Behind the scenes in Cambodia

A typical Chinese movie dubbed in Khmer

Dubbing artists have the most iconic voices in the country, yet nobody knows their faces.

September 29, 2010
By Terry McCoy — Special to GlobalPost

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Touch Sohka has arguably the most famous voice in Cambodia, and yet nobody has seen his face. The 49-year-old is on every Khmer television station daily, but nobody has any clue what he looks like.

Confused? Well, so is he. Touch says he has trouble understanding his own profession. It’s that strange, he says. Just ask his kids. They think he’s nuts.

Touch is one of the only voice actors in a country that almost explicitly runs, and obsessively manages, foreign entertainment on television. He has dubbed them all: Wolverine, Jackie Chan, that whiny kid from Transformers — each role contorted by his grouchy baritone and signature gusto, “Ay-ya!”
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