Haaland’s voice replaced in “ViQueens” trailer
Erling Haaland will not lend his voice to his animated character in Harald Zwart’s film “ViQueens” after all, with actor Jon Sindre Fjellvang taking over the role, producer Veslemøy Zwart confirmed, VG reported.
When the animated film was announced in May, Norwegian media reported that Haaland would debut as a voice actor in both the Norwegian and English versions. But when the new trailer was released Friday, Haaland’s own voice was not heard.
“It has never been announced from our side that Haaland’s own voice would be used in the film,” Veslemøy Zwart told VG. “It is the character Haaland we have been given permission to use, there is also copyright on it.”
World Cup priority kept Haaland from the studio
Director Harald Zwart had told VG that Haaland would dub both versions, but that was before the World Cup. “Yes, that was our hope to begin with,” Veslemøy Zwart said. “And had Norway not had such great success, we would probably have managed it. But here football took priority, it was more important to secure World Cup participation – and we were fully on board with that.”
She said they did not want to pressure the superstar to come to the studio while he was occupied with the football World Cup, which made the possibility of him playing himself very difficult.
CELEBRITY NEWS Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is to make his feature acting debut, in an animated film as the voice of a Viking – called 'Haaland'. According to Hollywood Reporter, the Norwegian international is to play “an animated version of himself” in Viqueens,… pic.twitter.com/6XecwBlbEq
Jon Sindre Fjellvang voices the Viking character
Haaland is replaced by Fjellvang, whom the producer described as “the best substitute.” Despite Haaland not voicing the character, Veslemøy Zwart said they are very pleased to have the football star in the film.
She said they have had close dialogue with Haaland and his representatives throughout the process. Haaland was himself concerned that there should be a likeness between him and the character, and he has approved both the character and the scenes he appears in. “The most important thing for us is that we have gotten the biggest Viking of the present time,” she said.
“ViQueens,” written and directed by Harald Zwart, is about two Viking girls who travel from Norway to China. Animation requires laboriously animating according to the character’s voice, and the voice must be secured early for the animation to become as lively as possible.
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