A promotional clip of the film posted by Universal Pictures Italy on May 6 featured Cox’s character, Gail, talking to lead Cassie, played by Carey Mulligan, in a distinctively masculine voice.
Universal has postponed the local release of Emerald Fennell’s revenge thriller, which was set to hit Italian cinemas on May 13, while it re-synchronizes Cox’s character using a female voice-over performer.
In a statement to The Guardian, which originally reported the story, a spokesperson for Universal Pictures International said the studio was “deeply grateful” to the transgender community “for opening our eyes to a bias that neither we nor many in our industry had recognized.
Italian Twitter users noted this wasn’t the first time one of Cox’s characters has been voiced by a man in Italy.
The discussion over the use of voice-over actors and representation recalls a similar debate sparked late last year in several European countries over the Pixar film Soul.