The French voices of Stranger Things: who dubs whom, and why some of them changed
Backstage · Dubbing · French version
Four children's voices were replaced along the way, and the first of them as early as season two. In this article: the studio and the team who sign the French version, the actors of the Hawkins party, the calendar of the four replacements, the three possible causes, the voices of the adults and the reinforcements, the case of the nickname "Elfe", the checking method. By the end, you will know who dubs whom, and from which season.
Watching the series again, a lot of viewers snag on the same detail: one of the boys' voices is no longer the same. It is neither an impression nor a mix problem: four of the young roles changed actor along the way, on dates you can check. Here is who dubs whom, and what the dubbing sheets actually let you state.
The essentials
- The studio: Deluxe Media Paris
- Artistic direction: Ivana Coppola
- Dialogue adaptation: Fanny Béraud and Caroline Lecoq
- Eleven's voice: Clara Soares, 42 episodes
- The first replacement: Lucas, from season two
- The triple replacement: Mike, Dustin, and Will in the third
- The common thread: four actresses, then four actors
Contents
Who makes the French version
The dubbed version is not the work of an isolated translator but of a workshop, and the same workshop held all five seasons. The dubbing is done at Deluxe Media Paris, the artistic direction signed by Ivana Coppola, a French-Italian actress and artistic director, the dialogue adaptation entrusted to Fanny Béraud and Caroline Lecoq. Four databases are the reference in France — RS-Doublage, laVF.fr, AlloDoublage, and the French-language Wikipedia — and only two carry the three lines: AlloDoublage and the French-language Wikipedia. RS-Doublage names the studio and the artistic direction, but shows no adaptation credit; laVF.fr publishes only the artistic direction, its "studio" field listing the American production companies.
These three jobs do not blur into each other. The adapter rewrites every line so it fits in the actor's mouth on screen: the same duration, the same stresses, and if possible the same labial consonants, the ones that close the lips and can be seen. That sync is the permanent puzzle of the job, and it decides many choices the viewer takes for liberties. The artistic director, for his part, chooses the actors and directs the recording: when a voice changes in the middle of a series, it is therefore a casting decision, and here the four changes were decided by the same person.
Three jobs, three signaturesThe adapter writes, the artistic director chooses and directs, the actor performs. Here the three posts stayed in the same hands from one end to the other: Béraud and Lecoq on adaptation, Coppola on direction, Deluxe Media Paris at the studio.
The party's T-shirt, the one you have heard in French for ten years.
In the shopKids' black Demogorgon hunter T-shirt24,90 €See the product
The voices of the Hawkins party
Six roles carry the story from the Wheelers' basement. Only one has never changed French voice: Eleven's, held by Clara Soares, the regular voice of the actress who plays her and credited on the 42 episodes.
Max Mayfield, who arrives in season two, has not changed either: Clara Quilichini dubs her through to the end. For the four boys, though, the "French voice" column holds two names, and the databases do not all give the date of the switch or the name of the first voice.
| Role | French voice | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Eleven | Clara Soares | 1 to 5 |
| Mike Wheeler | Marie Facundo then Tom Hudson | 1-2, then 3 to 5 |
| Dustin Henderson | Kaycie Chase then Gabriel Bismuth-Bienaimé | 1-2, then 3 to 5 |
| Lucas Sinclair | Jennifer Fauveau then Thomas Sagols | 1, then 2 to 5 |
| Will Byers | Fanny Bloc then Tom Trouffier | 1-2, then 3 to 5 |
| Max Mayfield | Clara Quilichini | 2 to 5 |
Four boys, four voices replaced
Lucas Sinclair changes first, and he changes alone: Jennifer Fauveau dubs him in season one, Thomas Sagols takes over from season two and keeps it through to the last episode. That first voice is easy to miss, for a technical reason: RS-Doublage and laVF.fr list Lucas's line only under the heading "2nd voice", without naming the first. Mike and Dustin are in the same position on RS-Doublage, where only Will Byers carries a "1st voice" line. AlloDoublage is the one that dates the handover: Jennifer Fauveau in season one, Thomas Sagols from season two.
