The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS™) has announced that Laurence Fishburne will receive the inaugural James Earl Jones Prize at the 2026 Voice Arts Awards, taking place on January 18, 2026 at the Beverly Hilton. This new prize was created in honor of one of the world’s most influential artists, not just in the voice acting community, but in the entertainment industry at large, and will celebrate other performers who embody his artistic excellence, integrity, and cultural impact.
“We are so excited to introduce the James Earl Jones Prize at this year’s Voice Arts Awards! Having honored James himself at our first ever ceremony in 2014, we knew we wanted to find a more permanent way to commemorate everything that he represents to the voice acting community,” said Rudy Gaskins, CEO of SOVAS™. “We could not think of a more deserving first recipient than Laurence Fishburne, whose dedication to the craft sets the standard for generations of voice artists to come.”
Fishburne has achieved an impressive body of work as an actor, producer and director. His versatile acting has won him awards in theatre, film and television. In 1992, Fishburne won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Sterling Johnson in August Wilson’s “Two Trains Running.” He won his first Emmy Award in 1993 for “The Box” episode of “Tribeca,” and his second for his one-man show, “Thurgood,” in 1997. In 1993, Fishburne also received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the Tina Turner biopic, “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” He was an Emmy Award nominee and an NAACP Image Award winner for his starring role in the 1997 telefilm “Miss Evers’ Boys,” which he also executive-produced. Fishburne has been nominated 25 times for NAACP Image awards, with seven wins–most recently in 2021 for Outstanding Performance in a Short Form Series for “#FreeRayshawn.” His most recent Emmy win was also for his role in Quibi’s “#FreeRayshawn.”
Fishburne may be best known for his role as Morpheus in the Wachowksi siblings’ blockbuster “The Matrix” trilogy, but his many film credits include: Academy Award nominee John Singleton’s “Boyz ‘n the Hood,” Richard T. Heffron’s telefilm “A Rumor of War,” Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple,” Steven Zaillian’s “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” Mr. Singleton’s “Higher Learning,” Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River” and cult classics, “Deep Cover” and “King of New York.”
Fishburne has served as an Ambassador for UNICEF since 1996. In 2007, he was honored by Harvard University as Artist of the Year for his Outstanding Contributions to American and International Performing Arts as well as his humanitarian contributions.
More recently, in 2023, he starred in Netflix’s “The School for Good & Evil” alongside Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington. Fishburne then resumed his role in “John Wick: Chapter 4” and took the lead as Doc Rivers in FX’s limited series, “Clipped.” In 2024, Fishburne paired up with Casey Affleck in a new sci-fi thriller, “Slingshot,” and starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” as well as “Transformers One,” voicing Alpha Trion. Fishburne recently starred alongside Kate Mara in “The Astronaut” and Rami Malik in “The Amateur.” Fishburne made his first appearance in season 4 of the Netflix hit series “The Witcher,” which released Oct 2025, with season 5 to follow, likely being released next year.
Now entering its 12th year, the Voice Arts® Awards celebrate creative excellence across more than 150 categories, recognizing achievements in animation, film, TV narration, audiobooks, audio description, video games, political advertising, podcasts, and spoken word. The Voice Arts® Awards are presented by Audible, with additional support from United Airlines, Comcast NBCUniversal, SiriusXM, and Telemundo.
As previously announced, Debbe Hirata will receive the Legacy Award and Fabián Toro will receive the Apex Award at this year’s ceremony.
