an interview by Stéphane Lerouge
English translation by Martin Winckler
Yves-Marie Maurin was born into a family of performers. His brother was famous French movie actor Patrick Dewaere (a close friend and fellow actor of Gerard Depardieu in the late 70's and early 80's). He started on the stage at 5 and in the movies at 6. He has played numerous parts on the stage and in TV productions, but has also dubbed many English-speaking actors, including Michael York, Christopher Walken, Burt Reynolds and David Hasselhof (on the French versions of Knight Rider and Baywatch). His encounter with Michael Moriarty's Ben Stone character was a very stimulating one, because he "had to go deep into himself to find this uncommon character's true self."
(Editor's Note : We, at Generation Series usually prefer American shows in their original version, with French subtitles. Law & Order is one of the very few shows for which the dubbing job was one of the finest ever done for TV in this country. As I've seen many episodes in the original English version, I can testify that Yves-Marie Maurin's Ben Stone is one of the most faithful renditions I've ever heard of such a powerful character. Martin Winckler)"We live in a strange country. Here, people's minds look like file cabinets. They just put artists in one drawer, with a libel on the forehead, and won't change their mind afterwards. Now, a human being can be many things. Ever since I've started dubbing, I've been cast with handsome soft-voiced characters, while as an actor, I'd rather play lunatics or complex and scary types. I'd rather break the ever-lasting habits of this profession."
"Which explains it was a surprise for me when I was asked to try out for the voice of Michael Moriarty in New York District/Law & Order. I knew the actor. His speech, his coolness, his constant awareness impressed me. I knew from the very beginning that I couldn't speak "normally". I'd have to recreate his voice. See, I'm no parrot! When you dub, you're not supposed to reproduce a sound, but a deepness, an imagination. And in the original show, Moriarty had adopted a very special way of playing, as if his voice came out from the upper part of his head. It makes people feel that he's somehow above them, he's standing behind the law. When he's facing a suspect, he stands over him as if he were talking from the second floor.
"I had to experiment several 'voices' until I found the character's identity. My natural voice just didn't work, even if I made it deeper. It just didn't come out, because Moriarty's acting was much more than just a voice. He had totally created that character that made people forget about his own Michael Moriarty identity. When Ben Stone is prosecuting, he must be convincing, sometimes even violent, craving for justice and honor, and he has a clear sight of things that makes him use parables to illustrate his thesis. And at the same time, he seldom gets excited or angry at people. Anger is there, deep inside, but he won't show it. He'd rather underline things, but never show his anger or frustration. As an actor, Michael Moriarty truly created a very personal and outstanding character."
"After I understood that, I finally came out with a special voice and phrasing in the very first episodes I dubbed. And then I felt I was going into the character. I was becoming someone else than myself. I found my cues. When I dubbed the next episodes, I was always afraid I wouldn't find that voice again, with exactly the same tone and phrasing. Fortunately, I did. Probably because my own idealism is very close to the character's!"
"When you dub, you aim to find a voice that fills the character's structure. If you're right, the public forgets the actor was dubbed. The relationships between his features and voice should seem natural. Which means there must be as little difference as possible between them - and that's often unnatural!"
"Anyway you can put several voices on one body. When you turn down the sound of the TV set, what is left? Puppets, most of the time! Then you realize how important the voice is. It is really the soul, the inner self of the person that expresses itself."
"Although I very much like to dub David Hasselhof, my preference goes to Michael Moriarty in Law & Order, because his character was a truly original creation. One is most proud of what's most difficult to achieve! I'd rather walk in a snow storm to buy warm bread at the neighborhood bakery than have my breakfast served in bed! In the first case you really deserve the treat, and you know the price. To go further into the comparison, I'd say dubbing Moriarty was a much richer experience: he made me go look much deeper into my own self, while Hasselhof is a more 'basic' character. You don't have to look for anything. You just have to read the lines!" (Laughs)
"Playing Ben Stone, I had to pay attention to much more than just the lines, and watch how he moved, how he gestured, and especially how he looked at things. Michael Moriarty is one of the actors that helped me get away from common types of voices. In a way, he helped me do what I like, namely break the rules of that profession."
reprinted with permission from Generation Series