Damien Witecka, the voice actor behind the French voice of Leonardo DiCaprio, is one of the guests at the Games of Geek festival in Rodez this weekend. You can go meet him until Sunday evening.
How did you get into the world of dubbing?
I’ve been in dubbing since 96-97, roughly. I was doing a lot of theater at that time. People who saw me play asked me to give it a try, because I had never done dubbing. After that, I didn’t hear from him for a while, until I was called to audition for a film. That’s where it all started.
I was called back a little later to do more tests. There was “Little Murders Between Friends”, and a year later “Trainspotting”. And this team also had to do the dubbing of “Romeo and Juliet”. There were very big tests, there had to be a choice of five possible people for each role. It was from there that I made my first film with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Then there was “Titanic”. This film opened the doors to dubbing for me a little. Already because it was such a hit, and also because we were releasing all the films that Leonardo DiCaprio had made up until then which had not been released in France. On certain projects, the distributor had required that Leonardo have the same voice as in “Titanic”.
But since people didn’t know me, they wanted to give me a try. For “Basketball Diaries”, I will always remember the atmosphere, I was told: “We chose the hardest scene in the film for you”. I said to myself, “go for it.” I felt like an actor. I wasn’t there to dub, I was there to act. All this to tell you that it was not a foregone conclusion. They did everything to test me. And here we are today.
Leonardo DiCaprio, in particular, has a “letting go” scene in each film where he raises his voice. Are you forced to preserve yours permanently?
(Laughs) Some actors maybe, but I don’t think about that at all. I try to experience things organically like in the theater. Sometimes it’s done straight away in rehearsal in the theater, sometimes, on more nebulous characters, it takes time. That’s what rehearsals are for. Except that in the profession of dubbing actor, we don’t have that time. You see the scene, and you have to go straight there. It’s instantaneous, it requires letting go that not everyone necessarily has.
For this voice story, I remember the “Wolf of WallStreet”. The biggest shoot of my life, for 15 days, we stopped when we couldn’t take it anymore. To find my voice, the only thing that works is sleep. See the scene where he’s in the office with a microphone and he’s fixing up all his staff? For this film, the final choice of dialogue had not yet been made. So once we had the scene done, there were still other alternatives to try. It was exhausting. First of all, redoing a scene where you lose your temper is heartbreaking. But when you redo and redo… Especially since in the scene, Leonardo DiCaprio goes to the limit of breaking his vocal cords. And I have to do what he does.
Do you have a favorite line?
In “Titanic”, it’s… “I’m waiting for you here!” Do you remember that moment? Leonardo DiCaprio is chained, and Kate Winslet comes to get him with the axe. And he tells her “I’m waiting for you here”, with an almost everyday tone. It’s my little favorite, even though no one remembers this sentence! When I watch the film again, I smile at that moment.
Afterwards, it always surprises people, once we have worked on a film, we watch it once, twice, then we move on to something else. So we don’t know the lines as well as the fans. In the evening, I don’t suggest: “Honey, what if we listen to what I did again?” Oh my God, no…
After all these years playing Leonardo DiCaprio, do you know his voice as well as your own?
I know mine better anyway (laughs). People sometimes say to me, when I start on a new project: “Oh but that’s fine with you, Leonardo DiCaprio, with your fingers in your nose!” No, but are you kidding? There are scenes when I’m not up to par, you can hear it straight away. It’s never easy, it’s a new challenge every time, even when you know the actor.
You don’t dub Leonardo DiCaprio in all his films. For what ?
There was a phase in my life, starting with “Inception”, where someone in the distributors, I think it was at Warner at the time, decided that we needed to age the voice of DiCaprio. So they took another actor, while asking him to get as close as possible to the voice he had in French. Something stupid, really. During certain films, no one even called me anymore, it was over.
Then, for the “Wolf of WallStreet”, I was put back into competition with the person who had taken over. And like in Scorsese’s films, it’s Scorsese who chooses, I came back.
Aside from Leonardo DiCaprio, which actors do you like to follow?
I like Tobbey Maguire. With him, it’s totally different. There is also Giovanni Ribisi, who is an excellent actor. As long as there are things to play, I’m happy. The hardest part is dressing actors who are… “not great”. Whatever we do, we sometimes tell ourselves that we don’t have much room for maneuver. But great actors, it’s a joy to follow in their wake.
Is there an actor you would have liked to double?
I would have let myself be tempted by Timothée Chalamet. But I heard it in French, and I found it very good. So good.
You have done voice-overs, commercials, animation, on-air voices for Fun Radio and France Bleu… Is it important for you to diversify?
Yes, it’s super important to do completely different things. All actors will say that they don’t have a favorite role. What we like is doing something, being fully into it, and then moving on to something completely different. What we like is going into roles asking ourselves, but what am I going to do with them? And it is often in the things that scare us the most that we will give our all. Advertisements for example, for me are often a very creative exercise.
In what projects can we hear you soon?
Today, we sign confidentiality contracts, so I can’t talk about what I’m currently working on. From the moment it’s broadcast, we can. So I can tell you that I worked on the second season of Rings of Power which is on Amazon right now. I play Elrond.
Dubbing actors are increasingly in the spotlight at this type of event. We have the impression that there is an increasingly strong curiosity for this profession.
There was a time, when I was often at the theater, and I couldn’t come to rehearsals… There was a mixture of reproaches and jealousy. And in fact, a few years later, these same people looking for work called you to get a boost in dubbing. There was a time when dubbing was not very well regarded. Now it is, because the internet has democratized all that a bit, people are interested. It allowed the connection between spectators and the people who do this work.
It’s funny because when you do a great piece, people talk about you, but that’s forgotten. There, the dubbing is frozen. We still talk today about “Titanic”, “Spider-Man”, that was 25 years ago! Which is not meant to rejuvenate me when people tell me that I rocked their childhood! I’m still 35 years old in my head, but no… Afterwards, I still have the same energy, the same desire.
Would you prefer to go to the Rodez salon or the behemoth that is Paris Manga, where you are expected at the beginning of October?
I find it very good this week, because in Paris there will be lines and lines, and it will be something else. It will be more intense, more tiring. What I like is the contact with people. In Rodez it’s very good, when someone comes to talk to me, I have plenty of time. Do you want a video for your boyfriend? No worries. Shall we take a selfie? But yes. Can I ask you something again? Of course, that’s what I’m here for.
Do we recognize you every day, just by your voice?
It’s rare, but it happens. This happened recently in a store while buying toys for my children. When it was time to pay, I was asked: “Sorry, but are you dubbing? And who are you dubbing?” Well guess! Every time, it’s just smiles. It happened to me at the Stade de France, during the Paralympic Games. I was with my little family. I was asked: “are you Leonardo DiCaprio? I recognized you”.
