The legendary Zorro, Lieutenant Dan Taylor from Forrest Gump, Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter, but also Aramis from The Iron Mask. These are just some of the dozens of characters who have made the history of cinema interpreted by one of Italy's most important voice actors: Antonio Sanna .
Living today in Anticoli Corrado, a very small town in the Roman countryside with a long artistic tradition ("Pirandello wrote here 'The mountain giants'", he recalls), was born seventy-two years ago in Siligo and for forty, in addition to being an actor theatrical, he spends hours and hours closed in the dubbing rooms, headphones on his head and a microphone, to lend his voice to actors nominated for Academy Awards in iconic films.
Dad marshal of the Guardia di Finanza, it all started in Cagliari: he moved there at the age of ten and also attended university there. Medical School.
Why Medicine?
«I chose her before realizing that I actually liked being an actor much more. And in fact, instead of studying, I acted at the Cit, Center for theatrical initiative, with actors like Mario Faticoni, Tino Petilli, Franco Noè, Cesare Saliu. In 1974 we founded the Teatro di Sardegna cooperative. Then I moved to Rome, I struggled a lot before taking off».
Or?
“I had various jobs, including being a nurse in a small center for the elderly: my medical studies helped me get by. Gradually I resumed doing theater with various companies around Italy».
Why did he start dubbing?
«By chance, to plug the 'holes' in the theatre. In order not to sit still for whole months between one season and another, I launched myself with the first auditions».
The first important role?
«A very young Hugh Grant in Maurice, a 1987 film. It went well, the historic dubbing director Fede Arnaud liked it a lot. Yet I never dubbed him again, perhaps with the passage of time my voice no longer suited him ».
How do you match a voice to an actor?
“There are many elements that come into play. The color of the voice but also the 'psychological' commonality in acting, the way to approach it. Gluing the timbre is not enough, you need to enter as much as possible into the parts of the actor and the work he has done, as well as the character».
Tell us about a typical audition.
«Usually I'm presented with a long scene, about two or three pages of script. The director explains something about the film to me, and then I watch the character in action. I try the times, the bars, how the syllables are arranged to go with him for the sync. So far the purely technical part. Then there's the acting part, the most difficult one: how he's using his voice, what intentions he's making, how he moves, whether he's sitting, standing, running. When I feel ready we start with the mute, with the fundamental coordination of the dubbing director who gives directives from the control room».
What about the actual dubbing of a film?
«Twenty years ago, before dubbing films for the cinema, especially the very important ones, we watched everything in preview».
And now?
“We can't see the original film anymore. The copy they send us for processing is almost always bad, grey, full of superimposed writing. They force us to work in conditions that create more difficulties for us than anything else. Many American products come with portholes: we don't see the whole scene, just the character floating inside a circle».
How come?
“For fear we might make pirated copies and spread them, but I assure you that nothing has ever come out of a dubbing room. From this point of view, the pandemic has given the coup de grace ».
Why?
«First we dubbers rehearsed the scene together and then everyone recorded alone with the "memory" of the dialogue. But not now: we enter the hall one at a time. The result is that I always talk to myself. Then times are very tight.
Brief roundup of actors to whom he lends his voice: Antonio Banderas.
«For a long time I found him tiring: he has a very particular vocality and they often made him act over the top. Lately however, having put aside the more "rogue" roles, I find myself more at ease with it".
Sir Kenneth Branagh.
"I've never had any problems with him. We have the same way of approaching the characters, as well as the timbre of voice. I have fond memories of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to more recently Commander Bolton in Dunkirk and Boris Johnson in This England. A very complicated Sky series on Covid in the United Kingdom, among the protagonist who occasionally came up with quotes in ancient Greek and political themes on which we could not go wrong. But, I repeat, times are now very short and you have to do your best ».
Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump.
«Lieutenant Dan was a very lucky role for me. Before me they had auditioned dozens of actors but could not find the right voice. After him I started dubbing an incredible amount of films with many leading roles. I also doubled Gary Sinise for a small but very beautiful part that he has in “Il Miglio Verde”».
Forrest Gump was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and also won it.
«I love my job but I'm not interested in glitter and catwalks. I don't follow the "luck" of the films. To be honest, I rarely see myself again, especially when the films end up on TV which, by choice, I don't watch».
Rupert Everett in My Best Friend's Wedding.
“I had a lot of fun but it's not my favorite comedy. I've done a lot, even with Kevin Spacey, Hugh Laurie, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro».
Have you always dubbed in English?
«Not even from Spanish, from German, from French, from Finnish, from Chinese. And from Japanese, in Hachiko».
Did they ever recognize her by the voice?
«Never and for me it is a compliment: I have worked for years to have a non-characteristic, neutral voice in everyday life».
Did you have difficulty freeing yourself from Sardinian?
“No, even if it's another language for us. I gradually memorized the accents, the open and closed vowels, the doubles. I think it's more complicated for a Roman, say".
With the spread of streaming platforms, what future does dubbing have in Italy?
«A million euro question. For now it seems that the great Italian dubbing school has a future, because dubbed films continue to be watched, especially on generalist TV. Then if the new generations are learning English better and better, who knows…».