Universal Pictures International is sorry for misgendering Laverne Cox!
As movie fans know, English-language films are typically dubbed into other languages for international releases, with actors fluent in a specific language performing the dialogue with their own voices.
But a clip from the Italian-dubbed version of Promising Young Woman sparked major outrage when viewers realized that a cis-male actor (Roberto Pedicini) — who is reportedly known as the go-to guy for dubbing Jim Carey, Woody Harrelson, and Javier Bardem — had performed the dialogue for Gail, who is portrayed by the transgender actress in the film.
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Naturally, critics from the trans community were disgusted by the misgendering of the OITNB star. Italian trans actor and voice actor Vittoria Schisano, who had dubbed Cox in the Netflix documentary series Amend: The Fight for America for its Italian release, told The Guardian:
“I think this dubbing choice was a straight-up act of violence. It’s insulting. I’d feel bullied if I were [Cox].”
Others on social media echoed Vittoria’s sentiments, fuming:
“A cis man has been chosen to dub Laverne Cox in Italian. This can’t keep happening. Sick and tired. There must be something we can do. #promisingyoungwoman @Lavernecox @emeraldfennell so sorry for this!”
“They’re literally calling this a mistake as if cis people simply have no idea what they’re doing when they dub a trans woman with a man’s voice”
“Why would anyone do this??? Ridiculously transphobic”
Seriously though, WTF!??
Thankfully, the uproar prompted Universal to pause the release of the movie until Cox’s voice can be redubbed by a female actor. The studio will also redub the actress in the Spanish and German versions, which also cast male voice actors to dub Cox’s dialogue.
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Moreover, the studio issued a statement apologizing for the “mistake,” telling The Guardian:
“We are deeply grateful to Laverne and the transgender community for opening our eyes to a bias that neither we nor many in our industry had recognized… While there was no malicious intent behind this mistake, we are working diligently to fix it. We have begun redubbing Ms Cox’s voice with female actors in our international territories and are pushing back release dates to ensure the correct version is available.”
The studio went on to say:
“We are sorry for the pain caused but are thankful that we can address the situation on this film and prevent similar mistakes from happening again on future projects.”
A new release date for Promising Young Woman in Italy has not yet been announced.
We’re glad the studio is owning up to its mistake, even though we’re not quite sure how a mistake like this could be made in 2021. What do U think about this, Perezcious readers?
[Image via Avalon/WENN]
The post Universal Apologizes For Dubbing Laverne Cox's Voice With Male Actors In International Movie Versions appeared first on Perez Hilton.
