The trans actress and activist stars in “Promising Young Woman,” & in Italy, they changed her voice to a deep tone.
Universal Pictures International is in hot water after it was revealed that Laverne Cox’s voice was dubbed to sound more manly. Trans actress Laverne Cox, who gained popularity as a star on Orange Is the New Black, stars in the revenge thriller Promising Young Woman alongside Carey Mulligan. The film is slated for release in Italy on May 13, but in an effort to promote the movie, Universal Pictures Italy shared a clip last week. It didn’t go over well with the international LGBTQIA+ community.
In it, Cox’s voice is dubbed over in Italian by voice actor Roberto Pedicini, and it was noted by The Guardian that the actress was given a deep-voiced tone. After an outcry from the public on social media, Universal Pictures International has issued a formal apology.
“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 recognised,” a statement to The Guardian reads. “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.”
They continued. “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.” It has also been reported that Spain, a country that released the film last month, would be redubbing Cox’s voice, as well.
Italy, the release of "Promising Young Woman" was delayed cause they had dubbed the gorgeous Laverne Cox with a male voice. They now re-dubbed her with a female one. Solution: stop dubbing, fully enjoy the original acting with no controversy. Bigger chances to learn English too.
— Gianluca Tettamanti (@capitangian) May 12, 2021
Hey @emeraldfennell, I dunno if you've been told this already, but in Italy, the folks at @UniversalPicsIt decided to dub @Lavernecox's character with a male dubber… If you've got any way to reach these ppl, let them know how wrong it is please! #TransIsBeautiful
— it won't be soon (@nickrusso_15) May 6, 2021
Tw // transphobia
In the Italian dubbing of the movie Promising Young Woman, Laverne Cox has been dubbed by a man. This is disgusting and it's not the first time they do this to her in Italy. This country keeps disrespecting minorities and I'm so tired of this bullshit https://t.co/psQq3oeq7X
— Unreal girl 🐻🎨 || Redd (@melancholic_wi) May 6, 2021
How is that "there was no malicious intent behind this mistake" on the dubbing of Laverne Cox character?
That is some BS. Be better @UniversalPics
— Aldo Fabian (@lemanael) May 14, 2021
