Voices in the dark

Liu Feng. Photo provided to Shanghai Star

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Liu Feng graduated from the Shanghai Theater Academy with a major in acting in 1989. His classmates included actor You Yong, well-known for playing policemen or military officers in films and TV series.

Liu was soon employed as a voice actor at the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio.

"I entered this industry when it was on a downward spiral. Voice acting was rapidly losing popularity as people stopped watching movies. You could hardly find a movie theater," Liu says.

But like many other voice actors, Liu loved the job, and there was a small but firm voice in his head saying, "voice acting will survive". Liu was elected deputy chief of the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio in 2005, and he is still actively working as a voice actor today.

"Voice acting is a skill that you need to sharpen from time to time, and I try to dub as much as possible," Liu says. Liu says he has a similar voice to Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage, and has dubbed almost all of Cage’s major movies, including Windtalkers and The Rock.

Liu also voiced for Hugh Grant in Notting Hill and Mickey Blue Eyes. He was the voice of Sean Penn in The Interpreter, and spoke for Alan Rickman (Professor Snape) in the Harry Potter movies.

Two popular cartoon characters Liu has dubbed are the title character of Kung Fu Panda and Garfield.

Major films that Liu Feng he has provided voice-dubbing for. Photo provided to Shanghai Star

There are a number of famous voice actors from the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio, and their work has turned many foreign movies into classic memories for generations of Chinese.

They include Bi Ke (Death on the Nile, The Sound of Music), Cao Lei (Spellbound), Ding Jianhua (Death on the Nile, Sissi, Waterloo Bridge,), Li Zi (The Sound of Music, Jane Eyre, Notre-Dame de Paris, Death on the Nile, Yesenia), Liu Guangning (The Sound of Music, Death on the Nile, Yesenia), Tong Zirong (Zorro, Sissi, the 39 steps, Death on the Nile), Qiao Zhen (Death on the Nile, Waterloo Bridge) and Qiu Yuefeng (Jane Eyre, The Sound of Music, Notre-Dame de Paris, Yesenia).