A lot of times, Chinese dramas are usually dubbed by professional voices actors so chances are, the voice coming out of your favourite actor’s lips on telly … probably isn’t theirs. That’s not to say though that actors never dub themselves too. For his latest drama Because of Love 今生有你, audiences got the chance to hear Hong Kong actor Wallace Chung’s own speaking voice for the first time ever. Reception to this however, appears to be split.
Why are Chinese Dramas Dubbed?
Dubbing is a fairly common practise in the Chinese drama industry for different reasons. For one, dubbing ensures standard Mandarin is spoken. That way, audiences won’t have a hard time deciphering distinct accents or dialects an actor may have. It’s also a way for production to ensure audio clarity and smooth over background noises especially when filming in locations with lots of hustle and bustle.
Reception to Hearing Wallace’s Voice
While many applauded the bold attempt to use Wallace’s own voice in the drama, there are also those that feel more comfortable having his speaking voice on the show dubbed. The problem mostly lies in Wallace’s thick Cantonese accent which some viewers had a wee bit of difficulty overcoming. “His voice is nice but the Mandarin is too non-standard” commented some viewers. Some even went so far as to jokingly call on voice actor Bian Jiang who often does the voice dubbing for him to quickly come save them.
Wallace Chung frequently works with seasoned voice actor Bian Jiang in many of his projects such as My Sunshine, All Out of Love and The Sword and the Brocade amongst others. In fact, their collaboration in My Sunshine was praised by appreciative audiences for being a “close match” to the other.
Because of Love reunites Wallace Chung with his co-star Li Xiaoran as an onscreen couple after 12 years.
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Morelia
I love Wallace 😍
Jeneffer
So very nice