Top 10 Celebs Who Dubbed Their Characters in Multiple Languages

The “James Bond” franchise boasts an international cast, which comes in handy when dubbing the movies in other languages. For instance, in the 24th flick of this spy anthology, Léa Seydoux, who plays psychiatrist Madeleine Swann, dubbed her character in French. Incidentally, she also did this for “No Time to Die.” Additionally, Monica Bellucci, who plays Lucia, wife to assassin Marco Sciarra, and Marc Zinga’s Moreau can also be heard in the French release of “Spectre”. Meanwhile, German audiences can hear Christoph Waltz as the main antagonist Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and Victor Schefé as the Clinic Barman voicing their characters.

As a child, Foster studied at a French-speaking prep school called Lycée Français de Los Angeles. With her ability to speak the tongue fluently and without the tinge of an American accent, she was able to get cast in French parts. This also means that she often dubs herself in French releases of films she’s starred in, like “The Brave One.” Being fluent is one thing, but capturing the spirit and tone of a movie in your second language isn’t always the easiest of tasks. Yet Foster’s such a skilled performer that we’re sure she nails it every time. It’s no wonder she’s as big of a star in France as she is in North America.

Waltz is native German speaker who’s perfectly fluent in English. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that these skills have proven quite useful in the actor’s career. Indeed, he can often be heard redubbing himself for German adaptations. You can actually listen to him speak in English, German, and French in “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django Unchained.” So naturally, it made sense for him to dub these roles in those languages too. As we mentioned earlier, he also redubbed his character Blofeld in the German release of “Spectre.” Waltz’s voice is so distinct that it would almost be a disservice to the fans if anyone else dubbed him anyway.

Even if his name doesn’t ring a bell, with hundreds of voice acting credits, you’ve undoubtedly heard this voice in some capacity. For instance, if you’re a fan of the 1984 horror flick “Gremlins,” he voices Stripe. And if you’ve watched it in almost any other language, you’ve likely also heard Welker’s voice. He famously voiced multiple characters in “Transformers,” and dubbed himself as Soundwave in “Revenge of the Fallen”. Director Michael Bay reportedly said that he couldn’t imagine any other actor embodying the character’s voice. Still, most productions apparently hired local actors in the end. Though Welker’s sometimes credited, many versions, like the American Spanish and German ones, are said to feature other voice actors.

“Encanto” was widely celebrated for its authentically diverse and representative cast. The majority of the magical Madrigals are made up of actors of Colombian heritage. Naturally, this meant that many were bilingual and the clear choices for the Spanish redub. Interestingly, Angie Cepeda also voiced her character, Julieta, in Italian. The Spanish version was released in about 30 countries across Latin America and Spain. We can only imagine how beautiful it must have been to hear the movie in its native language. At least non-Spanish speaking folks still got a taste through its stunning soundtrack with songs like “Colombia, Mi Encanto” and “Dos Oruguitas.”

Brühl was born in Barcelona to a German-Brazilian father and a Spanish mother. Although he was born in Spain, he grew up in Cologne, Germany, and was raised in a multilingual home. Brühl started doing voice over and dubbing work at a young age, getting a steady stream of acting jobs by his teens. In 2009, he got his U.S. breakthrough in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” He played German sniper Fredrick Zoller, a role he reprised, at least by voice, for the Spanish and German releases. For German Disney and Pixar fans, he’s also Lightning McQueen in “Cars” and Kenai in “Brother Bear,” though he didn’t voice those roles in English.

As a fan of the original “Shrek” movie, Banderas was eager to come on board as the voice of the adorable yet ferocious Puss in Boots. DreamWorks’ head of post-production, Jim Beshears, once said that the actor was so enamored with the character that he insisted on revoicing him in other languages. Indeed, you can hear Banderas’ Puss in Latin-American Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Catalan, and Italian. He once said that the latter was “the most challenging” dub, as his voice had to match the cat’s animated facial movements. He continued to voice and dub the character through almost every subsequent sequel and spin-off. Needless to say, his casting was a pawsitively purrfect choice.

“The Prince of Egypt” is a beautiful animated work, and its opening number “Deliver Us” is nothing short of breathtaking. In the English-spoken animation, Moses’ mom, Yocheved, is voiced by the late internationally renowned artist, Ofra Haza. You might be aware that Haza performs in her native Hebrew as well as English in the number. However, did you know that she actually sang the track in a slew of different languages? Some of them include Castilian Spanish, Czech, Finnish, Dutch, Hebrew, and Brazilian Portuguese. Yes, Haza’s unique and melodious sound was a gift to the world. And thanks to her immense talent, this song hits hard no matter what language it’s sung in.

International movie star Jackie Chan is no stranger to dubbing his characters in other languages. The actor is reportedly proficient in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and American Sign Language and knows a bit of German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Thai. Very often, he will dub his English speaking roles in Chinese dialects and vice-versa. For instance, he dubbed himself in English for many of the Golden Harvest company’s films. And while he doesn’t voice these Disney characters in English, Chinese audiences might recognize Chan’s voice as the Beast from “Beauty and the Beast.” He also played Captain Li Shang from “Mulan,” voiced by BD Wong in English, for Cantonese and Mandarin speaking audiences. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Vin Diesel, “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) Who Else Could Convincingly Say “I Am Groot” in Multiple Languages? Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Jemaine Clement, Oscar Kightley, Nicole Scherzinger & Auliʻi Cravalho, “Moana” (2016) House, Morrison, Clement, & Kightley Dubbed in Māori While Scherzinger & Cravalho Reprised Their Roles in Hawaiian Almost the Entire Cast, “Das Boot” (1981) They All Redubbed in English, Though Martin Semmelrogge Only Did So in the Director’s Cut Shiori Kutsuna, “Deadpool 2” (2018) You Can Hear Her in the English & Japanese Versions Ken Watanabe, “Inception” (2010) & “Detective Pikachu” (2019) He Dubbed His Parts in Both Movies in Japanese

#1: Danny DeVito “The Lorax” (2012)

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Danny DeVito provided the voice of the titular Lorax in English, Russian, German, Italian, Castilian Spanish, and Catalan. Yet shockingly, English is the only one of those languages he’s completely fluent in! However, according to Deadline, the idea came from DeVito himself, who studied the additional languages phonetically. Of course, reading lines in an unfamiliar tongue comes with its own challenges as there are accents to master. Plus, you have to match the same energy as the English recording. It took a while and wasn’t easy, but he seemed to enjoy the process, calling it “rewarding.” It’s a fantastic achievement, and though he’s reportedly in no hurry to do it again, we’d welcome a sequel.