Universal Pictures has faced heavy backlash after Laverne Cox - a trans actor - was dubbed by a male actor in an Italian version of Promising Young Woman. Una Donna Promettente - the Italian version of the film - was meant to be released in the country today, but it has since been postponed due to a negative reaction online.
In the video - which has since been restricted - her character talks to Cassie, played by Carey Mulligan, but Laverne's voice is replaced in the Italian version by actor Roberto Pedicini. The video prompted criticism, with many saying the move by Universal was transphobic. 'hi @emeraldfennell,' one person tweeted. 'It has come to our attention that in the Italian version of Promising Young Woman Laverne Cox’s character has been dubbed by a cisgender man. Is there anything you can do about this? This is downright transphobic.'
Universal have since apologised, and delayed the release of the film. '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 recognised,' a spokesperson for the company toldthe Guardian. '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 paper also notes the star's voice in the Spanish and German versions was set to be voiced by a cis man.
This is not the first time Laverne has been dubbed by a male actor. In an Italian-language version of Orange Is The New Black, her voice was replaced by male actor Andrea Lavagnino. It was also dubbed by the same actor for her roles in The Mindy Project and Doubt.
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