One of the most popular panels from FanX 2024 involved the cast of the Dungeons & Dragons video game "Baldur's Gate III." The panel featured the ultra-popular Neil Newbon (Astarion), Devora Wilde (Lae'zel), Jennifer English (Shadowheart) and Aliona Baranova (Corinna the Squirrel, performance director).
These folks were a real delight to have at the convention. In fact, one of the best interactions on the official FanX Twitter account involved a misunderstanding regarding Baranova's character in the game, as you can see in the following screenshots:
Despite the squirrel confusion, we parted from the convention on friendly terms.
Keep reading for a transcription of some of our favorite questions - or, if you've got the time, click here to watch the panel in its entirety on the FanX YouTube channel.
What was it like to act out their characters’ vulnerable moments in the game?
Neil Newbon: I think, as an actor, … you have to play the character’s truth. It’s a fictional truth, but it’s real for you and your work. So, I think the most important thing is that you have to honor them, even though some of us have (in Astarion’s voice) problematic characters, sometimes. (Audience cheers, Newbon resumes normal voice) But what we don’t do is judge, uh, because that’s the audience, the players, the audience’s role, is to make their own decisions about how the story goes and how they feel about it. So, from my point of view, these vulnerable moments are gifts because we get to play these stories that have been so well written by all the writers at Larian [Studios]. This game is a masterpiece that’s made by Larian. We get to honor and jump into their shoes – sometimes, very nice shoes (audience laughs) – of these characters and get to connect with the audience through our work as storytellers. I know it’s the same for everybody, but from my point of view, it was a perfect job. It was a perfect job. I got to meet friends, as well, which is good.
What is the most important part of building a character through their voice?
Jennifer English: For me, it’s about… I’m going to nerd out now. […] I love acting so much, so I kind of approach roles like a detective and I Sherlock Holmes the [expletive] out of it. Aliona actually bought me a pipe – not to smoke – but to just sit there with my scripts.
Newbon: You have a “thinking pipe”?
English: I have a “thinking pipe”!
Newbon: Do you do this [mimics sucking on a pipe]? “I like it!”
English: I genuinely do that. I don’t think I’ve ever revealed that to anyone, other than Aliona, before. You’re welcome.
Aliona Baranova: It blows bubbles.
English: Yeah, it’s a bubble pipe. I’m sophisticated. And I go through the script like a detective and try and find as much as I can. Like, I look at how the character speaks, I look at what questions they ask, I look at all the context I possibly can, get all the clues the writer gives me, and, um, yeah, I have far too much fun doing it, and that’s how I approach the character. Nerd!
On developing the Githyanki dialect for her character, Lae’zel:
Devora Wilde: [It took] a lot of practice. I think, when we started, it was the Early Access portion of the game, so there was just […] short phrases. And then, as the game went on and we went into Acts 2 and 3, the phrases got longer, and then we got into sentences that would kind of be running over one line and into the next like, and I’d be like, (laughs) “Ok…” Luckily, good directors – (she glances at Baranova) – very, very important, because, at the beginning, I had no idea, really, what I was saying, obviously, so I needed to know the meaning. Also, the way the Githyanki is spelled is not the way that it’s said, so I needed to read off the phonetics. I also needed to know what I was saying. But, by the end, I had gotten quite used to it and I sometimes had to even correct people because they were like, “This Githyanki word means this,” and I said, “No, no, no, my friend. I’m the expert on the Githyanki language, so…” The directors had a Githyanki glossary that they would look up all the words in, and it was a lot of fun.
Newbon: I would love Githyanki as a language, like Klingon, to eventually be a thing you learn at university. Wouldn’t that be cool?
Wilde: I think it’s a lovely language! – might be biased, but…
(A fan shouts out, “Duolingo!”)
Wilde: Duolingo! I love that!
Which character class and race would they want to be in the Baldur’s Gate universe?
Newbon: Rich! (Audience laughs)
English: I will answer properly. I think I would have to be, um – I change my mind a lot – I’m probably a barbarian, actually. Aliona will confirm. Yeah.
Baranova: Yes.
Wilde: Probably a bard! (Audience cheers) Because I am one in real life.
Baranova: Same answer.
Wilde: Aww, don’t do that!
Baranova: That is my answer! I “rizzed” Jen! I “rizzed” Shadowheart! I’m clearly a bard!
[Editor's note: English and Baranova are dating in real life.]
How has your perception of your character changed since you got the role?
Baranova: As a squirrel, I’ll answer that. (Audience laughs) I discovered how deep and profound Corinna the Squirrel really was to the game. Yeah, thank you, thank you. It really moved a lot of people. I’ll stop, I’ll stop. I’ll let them answer.
Wilde: You answer properly, Jen.
English: I will answer properly. So, Shadowheart, at the beginning – I don’t know if any of you played Early Access, but she was a little spiky. Um, she was a bit of a [expletive], and I think the writing really changed.
Newbon: Did it? (Audience laughs)
English: Hey, if she’s a [expletive] to you, you’re not playing it properly. Learn boundaries, people! Learn boundaries. And now, I love her and she’s the best and you can all shut up.
