Fighting AI: More and more German voice actors are boycotting Netflix
[11:56 Thu,11.June 2026 by Thomas Richter]
More and more German voices of well-known dubbing actors—such as those of Russell Crowe, Jennifer Lopez, George Clooney, Steve Buscemi, and Jason Momoa—are boycotting Netflix. This comes after the streaming giant (as detailed in new contract clauses) demanded the right to use their voices—without compensation (!) —to train AI. This is a first step toward replacing the actors with that very technology. Netflix callously gave the voice actors a choice: accept the clause or forgo working with them entirely.
Since the introduction of the new contract at the beginning of the year, some actors refused to sign it, and now the number of those doing so is growing. The list of dubbing voices refusing to work with Netflix now includes, among others, the voices of... some have also issued statements via social media explaining their position.
According to Netflix, this could mean that in the future, some self-produced films or series may lack a German dub—a unique situation for German audiences, who are spoiled by high-quality dubbing and would then have to rely on subtitles if their English is not proficient enough. In this conflict, Netflix, as the winner of the streaming wars, seems to be relying entirely on power plays to push through its economic interests, clearly not fearing significant negative feedback or mass subscription cancellations from its viewers. Perhaps, however, Netflix will simply replace the voices with others who are willing to agree to the AI clause—a test of solidarity among the actors.
It is clear that Netflix wants to save time and money by using AI voices and would ideally like to automatically dub all its self-produced series and films. Yet, good voice acting is an art form that has been under pressure for years due to the rise of AI. The livelihoods of voice actors are at stake as more and more dubbing roles—as well as voiceovers for documentaries, for example—are handled by AI. And let’s not forget: the actors& jobs also support other roles in recording studios and among the manufacturers of the audio hardware necessary for these recordings.
However, AI dubbing is not yet truly suitable for high-quality productions: it suffices for documentaries, but providing consistent, nuanced, and emotionally resonant scenic dialogue over the length of a feature film is a different challenge entirely. Other attempts at automatic dubbing have not worked well so far—for instance, Amazon had to backtrack last December after the quality of AI-dubbed anime was extremely poor.
The goal is for new training data from real actors to improve quality and make AI voices good enough for use in feature films. Distinctive human voices are thus becoming a commodity that can be used by anyone. A clone of Richard Attenborough’s famous, iconic voice, for example, is being used by more and more creators for their own clips, causing it to lose some of its aura—as the voice was previously always associated with the fantastic imagery of elaborate BBC documentaries—all without payment or permission. The right to one&s own voice is thus effectively being reduced to absurdity.
Furthermore, good dubbing voices are not mere imitations; they can provide "more" and make characters even better or different than in the original. Legendary dubbing actors like Manfred Lehmann (the voice of Bruce Willis and Gérard Depardieu), Rainer Brandt (Jean-Paul Belmondo, Tony Curtis), or Gert Günther Hoffmann (Sean Connery, William Shatner) provide their characters with a new layer of expression by interpreting their roles.
Voice actor and actor Martin Umbach, who provides the German voice for Russell Crowe and George Clooney, among others, gets to the heart of the criticism:
> "Now, the dubbing of a new Netflix film starring Russell Crowe is coming up. And I won&t be part of it this time. Not because I&m sick or don&t want to, but because Netflix now requires voice actors to agree that their recordings may also be used to train an Artificial Intelligence. > > So, my artistic work is supposed to be available as training material—and I won&t do that. For me, acting arises from life experience, intuition, sensitivity, empathy, contradictions, vulnerability—in other words, something profoundly human. > > An artificial intelligence can imitate speech, quite well even, but not consciousness, not a soul. And that is why, with a heavy heart, I will not be dubbing this film."
Due to Netflix&s controversial contract clauses regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), more leading representatives of the German dubbing industry are withdrawing from projects. Renowned voice actors who provide the voices for Hollywood greats like Russell Crowe, George… t.co/BgCCmAgRuspic.twitter.com/eq26bZRdtL
Training with their voices is only one danger for dubbing actors: the technology to automatically translate dialogues into other languages via AI and have them spoken by the transformed original voices is getting better and better—Netflix also has its own technology for this called DeepSpeak. Ideally, such technology would also retroactively adjust lip movements to the new language to make the performance even more natural. While this sounds ideal (or like maximum fidelity to the original work, preserving the voice and its specific characteristics such as timbre, accent, rhythm, pauses, and acting nuances), it could become difficult in reality: how does the AI make artistic decisions, such as translating an American dialect or certain speech idiosyncrasies into another language where these do not exist (which German dialect do you translate a Texan or Brooklyn accent into)?
