What's In A Voice?

(For light or dark mode.)

Like most people, I was a child when I first heard the voice of Darth Vader, a sound that scared and thrilled the child in me, and still does. I grew to love the masked tortured soul and as an adult, he is one of my favorite characters still today, mostly because of the voice. If any of you are interested, the voice for Darth Vader is superbly done by James Earl Jones, one of the greatest actors of the 21^st and 22^nd century and for those readers who haven’t heard of him, he also voiced Mufasa in Lion King. A FABULOUS actor and a SPECTACULAR voice. I just love a great voice. 

Is it bad that I love Darth Vader?

In Asian dramas, there is A LOT of dubbing and I do mean loads of it. In fact, ellietheelai wrote a great article on just this subject which you can read here.

I hated Diliraba’s voice in Eternal Love and Eternal Love of Dream and discovered that her real voice is actually quite profound and lovely and not at all like a stereotypical female Japanese anime character. The voice of Lan Wangji and Ye Hua both affected me with their deep resonance (sigh, I really loved the voice as much as the face), but they were both dubbed by the same man, and it wasn’t Wang Yi Bo nor Mark Chao so…

Today, I’d like to talk about two men who recorded their own voices in dramas that really shaped the characters and made them pop like a giant bag of microwave popcorn. One is Li Dai Kun who played the Scorpion King in Word of Honor and the other is Lee Soo Hyuk in… well, everything he’s done in the last 2 years. In both cases, the acting was top notch, but their voices paired with their characterization just take the dramas to a whole other level, like Darth Vader level.

My heart’s aflutter with these two.

To begin, lets chat about Li Dai Kun as the Scorpion King. The bionic braids, the evil yet sweet smile, the mixed messages fashion sense (dark colors and light colors depending on his location), the tortured daddy complex: I’ll admit that I liked Li Dai Kun’s portrayal of the Scorpion King better than the character written in the book (Yes, I read that wonderful novel by Priest). Maybe it is because Li Dai Kun gave the character vulnerability along with a super fun wicked twisted inner child vibe. But the voice, his oh-so-soft and sweet but deep voice, almost soothing but not, especially when he dealt with his minions or his enemies. If his voice were an animal, I would guess would be that of a stoat, so very soft and adorable with a killer bite.

Kinda cute, right? This little guy will kill a rabbit with one bite to the head without even blinking - Just like the Scorpion King.

Sigh. That voice, so pretty and evil and just sad.

Here are some phrases he uttered that ripped me to shreds:

“Father.”

“Head of the Windows of Heaven and the Ghost King are working together.”

“You are wise.”

“I have a gift for you.”

“My apologies but there is only one chair in your hall.”

“Today, I finally understand.”

“Why?”

“I gave you a chance, many times over… but you failed me.”

Seemingly innocent words, but they took on new meaning with the tone and inflection given by Li Dai Kun as he presented the super creepy, or not, Scorpion King. His voice wasn’t that deep nor that high. It was serious, playful, angry, sad and ALWAYS ominous with a hint of insanity. IT WAS AWESOME! If you haven’t watched Word of Honor, please consider it. That show is a pleasure to watch full of laughter and heart break, even more so with Li Dai Kun and his haunting voice.

I have no words. His voice matches his face, haunting.

When I started the K-drama Tomorrow, I saw at Lee Soo Hyuk’s performance as Park Joong Gil as just another broody male grim reaper that has been portrayed a thousand times in k-dramas (my favorite - Lee Dong Wook in Goblin). I was more drawn into Tomorrow by the extremely painful but respectfully illustrated subject matter. For those of you who are not aware, Tomorrow is about suicide. South Korea is ranked in the top 5 in the world for its suicide rate (NOT A GOOD STATISTIC TO HAVE). I love this show’s willingness to bring to light such a serious subject and do it in an entertaining and informative way.

Because of the intensely heart-wrenching subject matter, I was unable to binge Tomorrow or even watch more than a few episodes a week (the Korean Veteran episode made me sob out loud). That meant I offset the torment with a little more light and frivolous entertainment: enter Doom at Your Service. Did I mention that Lee Soo Hyuk is in that one as well? Holy cow. Same face, same bottomless alluring voice, and same brooding-ish character, but Cha Joo Ik had all the good lines!

Cha Joo Ik was one of the best characters in this drama.

Keep in mind that everything he articulates during Doom at Your Service was just… perfect (great job, writers). I’ll be honest, I think the writers liked his character Cha Joo Ik better than the Myeol Mang’s (Doom) character because the dialogue was funny, strong, with the right amount of compassion. Some of my favorite parts were:

• When Na Ji Na complains that she hasn’t been kissed yet and Cha Joo Ik says “Okay, then.”
• When he asks Na Ji Na if her heart flutters.
• When he slams that nasty male writer that his writing is as ugly as he is.
• When he gives Na Ji Na an ultimatum about deciding if she likes him or forcing him to have unrequited love.
• When he voices to his department that he’s the prettiest one in the room.
• All the times he puts the CEO in his place with just his snappy comebacks.

Lee Soo Hyuk, with the help of Shin Do Hyun and Dawon, kept this drama from becoming just another fantasy romance that we all have seen and loved and even have a favorite version (ahem, did I mention that my favorite is Goblin). His voice will draw you in, but his lines so artfully delivered will nail you down and force feed you the remaining 16 episodes. If I were to describe his voice, I’d say it was deep like an ocean with no bottom. Yeah, that intense.

Dang, he does not disappoint.

If you want just a small piece of what Lee Soo Hyuk’s voice can do for you but don’t have a lot of time, check out Handmade Love. This is a VERY short fantasy romance where he is the lead. It is very cute and slightly enigmatic. I’ll be honest, I didn’t understand the story that much, but his voice was compelling just the same. The mini episodes are about an hour in total and worth the time just to hear those dark silky tones.

The Swoon made the perfect gif from Tomorrow.

After watching Tomorrow, Handmade Love, and Doom at Your Service, I think Lee Soo Hyuk’s voice might just be a character of its own... and maybe his forehead, too (it IS an attractive forehead).

What’s in a voice? Is it the tone, inflection, a chemical reaction, a bunch of scientific ideas that mean nothing to us drama watchers? I don’t know. Just like James Earl Jones brought the character of Darth Vader alive and burned into my imagination, so did Li Dai Kun as the Scorpion King and Lee Soo Hyuk in, well, everything. Spine-tingley entertainment. One thing is true: I sure do love a good voice.

Sigh. What about you? Is there a voice out there that you just can’t get enough of? Who do you watch over and over in dramas just to hear him or her speak?