Ooooh, this is juicy and a true power struggle with stakes. I don’t think non-Chinese dialect speakers understand the genesis of the dub in C-dramas and even earlier with HK-dramas and TW-dramas. The issue is that the Chinese ethnic groups have so many dialects some of which are unintelligible to each other that a universal dialect is needed to at least have one common denominator. That was Mandarin which is the Beijing dialect and with it all the provincial and regional dialect speakers had to learn it or be dubbed. A strong accent can be distracting onscreen especially if it doesn’t fit with the character so I understand the necessary evil of dubs but a bad dub that doesn’t jibe with the actor/actress onscreen is also distracting. With that said, newer gens of C-stars are working on their dialogue and pronunciation as part of the entirety of acting so I do think the trend towards own voice will only gain steam. But the problem with Dylan Wang wanting to and making such an effort to own voice is that he his voice doesn’t immediately sound congruous with his visuals and more importantly his strong Szechuan accent is still noticeable. Apparently after Only for Love, his upcoming drama projects in talks all have the production companies insistently on a dub but he refuses to accept so there is an impasse.
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He probably reads online criticism about himself not being a good actor due to voice actors dubbing him. Frankly I think he should always be dubbed for historical dramas and find his accent very distracting but he needs to keep working on it and take roles where he can use his Leshan accent if he can, it's great that he is serious about improving though but improvement takes time and he shouldn't jeopardise a projects watchability.
Well, te right way to deal with this situation is to spend really solid productive hours training...train to act with your voice. Only after he have leant this artistry and skill then he can be ready to voice dub over himself.
Only then he can show the PDs he is suitable. To force his opinion just based on his celeb status will do no one any good. Ultimately, it is the viewers that is their critics and who will judge the project. His project are not low budget web dramas...his dramas have so much more he is responsible for... thus he cannot take it lightly. That is the reality of a top star. You prove with your skills not just status.
Dylan is too busy to spend a lot of time on it because he is doing weekly varities, filming dramas, running his own fashion brand, doing magazine shoots, brand endorsements, adverts.
The folks who attend acting school spend years training how to do voice acting, get rid of provincial accents or mimic accents (my uni hostel neighbours were RADA students who had to learn Irish, Cockney, US, French accents etc) and a lot of these liuliangs who debuted very young and never went to acting college are signed up by agencies and then sent to film 3 dramas a year because the agencies want them to make money to feed staff and don't care if they dub themselves or not. That's why a lot of untrained actors like Dylan Wang, Bai Lu, Rosy Zhao, Zhang Linghe, Xukai get criticised for their lines while folks like Yang Zi, Leo Luo, Zhang Wanyi, Song Zuer, Steven Zhang get praised. Of course there are cases where untrained actors sound absolutely fantastic e.g. Tan Jianci or Zanilia Zhao but it's rare. Some trained actors also sound bad e.g. Cheng Yi but formal training is necessary and commodities like Dylan Wang are making too much money from packed schedules to ever improve properly even if they hire a full-time coach. Idol drama actors are not auteurs anyway but commodities, they should rely on dubbers instead of ruining an expensive drama due to their ego.
@Guest, I'll add Bai Jingting to you list of liuliangs whose own lines are bad. I always had to read subtitles in order to understand his lines. Nonetheless, he had not been dubbed in any of his recent dramas, right? Why the bias that he's rarely nitpicked for his bad lines? LOL
I know of friends from RADA... to be honest, UK provide one of the best acting training system. But they kids start early... often many start since they are little going to weekend kids courses before they turn full time...
You are right about the liuliangs...they are quickly packaged and given short term training them sent out to make money. I am keen to watch how many of them will long term career in this industry?
I could be wrong, be I remember reading Leo Luo started acting in his mid twenties with no acting school experience and that he had to teach himself dubbing & acting. Think he did study dance/ballet at a tertiary level in China which explains why he moves well on screen, especially with his wirework.
Well the likes of Wang Xing Yue who are younger and trained in Beijing drama school academy (if I wrote the right denomination) are coming to steal his thunder.
