Tom Ellis is unique and unmatched, but voice actors from different countries strive to reflect his expressions and, at the same time, give Lucifer a little something, a little of themselves, so that we can all enjoy Lucifer in our mother tongue. We had the pleasure of interviewing Toni Mora, the Spanish voice actor of our favorite character about the dubbing process, the best moments of Lucifer Season 5B and a small teaser of season 6. Ready?
Here we go!
This interview is carried out entirely in Spanish and here’s the video so you can see it in full.
However, we wanted you all to be able to enjoy it, so we translated it in fully into English so that you could all enjoy Toni’s wonderful responses.
We noticed that Tom Ellis introduced a different nuance to Michael’s voice, like a darker inflection. We imagined that it couldn’t have been easy to dub into Spanish and reflect those different voice inflections.
“What we do is watch the sequences beforehand and work from there. In that moment, an interpretation of the scene is beginning to develop in my head. From there, I lower the tone of my voice a little to make it sound thicker and I look inside myself for that darker image to reflect the inner torture that lives in Michael, also leaning on the actor’s movements,” he tells us.
“We had to further venture the difference between the two in Lucifer season 5B because, seeing it in English, Lucifer and Michael were quite similar in some moments but it’s about the fact that there is a margin between them, that we can differentiate them just by looking at them. It also depends on the scene because sometimes the show wants us to feel sorry for Michael at different times and you have to play around with those nuances,” he added.
“There are times when the process, the image, speaks for itself and you don’t exactly stick to the actor’s voice and, sometimes, that’s a good idea because another type of magic arises,” he explains.
The songs in the musical are not dubbed, but would Toni have liked to dub them and have the opportunity to sing? “Well… I’m a voice actor but not a singer. Also, with what a good artist Tom Ellis is, the dubbing would have been awful. He does everything well and I… I want to limit myself to doing what I do well. I think it was worth keeping the original here,” he shares.
“That said, I would have liked to see the episode in full, because I didn’t even get a chance to watch it. Lucifer Season 5B just premiered and we’re already working on season 6, although I don’t know when it will be released,” he commented and we’re freaking out!
After this, the next question was a must. What is Toni’s opinion about Lucifer season 6? He can’t say much… and we believe that no answer is an answer because it means something GREAT is coming up.
Also, “the fandom knows more than us sometimes with their theories,” he commented. And I had to agree with him, you are like the FBI, Lucifans! And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Your theories are very good and you guessed many things that happened. Some of us and other screeners were amazed by this and I promise you that many times we spoke in DM on Twitter saying “but how did they guess this?” and “They can be screenwriters” Toni told us and we agreed because he is absolutely right.
The world of dubbing is fascinating and we wanted to know how Toni got there. “We have to go way back and connect with some really tough personal stories. I started radio years ago and when I entered the world of dubbing I had a certain technical base. In a time, I wasn’t comfortable on the radio and a colleague and friend, Rosa Guillén, took me to a dubbing studio one day,” he shares.
“Despite having worked on TV, radio and in different jobs facing the public, I’m very shy, something that I begin to know how to cope with, but that day, the day she takes me to a studio and there is nothing but the lectern, the mic, the speakers and me … that day I knew I had to dedicate myself to this. On an artistic level it was something that I had to explore, although until then I had not considered it. And, on a personal level, I had to change of scene, to escape from the situation I was in. So I dropped everything and immersed myself in the world of dubbing,” he confessed.
“That was 20 years ago and I’m really happy. It was starting over because I was already starting to make a name for myself in the media and changing my career was a life change, a risk, because I didn’t know anyone from that medium other than Rosa (Guillén) and Pilar Gefaell, who was a an incredible professional who, in addition, introduced me to my wife, I’m really grateful to her. So I didn’t know anyone except the two of them. It was a leap into the void that I don’t regret,” he added.
Lucifer Season 5B has many emotional scenes that were probably not have been easy to dub into Spanish. We asked Toni about this. “I will only say that the most complicated scenes of Tom Ellis are those of emotional explosion, be it anger, conflicts with Chloe or with other characters because Tom Ellis absolutely leaves his life there. He’s very versatile, he’s very good at making you laugh but he’s masterful at drama. I have been moved in some scenes,” he tells us.
“In one of the first seasons he has a monologue with God and it’s is super powerful and intense. I also remember an emotional shock when Charlotte (Lucifer’s mother) died. Whenever Lucifer had a problem with Chloe that ended in an emotional scene and in tears they are difficult scenes, you have to be very focused and connected with the character and with the story. So I try to measure up.” And he does.
We totally agree with Toni here. Tom Ellis is absolutely wonderful, he makes you feel it all. In fact, I confessed to Toni that Tom Ellis had repeatedly made me cry on Lucifer Season 5B. “Yes, he’s terrific. If I had an actor with this dramatic view like Tom Ellis, I would take full advantage of him, squeezing everything out of him. In fact, I think that’s what they are doing.” And yes, they are exploring it very well because you really feel how the anger, the pain, the suffering, the trauma escalates … Lucifer Season 5B is masterful for many things, Tom Ellis is definitely one of them.
Our last question for Toni was about the funniest scene when it comes to dubbing into Spanish. “I was very amused the day Lucifer and Ella go to the nude camp, it was a lot of fun. I think that sequence could have been exploited more, but it was great. Another really funny moment is when Pierce (Tom Welling) and Lucifer have to pretend to be a couple. But I also think it could have been exploited more. I love those moments that Lucifer has, those small and ironic comments that make you laugh.” I totally agree on this, those comments always make you smile.
I hope you enjoyed the interview as much as we did. Toni is absolutely wonderful. He’s charming, funny, kind, sooo sweet, humble and you can tell that he’s passionate about his work, you can tell that he found his place. Do you know those people who always make you smile and are like a little ray of sunshine that brightens your day? Well that’s Toni Mora. We look forward to talking to him again.
