The Game Awards had some interesting problems this year. In particular, the words “Please Wrap it up” will be carved into the public’s brains for a while due to some major criticisms on how rushed the award speeches from the devs were.
In particular, I noticed that Neil Newbon (the voice of Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3) looked like he was feeling that pressure: “I’m sorry, I’ve got to wrap it up apparently” he mentions, speaking through the ‘your time’s up’ music to deliver a genuinely touching capstone to his role.
I decided to contact Newbon Friday last week, wondering if there was anything else he’d like to add to that speech. Yesterday, I received a phone call from the extremely jetlagged actor who very kindly spoke at length about the honour.
“The only thing I wanted to add [to my speech] was just to thank more people, really … there’s so many people, hundreds of people, that have given me complete indulgence,” he said. In a past interview, Newbon mentioned that he’d even come close to quitting acting before finding a route forward through games. “There’s just so many people in my life that’ve championed me and given me these opportunities that I’m always compelled to acknowledge that, I think.”
In respect to that particular journey, Newbon remarks: “At one point, I was living on somebody’s couch, in so much debt that I was facing bankruptcy on a month to month basis … It took me a long time to get through debt and I just remember thinking: ‘every job that I get given has to be my best.’”
It was wonderful to meet so many incredibly talented devs, directors, actors—it was just a really cool experience.”
Neil Newbon
Regarding his own experience at the Game Awards themselves, the lack of time afforded to him and his fellows—which he understandably decided not to comment on directly—didn’t sour his enjoyment. “It was wonderful to meet so many incredibly talented devs, directors, actors—it was just a really cool experience.”
His one regret? Completely missing the fact that Matthew McConaughey, acclaimed actor in movies like Interstellar, pretty much walked right past him. “I didn’t even recognise him, I didn’t even take him in, and I’m a massive fan. I came back to the seat, and they were like, ‘You know Matthew McConaughey came out after you’? And I was like ‘what the fuck!’ … I didn’t know he was gonna be there, I would’ve freaked out.”
Being seen
As a queer man myself, I wanted to talk to Newbon about what he meant towards the tail-end of his speech, where he said, “The community has reached out to so many of us at Larian, and said they were seen and they were represented by this game.” I’ve spoken with him in the past about playing through Astarion’s trauma as a survivor, and many of the same sentiments returned during our conversation here.
“That was the big thing about [Baldur’s Gate 3]: people felt seen and represented, but also, it feels ‘normal’, quote unquote,” he said, talking about how most of the game’s inclusion is almost casual and straightforward in nature, and I find myself agreeing with him.
As someone who, you know, likes men, Baldur’s Gate 3 never really felt like it was trying to pander to me or anything. That’s not to say I’d hold it up as a great work of queer literature either, but I can absolutely see why some members of my community felt seen or heard by the nonchalance with which it separated pronouns, body types, and genitalia, to name just one example.
But I’d feel remiss if I didn’t offer up another perspective. Back in September, contributor Noah Smith wrote for PC Gamer on how the game offered a lot in regards to representation, but still had some room to grow. “Thirteen years later with Baldur’s Gate 3, I believe there’s a genuine opportunity to tackle difficult subjects like gender and disability narratively and mechanically,” Noah wrote. “Even having the option to raise deep conversations about identity with a party … could allow for deeper narrative role playing, and incentivize players to step outside of the binary with their own character.”
While casual inclusion’s a positive, I also hear Noah in that it’d be nice to see games like Baldur’s Gate 3 take a step further, weaving these inclusions into the fabric of the story. As an example, the game uses polyamory to explore its characters more than, say, bisexuality: every romanceable companion character in BG3 is bi or pan by default, so it just never really comes up. In contrast, they all have different attitudes towards monogamy informed by their history and past.
That’s not to say all inclusion has to be a part of a character’s personality. There’s value in being casual about it, too: but Noah’s not wrong in that there are still some avenues left unexplored, especially in a game that takes other serious themes (such as the one of abuse that Astarion explores) very seriously.
I’m an actor, I’m not a doctor—I’m not a hero … to be able to effect some change like that is really amazing as an actor. I’m very grateful, extremely grateful.”
Neil Newbon
But even if it’s not some subversive work of gay literature, I can still see how plenty of people playing Baldur’s Gate 3 felt seen, or allowed to be their authentic selves within the game. Newbon reflects on the humbling experience of being able to bring that sensation to players.
“I’m an actor, I’m not a doctor—I’m not a hero. I have a friend of mine who became an orderly in the pandemic, he was moving bodies and patients. He didn’t have to do that. We just play these people, these heroes, so to be able to effect some change like that is really amazing as an actor. I’m very grateful, extremely grateful.”
Looking forward
Looking towards the future, Newbon’s very excited for his next role as Fibonnaci in Warframe’s Whispers in the Walls update, which releases December 13. In part because Fibonnaci is a fish.
Hello from @thegameawards, Tenno!We’re so excited to have @NeilNewbon and @The_Ben_Starr lend their exceptional voices to the Origin System when #WhispersintheWalls launches on December 13. pic.twitter.com/R7xaqFHkqoDecember 8, 2023
“I can’t talk too much about it ’cause I haven’t spoken to [the studio] on what I can and can’t talk about, but it was super fun. You know when you have ginger with sushi? It’s like a palette cleanser.”
Astarion himself is a deep and complex character with hundreds of lines—and, being a character with multiple endings in an RPG, Newbon’s had to explore all sides of him. So I can see what he means when he says that Fibonnaci is like “taking a palette cleanser from Astarion, and going: ‘just do a fish’.”
In regards to further fish details, Newbon regrettably informs me that “I know I am allowed to say that I’m a fish called Fibonnaci in Warframe, but that’s about it.” Still, if you play Warframe, you’ll be able to get to know Fibonnaci intimately—probably not as intimately as Astarion, since there aren’t romance options in Warframe. Unless the game’s about to take a hard left into dating sim territory—anything’s possible.
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