Wilde: I’ve always loved Lae’zel, from the very moment I set my eyes on her little, lovely, bumpy spots and her little – what was it? – “chewable ears.” (Laughs) And her “boop-able” nose. (Laughs) So, I don’t think that my perception has changed. If anything, I was very surprised by people’s perception of Lae’zel because I have loved her. As Neil said, you never judge your character, so I never thought she was rude or standoffish or a [expletive] or anything like that. And then, when the game came out and people were like, “Oh, Lae’zel’s really mean to me,” I was just like, “Oh, that’s kind of a ‘you problem,’ really, isn’t it?” (All laugh) And I still stand by that.
What was their favorite line in the game?
Wilde, to Baranova: We know what yours is. (Imitates squirrel noises)
Baranova: Perfect.
Newbon: Am I wrong in thinking your squirrel had a line, (in deep voice) “Look at these nuts!” (Resumes normal voice) Is that weird? That wasn’t your character.
Baranova: I wish. Not that original.
Wilde: I have a soft spot for, “That large, fleshy nose of yours looks like a mistake.”
Newbon: I don’t really have a favorite. I’ve got too many of them. But I quite like, “Careful… I bite.”
English: “You didn’t pick that by hand, did you?? They’re deadly poisonous! Joking!”
Wilde: That’s my favorite line of yours, as well.
Baranova: I have a favorite Shadowheart line: when she says about the squirrel at the end – that got added to the epilogue as [an homage] – what was the line?
English: It was, like, “Oh, don’t mind her, she’s just protective.”
Baranova: Yeah. “I give her all the snacks she can… and a shoulder to perch on…”
Wilde: Aww.
Baranova: That was written for us, so yeah, that’s my one.
English: Good. Good choice.
If they could play any other companion or NPC, who would they choose?
Wilde: I always oscillate between – yeah, the squirrel. I always oscillate between Orin and Mizora. It’s a tough choice. Maybe today I’ll go with Mizora.
English: Love that. You just want to wear her outfit.
Wilde: Of course!
English: It’s so hard, because everyone does their… I’m going to steal Neil’s answer.
Newbon, excitedly: Steal, steal, steal! I’ve got a different one today!
English: Oh, have you? Neil’s always, like, (imitates Newbon’s voice) “Look, everyone did such a beautiful job, and we just have to thank Larian for casting everyone so perfectly.” (Resumes normal voice) It would be really hard to replace anyone. I think if I had more gravitas and just, generally, was a completely different person, then I fancy Dame Aylin, hard. But it’s one of those where you’re, like, “Do I want to be with her or do I want to be her? I don’t know.” We’ve all been there, haven’t we? We’ve all been there. (To Newbon) Go on, what’s your original answer?
Newbon: I actually did get the opportunity to help other people’s performances. I got to do almost all of the body doubling for Minsc and Gortash – not because I’m good or anything like that – it’s just more like because they physically couldn’t get to do their stuff in the performance capture, because we all did performance capture, so I got to stand in and help their performances – not to take away from Matt [Mercer] and Jason [Isaacs], who [are] amazing; their performances are incredible. I just helped, so I got a little taste of what it was like. But their work was so good, in both roles, that it was a privilege to be able to go, “Oh, wow. I get to support a little bit.” It was really cool.
Did they incorporate or fight against any Dungeons & Dragons stereotypes in their acting?
Newbon: (In Astarion’s voice) Guilty as charged – sometimes literally, darling! (Resumes normal voice) It works very well with [Astarion] because [senior writer] Stephen Rooney is a genius – a mad genius and a beautiful writer. He also understood, obviously, the tropes. It allowed me a lot of playtime because […] it’s totally morally gray, in many ways. And so, as a rogue – (to the audience) rogue for life! – as a rogue, you know, you get to play with the fringes of what is socially acceptable, right? I just saw every moment that was possible and just went with it.
Wilde: I played against the stereotypes by not having a single idea or clue about anything to do with D&D, let alone the classes and the other things. So, in many ways, I was just a little – as Jen would call it – a “little dum-dum,” just being (in high-pitched voice) “Oh, it’s a lovely character!” (Resumes normal voice) “I’m just going to go with exactly what’s written on the page because I know nothing beyond it.” […] Now, knowing a little tiny portion of the Githyanki history and all of that, I think I would have been so overwhelmed. It would have been too much for me. So, I just went into it completely, like, just with what was written on the page, and, as Neil said, the writers and [senior writer] Kevin VanOrd, who wrote Lae’zel and Wyll, by the way, and they’re so different, and the whole team, because it wasn’t just one person that did it; the writing was so stunning, you really didn’t need to think beyond anything that was written down.
Baranova: I want to add to that. It’s a really good thing that you did trust your instinct, because – a little known fact – the Githyanki race… whenever someone else recorded a Githyanki, the reference for how a Githyanki should be was just a video of Dev playing Lae’zel, so you are the Githyanki race.
English: Yeah, you are!
Were any of them into D&D before “Baldur’s Gate III”? And if not, did any of them start playing after?
English: No, because someone keeps saying, (in mocking tone, to Newbon) “Oh, I’ll host you! I’ll DM for you!” (Resumes normal voice) And then, does it happen? No!
Newbon: And thank you for the question! (Audience laughs)
From a narrative perspective, what do they find more interesting: rolling a Natural 1 or a Natural 20?
Newbon: Oh, Natural 1, man! Oh, dude – great things happen when you absolutely screw everything up.
English: Valid. But that’s what “save-scumming” (repeatedly reloading old save files after experiencing an unfavorable outcome or making a poor decision) is for.
*****
For the record, save-scumming is a completely legitimate way of dealing with trauma in "Baldur's Gate," so we're not here to judge.
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