Ruminations

Two weekends ago I went to see "Gang de Requins" (A Shark's Tale) at the theater. I knew that Will Smith had the title role and it was strange at first not to hear his voice. Considering the film is naimated that thought quickly slipped from my mind. This was not the case, however, last month. While staying in the local hotels I had the chance to watch some tv, including some American films. One of these was Stepmom (which they translated as Ma Meilleure Ennemi, which translated back is My Best Enemy, go figure) starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. It was disconcerting to watch them on screen, knowing how they should sound, and hearing a totally different voice. I gave it no further thought until discussing actors and actresses with the students as a 'get to know ya' activity. A majority of students gave the names of Americans as their favorites. I found it amusing that they prefer these Americans and yet have no idea what they sound like. All they know is their image. Take Tom Hanks, for example. He has a pretty distinct voice, easily recognizable even in animated flicks...for Americans. This train of thought led me to wonder if they have special voice doubles for these actors (much as one would have a stunt double) or is it a different voice each time? I imagine it would be difficult to maintain one double throughout a career, especially one as impressive as Tom Hanks'. So then I wonder, if there is a voice double, do they rate the same as a stunt double? Do people ooh and aah when they announce that they were the voice double for Tom Hanks? Any thoughts??