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In the dystopic war movie Outside the wire, released by Netflix on 15 January, Federico Viola dubs Damon Idris, who portrays Lt. Harp, who must deal with Capt. Leo, a cyborg. Or better, a robot.

Viola is particularly keen on specifying this, seen as – aside from being a passionate dubber – he is also a sci-fi enthusiast. «Dubbing has always fascinated me, ever since I was 11 or 12, when I was really into videogames. That’s when I started noticing the voices involved. I remember this videogame I used to play a lot, Splinter Cell. I read on the back cover that Luca Ward dubbed the lead character. I wondered who this Luca Ward might be and that’s when I started my personal search into dubbing. When I was 19 I took acting lessons and I started looking for dubbing studios, asking how it all worked and trying a few auditions. A couple of dubbing directors noticed me and gave me some rather important jobs… It was truly very rewarding for me, because it wasn’t by chance. It was really what I wanted. It wasn’t easy, but in the end you reap what you sow.

When I get up in the morning, my thought is “Hey, I’m going to work. That’s great!”.

I think my main feature, as a dubber, is my ability to change and adapt. My voice changes, it’s not like some of my colleagues, whose voice can immediately be recognised in a film. I can change my voice based on the actor and on age, and this makes me very versatile.

I took up this job ten years ago and so far my career has been rather linear. But the characters that have boosted my visibility were the lead character in the series on Gianni Versace’s murder and then Bohemian Rhapsody (Italian version directed by Marco Guadagno), where I dubbed the drummer of the rock band ‘Queen’. A character I would absolutely love to dub is Solid Snake, the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid, a famous videogame I’m a fan of. Apparently, a reboot will be released soon, and a film too…”.