Interview with José María del Río: “I recommend never saying ‘I’ve already arrived,’ but rather ‘I’m on my way.’
With a career spanning 50+ years, José María del Río is one of the golden names in Spanish voice industry. Born on November 25, 1942, in Madrid, he is known for voicing important personalities in documentaries and sometimes in movies. Of his more than 700 works, we can highlight the dubbing of Carl Sagan in the documentary series “Cosmos: A personal journey,” as well as the narration of numerous nature documentaries broadcast on Spanish public television during the 80s and 90s, such as “A vista de pájaro.”
Additionally, he’s the Spanish voice of some fascinating main characters in iconic films, such as Kevin Spacey in “American Beauty” and other actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Richard Dreyfuss. In recent years, he’s been the narrator for the children’s animated series “Pocoyó,” the latest documentaries by Sir David Attenborough, and has collaborated on the Cuarto Milenio TV show.
Great conversationalist, as curious as he is communicative and affable, he welcomed us for a pleasant conversation from which we offer you the best moments.
Your most famous work is probably Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. How do you remember that dubbing?
You’ve hit me on my weakspot! I did it because the person who was supposed to do it at the studio I was in (because he was under contract) didn’t have the time and they told me: “Do it yourself.” And I, when I started to see that, with Vangelis’ music… I couldn’t speak! No… I got a lump in my throat and I had to say, “Let’s stop.” Because, seeing the cosmos, the Earth from afar…
What is your usual working method?
I put on one earphone (the other one I leave off to hear myself speak from the outside), and I asl to hear the reference sound in the ear I have the earphone in as faithfully as possible… With good sound, with both the original voiceover and the rest of the mix. I mean, the entire original soundtrack; having it here is great. So I throw myself into that sea, I throw myself into that pool and I live there, that’s really the feeling. So if I start like this, the music of Vangelis… you’re already carried away, you are Carl Sagan. And if on top of that you have a series of conditions for it to sound… Magic!
I listen to the original voiceover and pick up his tone. It’s almost intuitive, I totally follow it. In dubbing, one doesn’t have to showcase a wonderful voice, but to serve the original character that’s there, because that’s what’s important.
Lately, you’ve been dubbing David Attenborough…
I have such a fondness for him… if I knew English, I would phone him one day to let him know it. From the documentaries we used to make twenty years ago, thirty years ago, where we would start talking “pa-pa-pa…” and it would be an hour, fifty minutes non-stop… now everything is in short sentences, saying, living within that, ellipses… It’s just an exquisite thing!
And what can you tell us about the Pocoyó experience?
When I saw that schematic world, so flat, so simple… I was fascinated, because it’s also a different kind of children’s movie. And give it the liveliness it needs, it’s more of a performance than a narration. For me, it is a great satisfaction, because also the world of childhood from my age you see it as a dream. And I think that somehow (I’m going to brag) in the voiceover of Pocoyó, it shows that I like children.
We would like to take a moment to look back at the beginning of your career. It was back in the 60s, wasn’t it?
I wanted to be a music editor. So the serials, the novels, the plays that were made on the radio, had musical backgrounds. They opened a radio broadcasting school called Centro Español de Nuevas Profesiones, so I went there, started practicing, and gradually decided on voice-over work. Then I remember I went to what was Radio Juventud, they gave me an audition there and I was part of an acting troupe. That led me to take little steps towards the cast of actors at Radio Nacional de España. They called me from there and I had a long stay there. Well, impressive, we did all the theater, all the literature.
At the end of the day, did you get any young professionals that were hired, or did you include the staff that started a career like the announcers?
For me, who is a bit exaggerated, never say “I have already arrived” but rather “I am on my way.” Go to the dubbing rooms, of course; I think in studios one person can be in the room. And above all, emptiness. Read aloud, listen to yourself. Take a text, read it in a certain way… And go down, from saying “I’m going to do it with a lot of emphasis” to “no, a little less emphasis”, to see if it gives you more emotion to say it lower… And don’t stop, not until they call you and you start making a living from the job, but never stop. Because there is always another way to do it.
It is the ultimate reflection of much (when I have been there for many years) that learning, looking, because it is like the painter who begins to paint at the age of fifteen and when he is eighty he continues painting, and continues looking, correcting… That I am really living with great intensity. Yes, he remains alert, he remains excited.
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