The Voice Behind the Stars [archived newspaper article

 

An interview. Arseni Corsellas, voice artist and dubbing director.

Catalonia Today

By Xevi Sala Puig

November 26, 2008

 

Arseni Corsellas may not look like JR but for TV viewers and cinemagoers in Catalonia he is the voice of the villain from Dallas, one of the most successful series in the history of television. With almost 800 films on his CV since 1956, Corsellas has provided the voice for some of the biggest stars in dubbed versions of Hollywood films, including Burt Lancaster Charlton Heston and Richard Burton. Now semi-retired, one of the country’s leading voice artists reflects on a lifetime in the movies.

     Did you get to meet the stars you dubbed, such as Charlton Heston?

     It did not happen often,and does so even less these days. Generally there is no contact with the original stars.

     With DVDs it is now easy to experience the original soundtrack and updated voice overs, yet there are still many who defend the original dubbed versions.

     It is a shame that they do not keep the original dubbed soundtrack but those of us who do this cannot complain. In the past, we dubbed 200 films a year, which was the number imported into Spain, Now 2,000 are dubbed because there is television. Production has increased enormously and that has led to many more people rapidly entering the business to cover the needs. Before there was more time to rehearse and it was more of a craft. Now it is more industrial.

     Were you ever rejected for a part?

     When I was taken on to direct the dubbing of Doctor Zhivago in 1965, David Lean called the directors charged with the dubbing into French, German, Italian and Spanish to Paris. At first they told me they didn’t want me to because at 32 I was too young to direct the whole thing, but when they heard my voice they not only decided to let me direct it but I ended up doing the voice for the main character played by Omar Shariff.

     You along with the likes of Felip Peña [John Wayne], Manuel Cano [Sidney Poitier] and Ricard Solans [Robert de Niro] were part of a generation in the 1960s and 1970s that really raised the bar.

     All of those were, because sadly many are now dead, very good people. But I always say that there is as much talent now as before. What is missing is the vocation.

     You worked a lot with Elsa Fabregas and other female stars of Spanish and Catalon dubbing, such as Rosa Guiñón [Meryl Streep] and Maria Luisa Solà (Susan Sarandon).

     Not to forget Roser Cavalle, Sue Ellen in Dallas.

     Who was the best?

     All of them. They were great colleagues. Rosita played young ladies, who laughed more and were nicer. Maria Lluisa used to play more mature women. The same thing happened to her as myself, in that we provided voice for characters who were older then we were.

     There was some competition between the dubbing studios in Barcelona (Metro and Voz de España) and those in Madrid and Seville (Sincronia). The Catalans were good but they had some stiff competition.

     It’s true there was competition, but it was healthy. We even formed a union among ourselves. We were in competition nut we helped each other. For example, when a voice artist specialized in a certain actor, he would be called over from Madrid of occasional collaborations even if it were not for his studio, and the reverse also happened.

     Some voice artists specialized in providing the voice for just certain actors, such as Fernando Ulloa [the only one to dub James Stewart). You however, were more versatile and provided the voices for a long list of lead actors, from Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas to Marcello Mastroianni and Lino Ventura.

     It was a question of adapting. Above all I died deep voices and in those days, as the original films were never screened, people had no knowledge of the material that was dubbed. If I had any similarity with an actor’s voice, it was with Sean Connery and especially Richard Burton.

     And then in 1983 Dallas arrived.

     (He laughs in the manner of JR). The majority of us commissioned to provide the dubbing for that had been educated under the Franco regime and the Catalan we spoke was that to be found at home and no more. Professionally, zero, Catalan did not exist in the industry and it was looked down on. In all my years in the business I got tired of hearing, “above all, make sure that there is no Catalan accent.” That is why Dallas required such an effort to do it in decent Catalan. But I think we managed it. We did it for three long years an inevitably many people are still associate me with JR.

     Dubbing films in Catalan came after Dallas?

     Yes, which is also when the linguists arrived on the scene. I am from Figueres and I had a strong Emporda accent. I didn’t mind if you could notice the accent but the linguists were not so keen. It turned into a battle. Sometimes, once you had nailed the interpretation and the movements of the mouth, the linguists arrived and corrected you and made you repeat it in perfect Catalan but with perhaps results that were not so good.

     Current voice artists casts are full of well-known names, such Corsellas or Mediavilla [the voice of Morgan Freeman]. Has a new generation taken over?

     Pepe Mediavilla has two children who are voice artists and mine is a director of dubbing.

     You must have some lively debates about the modern dubbing business at home.

     Not too much, to be honest. You have to let them get on with it. The system is totally different and you cannot impose the style and way of working from another time.