Yes. The audience shouldn't have to watch him grow onscreen, the product shown to us should be polished already. How is this any different from all the actors and actresses that take on lead roles as acting classes and improve only after 10 years? The training should be behind the scenes and he can dub after he's ready, not just because he wants to keep using his dramas as practice.
Yes...that is the right approach...
IMO there should be some sort of distinction. For example, actors and actresses can be allowed to use voice actors but only in idol dramas. If they want to advance their career beyond idol dramas, they must use their own voice and if their dialogue is no good, then they can't do other genres. So if an actor keeps on using voice actors and never improve himself, then he will be eliminated once he is too old for idol dramas.
I like to add, there a number of good Hongkong artiste who ddo use voice over as their accent is just too strong or their Chinese is not as good. I have no problems with them, as their participation can add dynamic to the drama and their experience also help the Mainland cast.
Considering myself with almost perfect Mandarin pronunciation (people from Beijing couldn't tell I'm not from Beijing but born in Taiwan), I don't consider Dylan's accent in OoL a major concern. His lines in own voice are understandable without reading subtitles all the time. I do think he needs to practice more on his lines to have better verbal expressions. Dylan is good at facial expressions and body language. He just needs more onsite practice reciting lines more smoothly and naturally like in real life. Why not considering tutoring and stage plays like Xiao Zhan? I really root for him to be a good actor for a long acting career. He has talent and visuals. Production teams don't care about his career development but only want to conveniently milk from his popularity.
I think that Dylan is wanting to push himself and grow in his craft. He has been working on his English and seems to be picking it up well. We all have an accent when someone outside of our community hears us speak. I am a Dylan Wang fan and and encourage him in this area. Dylan tends to be a confident man and generally knows what he can accomplish with hard work.
I hope he may want to slow down and have some time focusing on the work to get his lines better. But his agency may not support him to do that. They want to bank from him as much and as soon as possible. It would be a pity if he were stymied from that effort and growth for the long run.
English? Lmao does he dream of working abroad when people who can actually act, and have great English, can't?
How about he work on his Mandarin and actual acting instead?
He has a very obvious accent but most importantly, he is not actually a good actor. He has a double problem of having to fix, well, everything. It has to be said that the Chinese system doesn't lend itself to allowing all these aspiring actors and actresses time to improve themselves but it's not entirely the system's fault. They go straight to lead roles instead of taking on smaller ones and building their skills. In the end, they age out of that system without being able to transition to serious acting and that's that. At least they made enough money.
But the amount of actors who manage to transition in China is miniscule. At some point, considering the incredibly declining market, they are going to have to rethink what they are doing and make room for real quality. Until then, we will see many Dylan Wangs and many Gong Juns who shine for a short while and then slowly fade away.
You said it perfectly ! They give them important lead roles from the start which I think has always been a bad idea.
Gong Jun does not have important lead roles to begin with. Gong Jun graduated from university with a performing degree. Dylan Wang will do well in his fashion business. I don't believe they will fade away. On-screen job is only a stepping stone to more opportunities in the business world making lots of money eg. fashion, investment ventures etc etc.
I think he should be opened to being dubbed. I felt like Wang Baoshun did wonders as the voice actor for Dongfong Qingcang in LBFAD. Although, there are times where the voice they pick is just so odd for the actor/actresses, so I can also understand the other side of the coin. I think Dylan's voice is fine, but his line delivery needs a lot of improvement. While I understand him, his accent is still audible. I commend him for taking this voice dubbing seriously though. I hope he puts in the time and shows us all a lot of improvement all around.
I was just saying below, remember the early teaser of LBFAD where they had another actor to voice him and it was not it (不貼臉)? But they changed and it was just the voice Dong Fang Qing Cang needed and it really just elevated Dylan’s performance and completed the character.
I just watched Love Between Fairy and Devil. So the voice on Netflix (USA) is not Wang Hedi's voice?
His voice fitted the role in "The rational life" but not the big imposing roles he is given. Now I am watching SOTKP with Zhang Ling He. I have no idea of the quality of ZLH lines delivery (guy dubs himself) but I am sure of something his deep voice matches perfectly with the role of Xie Wei who is a charismatic grey character. I think Dylan needs to work on his intonation.
