Dubbing Souls With White Actors Overseas Sparks Controversy – / Film

Soul struck a chord, not only for his lovely photorealistic animation nor for his arguments with abstract concepts of life, purpose and beyond, but for his authentic portrayal of the black community, centered around the main character Joe (voiced by Jamie foxx in English). And while some things may get lost in the translation during the film’s transition to European markets, these elements remain crucial for Soul. But a choice of many European markets for the latter – the identity of Joe’s Black – has come under scrutiny.

In European language dubbing by Soul, The New York Times reports that Joe and other black characters are frequently voiced by white actors, causing backlash in several countries including Denmark and Portugal.

Controversy first erupted in Denmark when people discovered Joe was being voiced by a white actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas, leading to an uproar that led Lie Kaas to post a statement on Facebook in defense of his cast. “My position on any job is very simple,” he wrote. “Let the man or woman who can do the job in the best possible way get the job.”

Meanwhile, in Portugal, a petition calling for Soul being re-dubbed with actors of color has collected over 17,000 signatures.

The New York Times notes that white actors voiced black characters in many other European dubs of Soul, with a few exceptions like France, where Joe is voiced by the black actor (and recent Lupine come out) Omar Sy |. Voice actors rarely get so much attention, but Soul may have alerted people to this problem of white voice artists voicing POC characters – which Hollywood animated shows love Big Mouth, Central Park, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and BoJack Rider have been counting lately – because the film’s portrayal of the black community in New York City is so intrinsic to the story.

It’s a complex subject to which even longtime experts in the animation industry have no concrete answer. Alex Dudok de Wit wrote about the ongoing debate over diversity in the dubbing industry in Vulture, noting that many international markets don’t have enough actors of color to cover all non-white roles. For example, most homogeneous countries like Japan or South Korea probably wouldn’t be able to hire a black actor to voice Joe. But while it might come as no surprise that a Scandinavian country like Denmark doesn’t have a large pool of black voice actors, it’s a bit unusual that Portugal can’t find one for one. high profile project like the latest Pixar movie.

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