Laverne Coxs Promising Young Woman role was dubbed by a man in the Italian version – Daily Mail

European viewers of the Oscar-winning black comedy Promising Young Woman were outraged after realizing that Laverne Cox’s role had been dubbed in the Italian version by a male actor.

Viewers first noticed that Cox, a transgender woman, had been dubbed by a man after Universal Pictures Italy posted a clip from the film on May 6 that featured her role, according to The Guardian.

In response to the criticisms, Universal Pictures International said it will delay the dubbed releases and will have Cox’s role redubbed by female actors.

Cox plays a small role in Promising Young Woman as the manager of a coffee shop where Carey Mulligan’s character works.

Mulligan stars in the dark film as a woman who pretends to be drunk or incapacitated in order to lure predatory men into trying to rape her, before teaching them a lesson. 

The movie was a hit with critics and audiences alike, and it took home the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, which went to writer–director Emerald Fennell.

Although Italian viewers expected someone who would sound something like Cox, they instead heard the Italian actor Roberto Pedicini, who has a distinctively deep voice.

‘I think this dubbing choice was a straight-up act of violence,’ Italian transgender actor Vittoria Schisano told The Guardian. ‘It’s insulting. I’d feel bullied if I were [Cox].’

Schisano previously dubbed Cox in the Netflix documentary Amend: The Fight for America, though she said she wasn’t approached about dubbing Cox for Promising Young Woman.

Universal Pictures International apologized to Cox in a statement to The Guardian and vowed to recast the voice part with women. 

‘We are deeply grateful to Laverne and the transgender community for opening our eyes to a bias that neither we nor many in our industry had recognized. While there was no malicious intent behind this mistake, we are working diligently to fix it. We have begun redubbing Ms Cox’s voice with female actors in our international territories and are pushing back release dates to ensure the correct version is available.’

The film was originally scheduled for a May 13 release date, though that’s now off the table. 

‘We are sorry for the pain caused but are thankful that we can address the situation on this film and prevent similar mistakes from happening again on future projects,’ the distributor added.

A Spanish version was already released in April that had a man voicing Cox’s role, but it will reportedly be redubbed for its home video release.

According to People, Cox didn’t know that she was being dubbed by men, ‘but provisions have been put in place to prevent this from ever happening again.’

It has been an ongoing issue for her, as the male actor Andrea Lavagnino voiced Cox’s characters in Orange Is The New Black, The Mindy Project and Doubt.