Growing up with Taiwanese and HK dramas, I tend to prefer original voices over dubbing. Voice is part of acting and conveying the character.
However, Dylan Wang is limited and would be fine with his own voice if in the right role, sadly, he’s not the right person for the role in Only for Love and his voice just makes it more apparent (tbf, he is not the only problem with that drama). I will say the right dubbing is really crucial as well. I remember the early teaser of LBFAD used the usual voice actor always used for ancient dramas and there was out cry that it didn’t match Dylan’s face. The post-production team listened and got another actor to do it. They really made the right decision there because that voice really completed Dong Fang Qing Cang, so much that the voice actor even narrated a farewell message at the end of the show.
I read the title and I laughed, because I was vocal about this before, but to see my complaints actually materializing into requirements makes me laugh even harder. Guess future producers and sponsors aren't dumb either about the detraction in his voice.
I sound like a hater, but I genuinely enjoy him, just can't stand his voice. Now I'm happy as a clam.
I too am fond of this guy. His background is clean and he love his family. He is good with those he works with and they like him. I enjoy a number of his dramas, he has shown much improvement from beginning. But he really need to train to act with his voice if he wants to dub over himself. I think he will have a future in the industry.
@HL while I also like Dylan, it does feel like he's becoming too big for his britches lately. I got that feeling ever since I saw him in that after show for LBFAD cast. He was acting and speaking in a kind of arrogant way. I hope that was just a fluke and he puts professionalism above ego, but hard to say.
@Coralie, Gosh, I hope he keeps his head on level ground... will do him no good to think he is more then that. I dont follow him off screen much, and on screen, I only watch afew of his dramas.
@Coralie I hope he is not like that cause as I said earlier, newcomers with huge potentials (and who at least got the voice and the visuals) like Wang Xing Yue are coming and are on Chinese viewers good grace lately. So if he is not cautious they gonna steal his thunder.
Interestingly while I've never finished any of his dramas including popular LBFAD that I couldn't go beyond 3 eps LOL, I have an unpopular opinion about his dubbing. I support his preference of using his own voice over dubbing. Thinking about those popular Taiwanese actors whom I grew up watching and many of whom never had formal school education in theatrical performance, had really heavy local accents as well as imperfect Mandarin that I had to read subtitles most of the times, they still delivered fun dramas to watch and remember. How is Dylan's accent and own voice such a turn off for a lot of drama fans? C drama fans nitpick on wrong areas but are lenient on many other areas greatly affecting the collective qualities of drama production.
Dylan's voice tone and accent aren't problems. But he needs to practice lines on site so he can sound more natural, not acting. More practice is what he needs not dubbing by voice actors. Fans can decide whether they want to stick with his growth path or not. Let market decides. LOL
Let the market decide. Sorry typo.
@Somebody, I mentioned it's both his voice and his accent that bothers me. His voice is too thin and doesn't bring with it the gravity it needs for majority of his roles. In roles where he's supposed to be young and dweeby, I am perfectly fine with it (e.g., Never Give Up). However, most of his roles are OP'd and he's not convincing with his voice in those roles. If he wants to use his own voice, fine, pick it for roles where he's a hs/college student. Even if the accent bothers me, I can still deal with it. A young, thin voice coupled with accent is a recipe for disaster. Actors need to adjust to fit the roles they're playing.
I don't disagree with you about his child-like tone. LOL. I think voice tones can be trained too. He really needs to consider taking lessons with coaches to improve his lines. But I think it would be manageable, not beyond remedy.
LOL, he doesn't understand his accent isn't the problem, it's his line delivery that sucks. He talks as though he's just reading the lines out loud, and he doesn't have the acting skills to compensate for his accent. Line delivery is such a basic part of acting, but so many c-actors and actresses fail at this, and you cannot blame dubbing for this if you lack basic acting skills.
