«Our dubbers are so skilled they can actually make the fortune of many actors, because the original ones are sometimes disappointing in terms of recitation». That’s the opinion of actress, singer and vocal coach Donatella Pandimiglio. She has gathered forty years of professional experience and collaborations with actors such as Gigi Proietti and Enrico Brignano among others, and now tells us about the basic requirements needed to work with your voice.
«An actor must be able to do everything on the set: sing, act, move choreographically, have a versatile voice. Then we have vocal training (and this must be done by professional workers, because an unskilled teacher might actually cause serious damage to the dubber’s vocal cords): that’s when we unleash the voice, which opens up and begins to flow and grow. If the dubber has an innate talent and an optimal tone (which helps when acting too, hence always benefiting the voice), so much the better. If we have this drive, this attraction, this passion for the acting world, we should always start off with a theatrical experience, which can then spread to cinema and dubbing. But theatre remains the driver. Anyone who wants to seriously approach this world should begin by studying different styles, attending all sorts of theatrical shows, from auteur theatre to comedy plays, classical theatre, musicals and cinema.
As for dubbing, it is an actor’s specific job, which entails a specific technique, namely that of giving your voice, of associating your own voice with the actor you are dubbing, who has a different face and voice. The starting point is being a good actor. By studying and visiting dubbing studios you must learn the due skills and offer your voice, hence your soul (for the voice is the mirror of the soul), making it overlap the soul of the film actor.»
