Almost all foreign TV shows and films are dubbed into French, creating an industry that is all but hidden from view.
Three thousand actors provide voices for the likes of Robert Redford, Robin Williams, Snow White and Aladdin, but the industry is unknown to the majority of French, unlike in Spain and Italy, where the dubbing stars are feted.
It includes the likes of Gérard Depardieu, who did his own dubbing on Bertolucci's 1990: he played his part in both French and English, and Isabelle Adjani, who was the voice of Mère Gothel in Raiponce (the Disney tale of Rapunzel) and said the role was wonderful: "I have only got 'bad' roles this year and I am delighted. What amuses me is to make someone who is horrible, captivating."
Bruno Choël, the voice behind Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor and Jon Hamm as Mad Men hero Don Draper, put it differently when he said it was "just a big lie, we're putting French words into the mouth of someone who doesn't speak French".
Nicolas Mourguye creates those words for series such as awardwinning Mad Men, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Stargate. He said: "People want to see the show on French TV soon after it is out in America, plus there is always a need to beat the pirates, so we have to work very quickly.
"You tend to get two, three or four adaptateurs or auteurs working together to speed up the work. That means we have to keep a 'bible' of vocabulary; and especially things such as who uses vous and tu.
"My wife, Rebecca, and I work on a couple of series together. That is faster and communication is easier.
"We both enjoy translating dialogues and rewriting them to synchronise with the lips on screen; finding the words, lines and rhythm that best match what the actors and their lips are doing on screen.
"But it is not translating as such, more adapting, because French is generally about 30 per cent longer than English. You change things around so the viewer gets the same information, but it is framed better for French.
"Most of our work is done on computers. We are sent DVDs with MP3 sound files and we use software called Synchronos to write in time to the actions.
"However, for security reasons some studios give very little information: sometimes just a pair of lips, which is really strange: a black screen with moving lips!
"This is very difficult to work with, as some phrases need an indication of what the person is doing: 'Look at this' can be something that the actor is holding or something they are pointing to: celle-ci or celle-là.
"Once we have produced the new script, we go through the verification phase: the writer plays the role and speaks the words as they are written.
"The main problems are cultural references and there are some things that are banned on French television: gratuitous swearing and references to drugs or drink.
"At the moment we are proud of our work on Mad Men because it is being praised and well-received.
"Rebecca and I are the only auteurs on the series and it is being really well reviewed. Canal+ is pleased with the French version, but I'd have to be honest and say that the actors are really terrific and play the voice roles really well.
"We are also the only writers on Lie to Me with Tim Roth. He really overplays the Brit accent, and his attitude has to come across in the text I write. His acting has to be reflected in his words and you have to stretch things to match his lip movements.
"His accent is no problem, however, as Rebecca and I were married in Edinburgh after we eloped there. So we are used to many accents."
Nice Fellows have more than a bit part
DISNEY has a whole team working when it brings a cartoon such as Raiponce to France and it lines up big-name French voices such as Isabelle Adjani, Romain Duris and Maeva Méline for the lead roles.
However, the bulk of the industry is done on a smaller scale and one of the leaders is Nice Fellow, which works with its own team of actors, writers and other specialists to produce French versions of popular TV series and films such as the new seasons of Mad Men, Sherlock, Skins and Spooks (known as MI-5).
Commercial director Sébastien Saboly explained some the industry operates: "We work with distributors in France, the US and in the UK, Germany and Italy to bring their shows to the French market.
"Our job is not to remake the programme but to create a French version of what has been done. After all, we are working with the original actors and we must work round what is being seen on screen.
"Generally you need to think of about two to three days to record the dubbing of a TV film, but you would be looking at between six and eight weeks for all the work involved in turning a US TV film to a version ready for French TV.
"There are different ways of working, but the classical method involves different specialities: the detecteur, who writes on a tape where the actor opens and closes his mouth, inserts the English text matched with the video and identifies who is speaking; the adaptateur or auteur, who writes the new dialogue in French; the calligraphe, who puts the script on to the film's dialogue band to match the actor; and the mixeur, who records the dialogue and works on it to make it match the lip movements.
"The most important role is that of the directeur artistique, who directs the whole doublage operation. He pulls together the actors who will play the roles, if they are not already known voices, and chooses the actors for the secondary roles. He checks the adapted French text before recording and directs the actors.
"One part of preparing the version for France is to lose the cultural references that mean nothing here.
"Because we are not doing a literal translation, but an adaptation, we can adapt the words for our market. That means we bear in mind there are some things you do not do.
"You cannot promote alcohol or drug use, and must avoid product placement as free publicity is not allowed. We also have to go to some lengths – as much as we can – to avoid gratuitous swearing.
"It is a lot of work."
Hester's voice is her fortune
HESTER WILCOX has carved out a career in France since she arrived from the UK in the late 1980s as a dancer and drifted into voice-over after being recommended for a role.
She said: "One day I discovered I was doing more voice work than anything else.
"It is really a network of people who have worked together and I had built up that network without really realising. The industry in Paris is very small, although there is a lot of work, and at the end of the day I have a good life.
"Most of your work comes through recommendations. I started out being recommended to someone who wanted a young English voice.
"They called me back for something else and then it built up from there.
"Nowadays I do mostly documentaries but have been in film, TV series, cartoons and videogames.
"My agent, Dominique Varda, is the top one for the international voice industry and I am one of the few British actors who works in French, too: I have done a lot of French theatre.
"I'm not always taken for a foreigner, which is a compliment. After one play, people came up to me and were surprised to find out that I wasn't French. They had presumed my voice was just a very snobby one, someone who had affected a slightly English accent.
"One good thing about voiceovers is that I don't have to learn lines any more. Now I am on my own in a sound studio, with just a microphone and headphones, the screen and the script.
"I do a lot of documentaries for TV channel Arte, co-productions with versions in different languages. I have done French and English versions, and even adapted French into English.
"It takes a lot of concentration: all your antennae are switched on and there is a lot of stress because you are 'on' all the time.
"The incredible thing about voice work, whether it is in film, cartoons, advertising, documentaries or even videogames, is that your voice has to do everything. There is a lot of subtlety, which I enjoy; of pleasure in the voice, even sensual pleasure."
