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Does it matter when voice actors don't match the characters they play?

L

Lime

Member
I wanted to hear what people's thoughts and opinions are on the matter of the identity of the person doing the voice acting for characters in video games. My question is motivated by Evan Narcisse's article back from 2012 about how a White voice actress was hired to do the voice of Aveline (a black woman) in Assassin's Creed: Liberation. Narcisse writes:

When Assassin's Creed III made its stunning debut a few months ago, Ubisoft proudly noted that they were using an actor with Native American heritage to bring new lead character Connor Kenway/Ratohnhaké:ton to life. In the game, Connor's parents were of British and Mohawk descent and the casting of a performer who himself is half-Blackfoot felt like it made sense. Getting Noah Watts also adds much-needed diversity to the talent pool of people behind-the-scenes for video games, which is never a bad thing.

Then, the publisher announced Assassin's Creed III: Liberation for the PlayStation Vita, featuring a heroine born of a white French father and black African mother. It seemed pretty reasonable to expect that the person voicing the character would follow the Noah Watts/Connor example.

Turns out that's not the case. [...] There's clearly a disparity between the way that Aveline looks and Goldfarb's appearance. And the difference between actress and character begs the question: is it a problem when voice performers don't match the characters they play?
Click to expand...

Some studies show that there isn't much difference in the sounds of voices from different races. Video games have had such crossed-race instances before. Kimberly Brooks—who is African-American—did the voices for Mass Effect's Ashley Williams, as well as Barbara Gordon/Oracle in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Both of those characters are white. And the Transformers character Jazz—who was first voiced by African-American jazz legend Scatman Crothers—now gets his lines spoken by Troy Baker in the new Fall of Cybertron game, the Caucasian actor who did Vincent in Catherine and will be heard as Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite
Click to expand...

Here's what Assassin's Creed III creative director Alex Hutchinson told Kotaku about creating Connor:

"It's been a big challenge to get the right guy," Hutchinson continued. "It's not like creating an Italian who is part of a robust country. We're sort of picking a character who is part of an oppressed people. We had to be very, very careful with it. We wanted to be both historically accurate and earnest in how we treated it. So we wanted to get an actor who is Native American. He is half-Blackfoot, and we wanted to get the events that happen in the game that are historically accurate as possible."

Hutchinson isn't in charge of Liberation. But his words hit the mark on why having a white actress do Aveline's voice might be a fumble. It's not about the quality of Goldfarb's work. Her narration sounds great in the clip above, affecting a French lilt well and coming across with genuine passion and drama. But it probably wouldn't have cost Ubisoft anything extra to find an African-American woman or a black actress from a Francophonic background to perform Aveline's dialogue either.
Click to expand...

What do you say? Do the identity of the voice actor matter when it comes to the character they are voicing? Maybe it is only relevant when we are dealing with games depicting historical settings, as evidenced in the Hutchinson quote? Or what? One might argue that the constant hiring of voice actors like Steven Blum, Nolan North, and now Troy Baker is an indication of how much the voice directors/casting staff might be influnced by the notion that the identity of voice actors matter in the characters they are supposed to portray (White dudes). I'm just curious, I have no answer or informed opinion about it and I apologize if it is a silly question.
 
R

RavenValor95

Member
It doesn't really matter to me, although sometimes it is quite shocking when after hearing someones voice for so long you tend to build an image of them in your mind and then when you see what they actually look like it's not what you imagined at all(Ryan Drummond looks NOTHING like what I thought he'd be, although considering the only experience I have of his is him voice an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog, I guess I shouldn't be surprised)
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
I don't think it matters for voice actors that much, honestly. A good voice actor will entirely disappear into their role, to the extent that you wouldn't be able to tell that the character doesn't match.
 
S

snacknuts

we all knew her
This is one of the most ridiculous things I've read in awhile. Voice actors should be hired because of their talent, not because they look like the person whose voice they're providing. In Rocko's Modern Life, Rocko was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui, who is half Colombian and half Scottish. It's silly to think that the character would have been better off if they had found an Aussie to voice Rocko just for the sake of him being an Aussie.

There's a documentary on Netflix called I Know That Voice. You should watch it.
 
K

KarmaCow

Member
The only problem where it feels uncomfortable for me is when it feels like a caricature but that's a more a problem with the character itself than the voice actor. It just comes down to intent.

Well that and if people are passed up when they could have done the job but it's pretty much impossible to discern that.
 
E

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!
If the voice fits the character that's all that matters. I doubt most people realize that everyone's favorite space racist, Ashley Williams from Mass Effect, is voiced by a black woman, Kimberly Brooks.
 
Haunted

Haunted

Member
As long as the voice fits, it's fine.

If voice actors had to be the same skin colour as the in-game character, we'd probably have even fewer minority voice actors.
 
B

BeatResetsTheWorld

Banned
What kind of ridiculous question is this? This is literally how voice acting has been for decades. Expecting a match in appearance would either lead to TONS of characters looking exactly the same or call for a massive increase in the number of VAs

Although, I will say I can tell black voice actors. Like Kratos...his VA is clearly black haha
 
S

Smellycat

Member
Yes, it is a big problem that is often ignored. I was very disappointed when I found out that Ratchet's voice actor wasn't a Lombax. :(
 
N

Nzyme32

Member
It doesn't matter unless the voice it self doesn't make sense to the character in the context of the game.

