A year after his death, Alain Dorval leaves a great void. Who will voice Sylvester Stallone in his next films? A company tried to use artificial intelligence. This did not convince.
Alain Dorval’s journey
Born in Algiers in 1946, to a pied-noir father and a Parisian mother, Alain Bergé (his artist name is Dorval) is an only child. A brilliant student and passionate about theater, he joined the Cours René Simon in Paris at the age of 18, then entered the Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Conservatory in 1967.
He will begin by performing several classics. Very involved during the events of May 68, he occupied the Paris Conservatory and even stood up against a demonstration by the Occident group (far-right political movement).
A good actor, he continued his theatrical career, notably performing Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare; and Tête d’or, by Paul Claudel.
Stallone’s dubbing for Rocky
With an unusual deep voice, he did his first dubbing of American serials and westerns in 1969, then even an Italian film, by Antonioni, with Michel Serrault, an actor he greatly appreciated. His specialization in post-synchro and his particular voice then earned him the opportunity to dub Sylvester Stallone in his very first Rocky, at the end of 1977, a work crowned with three Oscars. Appreciated for his interpretation that fits perfectly with the character, he will have the chance to dub six Rocky and also five Rambo, including Last Blood, released in theaters in 2019.
He greatly appreciated Sylvester Stallone for his great professionalism, claiming to have enjoyed dubbing him in the films he directed, he said, “with a lot of passion and perfectionism”. And to add: “I only met him once and we talked for a while together, talking a little about everything but never broaching the subject that binds us…”.
In total, he will have dubbed more than 40 Stallone films! But he also had the chance to voice Nick Nolte, as well as Jeff Bridges and Ratchet in the Transformers film saga…
His voice was also chosen to perform: Le Teigneux, in Il was once… l’Espace / Il was once… la Vie; Tiger, in the feature films Fievel or even Lex Luthor, in the Superman series… Among the animated films, in 1992, he became the voice of the character Pat Hibulaire for the Disney studios. “I also dubbed many episodes of The Dingo Gang with Gérard Rinaldi who was a very good friend” he liked to point out.
Another string to his bow, our actor has also been the voice of several advertisements, including that of the Vigor detergent “Industrial power at the service of your floors” where he played the voice of the “can”.
He was married to the actress Dominique Dumont, also a voice actress in several series, and their daughter is the minister Aurore Bergé.
And now ?
Passing away in February 2024 following a long illness, he leaves behind an enormous legacy and a question: who will be able to dub Sylvester Stallone in his next films.
This weekend, the company Eleven Labs was pleased that the action film “Armored” would be the first feature film to use AI dubbing. “We have collaborated with Lumiere Ventures and the estate of Alain Dorval, the iconic French voice of Sylvester Stallone, to ensure that his work lives on and that French audiences hear the characters played by Sylvester Stallone as they always have. »
They highlight work aimed at “allowing stories to reach audiences in their native language without losing the emotion and nuance that makes them captivating.”
Recreating a voice so deeply tied to collective memory is an exciting example of how technology can honor tradition”
Even Labs
Except that the result was leaked in a video published on the Internet and the result absolutely does not please fans: “1st problem, it lacks warmth, nuance, emotions. Secondly, if it’s an AI everyone will be able to use their voice and hello abuse. Third, of course the voice will change, we will no longer have the voice of Alain Dorval, which is why #touchepasmavf is so important to avoid this!” writes one Internet user in particular.
Aurore Bergé steps up to the plate
Aurore Bergé, Minister of Equality between Women and Men but also daughter of Alain Dorval, wanted to react on the social network X (formerly Twitter). She explains that this video was only supposed to be a test and that the family absolutely did not agree: “I agreed to a trial. Only a test. An agreement strictly guaranteeing that my mother and I would undergo final validation before any use/publication. And that nothing could be done without our agreement. I discover… on X that this commitment is not respected. I have never validated such a broadcast. And my father would never have validated it as it was.”
I know what I allowed and what I did not allow in any way. I would never have authorized anything that could in any way harm the memory of my father.
Aurore Bergé on
The succession of Alain Dorval behind the voice of Sylvester Stallone therefore remains wide open and not sure that technology will provide an answer.