The other three switch together, in season three, put online on July 4, 2019, twenty months after season two: Marie Facundo leaves Mike Wheeler to Tom Hudson, Kaycie Chase leaves Dustin Henderson to Gabriel Bismuth-Bienaimé, Fanny Bloc leaves Will Byers to Tom Trouffier. For Dustin, the date is not readable on either of the two biggest databases: RS-Doublage and laVF.fr give the two names without dating them. AlloDoublage is the one that places the handover, and it falls in season three — not season two, not season four.
One detail links the eight names: the first four voices are actresses, the next four are actors. The laVF.fr sheets say one precise thing about it, and nothing more: Kaycie Chase's vocal profile covers "boy child" as much as "girl child", Fanny Bloc's carries "boy child" without "girl child", and both have dubbed boys elsewhere — child Obelix for the first, Yugo in Wakfu and Calimero for the second. On the replacement side, three profiles are published and all carry "teenage boy": Tom Hudson, Gabriel Bismuth-Bienaimé, and Tom Trouffier. Thomas Sagols's sheet, for its part, shows no vocal profile.
| Role | First voice | Second voice | Switch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas Sinclair | Jennifer Fauveau | Thomas Sagols | season 2 |
| Mike Wheeler | Marie Facundo | Tom Hudson | season 3 |
| Dustin Henderson | Kaycie Chase | Gabriel Bismuth-Bienaimé | season 3 |
| Will Byers | Fanny Bloc | Tom Trouffier | season 3 |
Why a voice changes during a series
Three causes come back when a voice is replaced in the middle of a series. The voice break, first: a boy recorded at twelve no longer has the same tone three years later, and the voice that dubbed him no longer fits the face. The actor's unavailability, next. A change of studio or artistic direction, finally, which almost always brings a new cast.
Here the third cause drops out with no risk: the studio and the artistic director are the same from one end to the other. The first two remain, and that is where you have to know how to stop — no dubbing database gives the motive, role by role. They establish a date and two names, nothing more. Writing that a given actor was replaced "because of the voice break" belongs to deduction, not to the source. At most you can note that the calendar is consistent.
- The voice breakthe voice set three years earlier no longer fits the face
- Unavailabilityan actor held elsewhere on the session dates
- The studio changeruled out here: same studio, same artistic direction
- What the sheets leave outthe motive, case by case: never the reason, only the date
The adults: voices already in place
Among the adults, the French version applies a rule that is written down nowhere but that structures the job: one actor, one voice. When an actor already dubbed in France enters the credits, his usual voice is called back. Joyce Byers thus goes back to Claire Guyot, the regular voice of the actress who plays her, and also the voice of Buffy Summers and of Ariel. Bob Newby is given to Christophe Lemoine, the voice of Sean Astin and of Eric Cartman in South Park. Dr. Kay, in the last season, falls to Véronique Augereau, who already dubbed Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2.
Several voices have in fact never moved: Stéphane Pouplard holds the police chief across the 42 episodes, Alexia Papineschi and Julien Crampon follow Nancy and Jonathan from one end to the other, Clément Moreau stays with Steve Harrington through to the end. Permanence is the norm; the children are the exception.
Claire Guyot, regular voice of the actress and of Ariel
Stéphane Pouplard, all 42 episodes
Christophe Lemoine, voice of Sean Astin
Véronique Augereau, voice of Linda Hamilton
Philippe Vincent
Gilduin Tissier
The figure of the boy whose voice changed along the way.
In the shopBuildable mini figure Dustin Henderson on a skateboard14,90 €See the product
The reinforcements of the later seasons
Each season widened the cast, and the French version went looking for recognizable voices. Robin Buckley is dubbed by Emmylou Homs, whom you also hear on Wednesday Addams and on Ellie in The Last of Us. Erica Sinclair goes back to Dorothée Pousséo, the voice of Vanellope and of Barbie.
Season four brings three names at once: Eddie Munson to Jim Redler, Argyle to Donald Reignoux, whom you hear just as much on Titeuf as on Andrew Garfield, and the Russian guard Dmitri to Xavier Fagnon.
One case deserves a line of its own, and it shows the limits of the exercise: Henry Creel is held by Yoann Sover. laVF.fr opens a second line for the form of Vecna and credits it to Paul Borne over thirteen episodes — a total that exceeds the nine episodes of season four, and that therefore runs into season five. RS-Doublage and the French-language Wikipedia, for their part, credit Yoann Sover for both states of the character. Only one database documents this split: it is cited with its source.
