered for voicing the eponymous heroine of Atomic Betty around the same time. Other cartoons that she's had major roles in include Jane and the Dragon, The Save-Ums!, Super Why! and The ZhuZhus.
She also performed in a 2004 Toronto production of The Lion King as the young Nala, and has made two live-action TV appearances — as Zuzu Moon on 3 episodes of Family Channel's 2007 teen sitcom The Latest Buzz (Season 2's "The Summer Bash Issue" and Season 3's "The Love Me, Love Me Not Issue" and "The Buzz Club Issue") and as Mindy on an episode of the 2001 American medical drama Doc (Season 2's "Complicated).
Her younger sister Nissae Isen is also a voice actress. They've co-starred with each other in a few shows.
Outside of voice acting, Tajja Isen does a lot of writing and editing. She is the digital editor at The Walrus and a contributing editor for Catapult magazine, and has contributed written pieces to such sites as Electric Literature, Longreads, BuzzFeed, and Literary Hub. She also has a book about hypocrisy called Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service that was released in 2022.
You can check her out on Twitter here and see her official website here.
Voice work:
- The title character on Atomic Betty (she won a Gemini Award in 2009 for this role)
- Sister Bear on The Berenstain Bears (the 2003 series)
- Young Etra on Da Boom Crew
- Samantha Turtle on Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure
- Princess Tia and Franny's singing voice on Franny's Feet
- Cousin Tracy on Girlstuff/Boystuff
- Cheddar Biscuit on Go, Dog. Go!
- The title character of Heidi (the 2005 Animated Adaptation by Nelvana)
- Jane Turnkey on Jane and the Dragon (she won a Young Artist Award in 2007 for this role)
- Trina Tightrope and Princess Josephina on JoJo's Circus
- Pony Tail on Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks
- Yuko on Mia and Me (Season 1 only; replaced with Ana Sani in Season 2 and Nicole Hise in Season 3)
- BG's singing voice on Miss BG
- Lil Sis on Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends
- Nessa on My Big, Big Friend
- Juniper on Norman Picklestripes
- Princess Cleo on Pirates: Adventures in Art
- Jazzi on The Save-Ums!
- Princess Pea and Presto on Super Why!
- Jodie on Time Warp Trio (replacing Sarah Gadon from episode 15 onwards)
- Nadia Dorkovitch on Weird Years
- Pipsqueak on The ZhuZhus