Outside of that, it could be anyone and it wouldn't matter, much like Nancy Cartwright can voice Bart Simpson or Melissa Hutchison voices Toad Jr (a male toad), no one particularly cares, because no one sees the voice actor - they only see the character and hear what is perceived to be their voice. If the feeling is of dissonance that the voice can't belong to the character due to the voice acting, then there is an issue
 
A

AdventureMike

Member
In a way. I only tend to get cranky about a voice actor when I can recognize their voice from something else because they used the exact same voice elsewhere.

For example, Scott Menville uses almost the same exact voice as Robin in the Teen Titans TV show that he does for Lloyd in Tales of Symphonia.
 
Razzorn34

Razzorn34

Member
As long as the voice matches the characters look and personality, I could care less. It's a real disconnect when things don't seem to match up.
 
ReyVGM

ReyVGM

Member
So if an actor is going to play a talking lion they should find someone that looks like a lion now?
 
N

Nvzman

Member
It was never an issue for me either. I do like it when games are creatively voice acted (ex: how Conker's Bad Fur Day had Chris Seavor voice nearly every character, similar to old Looney Tunes cartoons).
 
H

HardRojo

Member
I loved Haytham's voice in AC III (his voice is part of the reason he is my favorite character from the Kenway game) and to this day I still don't know what his VA looks like.
 
B

Bashtee

Member
Don't care, one of the reasons I didn't enjoy Splinter Cell Blacklist. Michael Ironside was just... Sam Fisher. All the dialogs replayed in my head with his voice.
 
J

Jeronimo Jones

Member
VA tone and emotion should definitely fit the character, but they don't necessarily have to match physically. (I never knew Aveline's VA was white, but I do notice when VAs don't seem to match the character at all.)

Besides the fact that I only know the name/appearance of like 2 VAs anyway.
 
S

SpideySenses

Member
Enduin said:
If the voice fits the character that's all that matters. I doubt most people realize that everyone's favorite space racist, Ashley Williams from Mass Effect, is voiced by a black woman, Kimberly Brooks.
Click to expand...

My black Shepard (voiced by a white dude) showed her the error of her racist ways though.
 
C

calcetinvolador

Banned
The only thing important about voice acting is the quality of the voice acting itself, it doesn´t matter how voice actors look compared to the characters they are voicing.
 
D

DorkyMohr

Banned
What race is Knack because his voice actor doesn't fit at all.

IjqtWPB.jpg
 
K

Kinyou

Member
I don't see the problem as long as it's also done in reverse. In the new Star wars rebel series a black guy voices a white guy for example.
 
L

Lime

Member
I appreciate the replies (barring the ones lacking the nuance between human representation vs. inanimate representation lol). Then, I wonder what the motivation for Hutchinson's comment is then, as well as Narcisse's point in regards to Aveline. I.e. this quote:

"It's been a big challenge to get the right guy," Hutchinson continued. "It's not like creating an Italian who is part of a robust country. We're sort of picking a character who is part of an oppressed people. We had to be very, very careful with it. We wanted to be both historically accurate and earnest in how we treated it. So we wanted to get an actor who is Native American. He is half-Blackfoot, and we wanted to get the events that happen in the game that are historically accurate as possible."
Click to expand...

Why is it important or significant in this particular case for Hutchinson if the identity of voice actors don't matter? Is it because we are dealing with a "historical" game? I'm just trying to understand and think if there are any nuances to the question.
 
C

Casimir

Unconfirmed Member
Kinyou said:
I don't see the problem as long as it's also done in reverse. In the new Star wars rebel series a black guy voices a white guy for example.
Click to expand...

In the original trilogy James Earl Jones voiced Vader who was played by a white Englishman (David Prowse).
 
S

shiftplusone

Member
of course it doesn't matter, this is ridiculous.

Pamela Adlon isn't a young boy from Texas nor is she a dalmatian puppy

Will Friedle doesn't look like a lion man nor does he match a talking alien transforming car
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
James Avery: The Thread

Htown said:
I don't think it matters for voice actors that much, honestly. A good voice actor will entirely disappear into their role, to the extent that you wouldn't be able to tell that the character doesn't match.
Click to expand...

With the exception for real monsters of talent and personality that attract roles to them, like Cam Clarke.

Damn, we need more Cam Clarke.
 
D

DorkyMohr

Banned
Lime said:
Why is it important or significant in this particular case if the identity of voice actors don't matter? Is it because we are dealing with a "historical" game? I'm just trying to understand and think if there are any nuances to the question.
Click to expand...

Because it doesn't actually matter, it's a piece of preview marketing for the game. It's the same thing as saying they taped microphones to a tailpipe of a car for a racing game. In reality so many things in the production are "good enough" but they put their best foot forward to give the impression that they're offering up to the player a 100% authentic experience.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
It doesn't matter as long as the voice fits. Only time I can remember it being an issue was avatar: the last airbender where this asian-looking character had a very distinct black voice. Jada Pinkett Smith in Princess Monoke was pretty bad too but then again she's bad in most things anyway. Most characters and VAs don't match which is great because you get a lot more variety and potential that way. I'm huge a Phil LaMarr fan from his MadTV days so it's great seeing him get so many opportunities now even if I'd still like to see more of him in front of the camera.
 
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