Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Neil Newbon had no idea Astarion would be a major character Larian StudiosDuring an interview with Dexerto, Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Astarion voice actor Neil Newbon revealed how the companion came to be the vampire everyone knows and loves, and just how much was hidden from him in the first few months of filming. Few things make Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 as thrilling as the game\u2019s companions, from the excitable nature of Karlach, the sweet yet stubborn design of Shadowheart, or the flirtatious yet manipulative style of Astarion. No matter who you tend to romance or adventure with, their personalities are bound to grasp you and help create an experience you\u2019ll never forget. These personalities are in part owed to both the writers and the incredibly talented voice actors who bring the companions to life. One such companion was so highly regarded that they won The Game Award for Best Performance, and are continuing to revive accolades for their stellar performance of Astarion. Dexerto spoke to Neil Newbon who revealed just how Astarion came to be, and that he was not the subtle \u201cminor boss\u201d or \u201cfun character\u201d he originally expected. Neil Newbon thought Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2032 Astarion was \u201cminor boss\u201d Speaking to Neil Newbon, we asked him all about how Astarion came to be, how much he changed, and how Neil created a companion as memorable as our favorite vampire elf. \u201cInitially, I thought he was going to be a bit villainous and like a minor boss or something like that, or just a fun character you meet\u201d revealed Newbon, who went on to say that, when recording the initial recall demo, \u201cI didn\u2019t realize he was a companion. And [Larian] didn\u2019t tell me he was a companion initially which I actually think was a good idea.\u201d As many know, Astarion is extremely manipulative and from the moment you meet him he\u2019s reserved \u2013 but as Neil explains, the reasoning for this was partly due to him not knowing the character was a companion as well as the newer nature of Astarion\u2019s personality: \u201cThe initial foundation of the character was there but it was a bit muted because we just started and we had you know I hadn\u2019t had much lead up time to develop him.\u201d In fact, Neil added that the muted nature spanning to the blossomed \u2018full Astarion\u2019 was a happy accident. \u201cSo a happy accident was that the first time you meet him\u2026he\u2019s very muted, he\u2019s sort of still got that inflection, still sort the same body language, but it\u2019s way more contained. And then gradually, after the first few days, he opens up\u2026 so it\u2019s the same person he\u2019s just a lot more relaxed with you. He can be who he really is.\u201d Neil went on to say how early on, the beginning iterations of Astarion came to be cemented: \u201cSo that was an interesting happy accident that came within the first three weeks I would say that I had an idea and it just blossomed into the full idea of him.\u201d As many see from Baldur\u2019s Gate 3, the arc and journey Astarion goes on feels much the same, where he feels reserved and ends up relaxing into a friendship, romance, or manipulation. It\u2019s certainly befitting of one of the game\u2019s most beloved characters, and it\u2019s clear Neil has used all aspects of the recording process and his talents to create a performance many will never forget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Neil Newbon had no idea Astarion would be a major character Larian StudiosDuring an interview with Dexerto, Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Astarion voice actor Neil Newbon revealed how the companion came to be the vampire everyone knows and loves, and just how much was hidden from him in the first few months of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}