-
Robin Buckley
Emmylou Homs, also Wednesday Addams
-
Erica Sinclair
Dorothée Pousséo, also Vanellope and Barbie
-
Eddie Munson
Jim Redler
-
Argyle
Donald Reignoux
-
Vickie
Soizic Fonjallaz
-
Henry Creel and Vecna
Yoann Sover; laVF.fr credits Paul Borne on Vecna, seasons 4 and 5
"Eleven", "Elfe", and the episode titles
The adaptation work shows most on the names. In the original version, when Mike finds the tattoo "011" on the arm of the girl who escaped the lab, he shortens her name to "El". The diminutive means nothing in French, and they have to find an equivalent that sticks to the lip movements and comes back hundreds of times without sounding wrong.
The solution is "Elfe": four letters, the same attack, a mouth shape compatible with the picture. Ivana Coppola spelled out the logic in a broadcast devoted to dubbing, and the French press picked the explanation up in January 2026. The full name becomes "Eleven": the French version translates the number where the original keeps it in English.
Episode titles follow the same rule, meaning before the letter: "The Weirdo on Maple Street" becomes "La Barjot de Maple Street", "Trick or Treat Freak" becomes "Des bonbons ou un sort, espèce de taré", and "The Upside Down" gives "Le Monde à l'envers".
How to check a voice yourself
Four public databases let you check a credit: the French-language Wikipedia, RS-Doublage, laVF.fr, and AlloDoublage. The method fits in one sentence: cross two sheets that agree before writing a name. Three traps come back.
The first is the expired sheet, and only one of the four is: AlloDoublage announces four seasons and stops its credits in 2021. The other three follow the series all the way — RS-Doublage covers 2016/2025, laVF.fr counts 42 episodes, the French-language Wikipedia covers season five. The second trap is the "2nd voice" line with no first voice, which makes the original actor disappear: on RS-Doublage that is the case for Lucas, but also for Mike and Dustin. The third is the episode count, which you would be tempted to convert into seasons; the conversion does not hold. On that same base, the second voices are credited on 25 episodes for Mike and on 24 for Dustin, Lucas, and Will, while Lucas switched a season earlier than the other three. An episode count measures a volume of work, not a handover date.
Last marker, more fun than useful: the spin-off animated series, Stranger Things: Tales from 1985, aired from April 23, 2026, sits between season two and season three. And it uses the second voices — Tom Hudson, Gabriel Bismuth-Bienaimé, Thomas Sagols, Tom Trouffier, Clara Soares. The boys speak there with the voice they did not yet have at the time of the story.
- Cross two databasesone sheet alone is wrong; two sheets that agree count as confirmation
- Distrust the frozen sheetsAlloDoublage stops at season four
- Do not convert episodes into seasons24 or 25 episodes do not say when the voice changed
- Spot the missing voicesa "2nd voice" line alone erases the original actor
Something to put Hawkins up at home, dubbed version included.
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Frequently asked questions
Who dubs Eleven in French?
Clara Soares, across the 42 episodes and without a break. She is the regular French voice of the actress who plays the role.
Why did Dustin's voice change?
Kaycie Chase dubs him for the first two seasons, Gabriel Bismuth-Bienaimé from the third: the change therefore happens in season three. The sheets give the date, never the motive.
Who dubs Lucas Sinclair?
Jennifer Fauveau in season one, then Thomas Sagols from season two through to the end. RS-Doublage and laVF.fr list only the second voice; AlloDoublage is the one that names the first.
Who is the French voice of Mike Wheeler?
Marie Facundo for the first two seasons, then Tom Hudson from the third.
Which studio made the French version?
Deluxe Media Paris, with Ivana Coppola on artistic direction, Fanny Béraud and Caroline Lecoq on adaptation, across all the seasons.
Why is Eleven nicknamed "Elfe" in the French version?
Because the English diminutive "El" means nothing in French and they needed a word compatible with the lip movements on screen. "Elfe" keeps the attack and the mouth shape.
Does the animated series keep the same voices?
Yes: it uses the boys' second voices and Eleven's voice, with the same studio and the same artistic direction, while its story sits between season two and season three.