Final Fantasy 7 Remake VA Change Handled Unprofessionally
Oct 9, 2019 9:41:47 GMT -8
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Post by jasmine1976 on Oct 9, 2019 9:41:47 GMT -8
There is just something I want to discuss and it's just been on my mind for a long time - the treatment of voice actors in the West. I have always loved the Final Fantasy 7 voice actors and now they have all been fired and without reason after voicing these characters for 17 years. They were expecting to return and some of them were rumored to be mid-recording before they were fired and a new cast took over last minute. The voice actors are utterly shocked that their jobs were taken from them after voicing the character for almost 20 years, especially after just voicing them in 2018. Kitase claims to allow them to continue voicing the characters in smaller projects, just not this incredible, Triple A game that they have been waiting for since they first began to voice the characters back in 2002 (for Steve Burton) and 2006 (for the rest of the cast). Not only that, they were VOICING the characters in the 2015 trailer for the game and then replaced!
Not only that - the new voice actors are trying to emulate the original voice actor's performances. So what was the reason for firing and damaging relationships with top voice actors if they are trying to get the new cast to give the same performance?
The reason I am so hurt by this is since Square Enix is failing to release the true reason behind the firing of 18 professional, top tiered voice actors (Cripsin Freeman, George Newbern, Quinton Flynn, Steve Blum) and also these incredible actors (Steve Burton, Rachel Leigh Cook, Beau Billingslea)- they are being slandered and torn up by the internet with ridiculous fan rumors that are incredibly damaging to their reputations as actors and voice actors. This is incredibly unprofessional of Square Enix to change a voice cast and not give the public nor the voice actors (who voice them for 17 years of their lives) reason for this and allowing their names to be soiled on the internet.
For them to somehow block these actors from the biggest game of their careers that they were excited and wanting nothing more than to finally get to voice the characters in their prime is just inconsiderate and terrible treatment for them - especially since they JUST voiced the characters in 2018. Even David Hayter had a 5 year hiatus from Metal Gear Solid and he just wasn't called back for MGSV - this cast was actually promoted as the characters in 2015 and then strung along until 2019 to be replaced with actors that have little to no voice acting. I am not here to insult the new cast, I think this is an amazing opportunity for them for starting their careers, but this is insulting to the old voice cast that put in 17 years of their lives voicing these characters only to be put on small, project that aren't really popular. I really hope they can at least get in the game as optional DLC so they can enjoy voicing these characters, they certainly deserve it.
Voice Acting is in a league of it's own, not many screen actors can easily switch to voice acting and that is what Square Enix/ Sony is trying to do, push screen actors into the gaming world when they don't have the skill to do so. I am more upset that they took over a game that already had voice actors. I can't complain or judge when I see screen actors in original games, but when a game already has a voice cast - that's when I get very upset. We need to protect our voice actors and stop letting companies mistreat them. Clearly I would be a hypoctie to demand Square Enix to remove the new cast and I certainly don't want them to do that - I would really love if they would just create a DLC voice pack for the actors that gave so much time and effort and emotion into these characters. Star Ocean (a Square Enix game) actually did this with their Japanese voice cast, they have 2 Japanese voice overs to respect both the new voice actors and the old voice actors. This would be a great thing to do with the Remake.
Respect Voice Actors.
Not only that - the new voice actors are trying to emulate the original voice actor's performances. So what was the reason for firing and damaging relationships with top voice actors if they are trying to get the new cast to give the same performance?
The reason I am so hurt by this is since Square Enix is failing to release the true reason behind the firing of 18 professional, top tiered voice actors (Cripsin Freeman, George Newbern, Quinton Flynn, Steve Blum) and also these incredible actors (Steve Burton, Rachel Leigh Cook, Beau Billingslea)- they are being slandered and torn up by the internet with ridiculous fan rumors that are incredibly damaging to their reputations as actors and voice actors. This is incredibly unprofessional of Square Enix to change a voice cast and not give the public nor the voice actors (who voice them for 17 years of their lives) reason for this and allowing their names to be soiled on the internet.
For them to somehow block these actors from the biggest game of their careers that they were excited and wanting nothing more than to finally get to voice the characters in their prime is just inconsiderate and terrible treatment for them - especially since they JUST voiced the characters in 2018. Even David Hayter had a 5 year hiatus from Metal Gear Solid and he just wasn't called back for MGSV - this cast was actually promoted as the characters in 2015 and then strung along until 2019 to be replaced with actors that have little to no voice acting. I am not here to insult the new cast, I think this is an amazing opportunity for them for starting their careers, but this is insulting to the old voice cast that put in 17 years of their lives voicing these characters only to be put on small, project that aren't really popular. I really hope they can at least get in the game as optional DLC so they can enjoy voicing these characters, they certainly deserve it.
Voice Acting is in a league of it's own, not many screen actors can easily switch to voice acting and that is what Square Enix/ Sony is trying to do, push screen actors into the gaming world when they don't have the skill to do so. I am more upset that they took over a game that already had voice actors. I can't complain or judge when I see screen actors in original games, but when a game already has a voice cast - that's when I get very upset. We need to protect our voice actors and stop letting companies mistreat them. Clearly I would be a hypoctie to demand Square Enix to remove the new cast and I certainly don't want them to do that - I would really love if they would just create a DLC voice pack for the actors that gave so much time and effort and emotion into these characters. Star Ocean (a Square Enix game) actually did this with their Japanese voice cast, they have 2 Japanese voice overs to respect both the new voice actors and the old voice actors. This would be a great thing to do with the Remake.
Respect Voice Actors.