When the Netflix adaptation of Trese came out, one of the hot topics was how Liz Soberano performed as a voice actor. The reception was mixed. There were those who loved her calm voice-over as Alexandra Trese, which director, producer, and showrunner Jay Oliva called “better than I could have imagined.”
On Twitter, he revealed that he spoke to comic creator Budjette Tan, who likened Alexandra to Bruce Wayne. Oliva added, “She’s cold and unemotional at times because of all the things she experienced in life.”
There were those, however, who were not satisfied with Soberano’s delivery. Whatever the case may be, the show has become a hit and fans are already clamoring for a second season.
In an intimate interview with Wes Gleason, the casting and voice director; Tanya Yuson, series writer and co-executive producer; and Rudolf Baldonado, Jr., the Filipino language voice artist director, they shared how Soberano prepared for this huge role.
“Liza was very wonderful to work with because she was very honest from the very start. [The] first time I met her, she already told me she was scared because it was her first anime. It was her first time to dub something like this,” Baldonado shared. “She knows that she has this twang with Tagalog words. She knows what her voice quality is and I appreciate that in any artist because she knows where she’s coming from. And she knows what she needs to work on.”
Baldonado is the best person to serve as Trese’s Filipino language dubbing director. He has spent two decades as a dubbing and recording director in the localization and entertainment industry. He is the founder and president of Synchresis, Inc., a trusted localization group in the Philippines. You might recognize him as the voice of the Filipino dub of the character SpongeBob SquarePants.
To prepare, Soberano did one-on-one coaching, where they addressed three things: her voice, her Filipino language skills, and acting. Prior to the recording, they also had two or three meetings where Baldonado gave her exercises to get that lower register and what Baldonado calls “that stiff, tough Filipino tongue.”
Another big challenge was time. According to Baldonado, “One thing I would want to say is, I really wish we both had time. Because Liza and I just really wanted to record on and on, to just go back and improve what we just did, or do another take. But time was on the essence.”
Despite wanting more time, Baldonado saw how Soberano poured herself and gave her best.
Trese is now available for streaming on Netflix at https://www.netflix.com/trese.
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