I applaud Dylan for wanting to use his own voice as it shows to me that he is interested in taking the craft of acting seriously. I have an issue with Chinese dramaland for not allowing actors to use their own voices. I understand they want consistency, but to me dubbing is not the way to go. Rather they should insist on casting actors who have the voice training to deliver the correct accents and voice training should be included in all Drama Schools. As for accents, well, that is what voice coaches are for. In reality, Dylan needs to make the time to attend acting classes to work on his line delivery and other voice skills which are taught at drama schools and are the foundation of the acting craft. He can also work with a voice coach to get rid of his accent and perfect his Mandarin. I agree with others that he will need to show producers his new skills and his improved accent first before they will allow him to always use his own voice. I wish him the best of luck in future because I do think he has talent.
Only for love is a bad show and Dylan is miscast in it, but it is not really his fault (or his voice's fault 😏) that the producers thought that it would be a good idea to take a 24 year old man who out of costume/wig looks like a very cute 12 year old boy, put a suit and tie and a pair of spectacles on him and try to convince the world he's a mighty CEO, albeit a young one.
Also, recording voice separately and not at the same time as filming means that an actor, no matter how good he/she is in acting (and Dylan, bless his soul, is not Oscar material), must also be an experienced voice actor. Take Xiao Zhan: to me, he's pretty good, but his voice delivery in The Longest Promise was pretty mediocre. I think that the Chinese industry should rather try to record voices while the actors are actually acting.
Anyway, this whole discussion on whether an actor with a touch of provincial accent has the right to voice his own self on screen feels a tad discriminatory to me, not to mention low-key racist.
Partially agreed. On the one hand, I do think Dylan was miscast for this CEO role. His accent nor his own voice a major concern. Ppl are critical of wrong areas. He's simply too young and inexperienced to exude an aura of CEO. On the other hand, I think he has acting talent albeit misses in some of his past works.
As for Xiao Zhan, his lines in TLP aren't the best, but he delivered perfect lines in The Youth Memories and Sunshine By My Side. His experiences with the most reputable play written by a renowned Taiwanese director on 72 live stages for 4-hour span of each live performance throughout three years until 2023 helped A LOT. TLP was filmed back in early 2020 but not aired until this summer while TYM and SBMS were filmed after TLP. The progress in his line delivery was evident and appreciable.
Dylan should consider going a similar route besides tutoring with a voice coach if he's ambitious about his acting career. I do think he has acting talent although there's plenty of room to improve. I'm not his fan though. Just be fair!
@Somebody Hard disagree here. When he was DFQC, he's supposed to play someone over 10,000 years old. His own voice would absolutely be disastrous for someone with that age range. Whether you concur or not, his voice actor absolutely made the difference in his success for that role. With that voice actor, his acting displayed no issues and that means he can exude a powerful aura. The problem is his voice.
We're actually on the same page. Since someone mentioned Xiao Zhan in another comment, I'll conveniently take XZ as an example. My point: all the weakness in Dylan's voice and lines can be addressed through effective training such as taking lessons and live stage performance etc. It's not incurable. Voice. tones, and lines can be trained and improved, unlike visuals that can only be changed through PS. LOL
You wrote, "he's simply too young and inexperienced to exude aura of CEO." But I don't think so. I think he can nail a CEO or anyone really, if he had a better voice actor dubbing his lines. Just like how he did in DFQC.
More usage and training with his voice should help, like you said, but in the short run, his voice isn't sufficient. Even XZ's voice has more maturity and gravitas than Dylan and that is before he started taking lessons (I've seen him since Oh My Emperor.) Dylan's voice is unfortunately still very kiddish and until that improves, he should stick with dubbing.
@Coralie, ah that's very unfortunate. Then I wouldn't think Dylan should even take any leading roles if ppl can't tolerate his current tone. I'm fine with his tone though even he sounded too young as a CEO. I dropped Only for Love not because of his voice or lines or acting or anyone's acting but the drama like most of the C dramas, is slow and boring and predictable.
I do think dubbing should be unacceptable for any serious actors even though I got myself used to C drama dubbing and just ignored that most of the time. From that perspective, I support his preference without dubbing. His efforts to use his own voice will benefit him in the long run but may hurt his projects temporarily. Well, he may have to go through some hiccups.
Indeed, he was much, much better in Sunshine.