All things considered, Wuthering Heights has been good for James Howson, the unschooled, unemployed Leeds local who stars as Heathcliff. Andrea Arnold's drama has provided him with a pay cheque, a launchpad and a prospective ticket to an acting career. It now transpires that it provided him with a voice as well.
On first seeing the film, Howson noted with dismay that his performance had been dubbed. "I felt really hurt," he said this week. "All the things I had to do in the film – the cold mornings, the difficult scenes – and then they use someone else's voice."
It's hard not to feel some sympathy for Howson, plucked against the odds from open call auditions and pouring his heart and soul into playing brooding, vengeful Heathcliff. Only now does he find himself cast as the art-house's answer to Milli Vanilli.
He can draw comfort from the fact that he stands in good company. Glenn Close was famously called in to dub the role of Jane in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan after Andie Macdowell's southern twang was judged to be too distracting. Swedish actor Britt Ekland's performance as the saucy landlord's daughter in The Wicker Man was reportedly overhauled in post-production, with singer Annie Ross called in to provide a Scottish accent. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke in the voice of a peeved, middle-aged American throughout his screen debut in Hercules in New York.
Perhaps most famous of all is the case of Star Wars actor David Prowse, whose Bristolian burr as Darth Vader was over-dubbed by James Earl Jones. Adding insult to injury, Prowse was also given a phoney script to read from. Legend has it that he only realised he was playing Luke Skywalker's dad while attending the premiere of The Empire Strikes Back.
At least Howson is now able to speak out, uncensored. He can discuss the experience and make his feelings known. In so doing, however, he directs our attention to a whole other mystery. The film's credits acknowledge Solomon Glave as "Young Heathcliff" and Howson as the adult incarnation. But who was his invisible co-star; the unsung hero of Wuthering Heights? So far, it seems, the voice is keeping mum.
