🔴Raphael Actor Andrew Wincott on BALDUR'S GATE 3, Boss Fight Music & Harleep Romance

well ladies and gentlemen look who we have here Andrew it is a pleasure and honor mate thank you for coming on how are you thanks for inviting thank you thank you oh no my pleasure how are you mate how's it been the last six weeks well it's pretty intense pretty insane everything within in front of it um unimaginable there's an um for you no uh it's I just keep hearing how big this game is and how much everybody loves it which is absolutely fantastic I had no idea did you so you didn't have any idea when you were recording or working on this game of the scope and the the magnitude it might present not really except the the buzzword the word that was going around that it was going to be big I hadn't done a motion capture before so that was new to me it unfolded over several years four years is it now I think I started in 2019. wow and then we hit lockdown and we all wondered what the hell was going to happen uh and I think I came in a little bit during lockdown as I was doing audio books during lockdown I mean it seemed an ideal fit for audio because you're kind of in isolation anyway when you do a book uh and and and it was the same in studio with this there I was in my velcro suit uh but you're always wearing that anyway Andrew you are indeed but there I was isolated just with friends through the glass Through the Looking Glass the glass window through the magical glass and uh you know no it was we and then we came out of lockdown and things started to get more intense and I came in for more sessions and I got busy people decided to tell me that Raphael was uh had made some sort of an impact yeah people loved him and uh love to hate him and all of that what's that like when people say they love to hate your character that you play that's interesting isn't it well that's the great thing about playing the villains if if indeed you see Raphael as a villain but on some level the devil has to be uh seen that way and well it's just it's just a gift of a part and the script was so good it's like playing um a jacobean Revenge uh character which is how I started and uh you know you just go for all the the smoothness but also the aggression when it's necessary the elegant villain you know yeah development love you've also got to balance the the other side of him the devil side harleep you know and that's a different voice as well was there Direction on that yeah so in this instance is this when Raphael makes love to himself if you like is this yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah we had a bit of fun talking about that oh I was gonna say what is this came in you know yeah that's that's got to be strange though right for you well I was playing a different your question is playing a different aspect of rap yeah yeah yeah so you look for there are always different sides but yeah I found a um a camp side to him I mean it was a little bit Camp anyway you know in that theatrical rather Arch way but there was uh there was I just went further I just went camper and uh and lighter I suppose in touch but uh if you know what I mean um keep the touch light and uh and just just kicked it around and had fun with it but yeah you try and you it's like any character you you try to try the voice see how it sounds if the director likes it then they steer you yeah in a certain direction yeah go further you know you know yeah it's just it's just tweaking it in most in most cases it's a question of as exactly as you say finding the balance do they do you ever go too far with it how do you how do you balance that of going if you go too far becomes too silly yeah well that's that's the Judgment call that's why you you just put it out there I mean they say less is more but in this kind of game when you're playing the devil and you know you could have how no that's what I'm what is more can there possibly be too much I didn't and and then it becomes you trust the director you you the right is giving you the lines the Fantastic lines and that's your first there all your Clues are in there and the situation and then the director will will steer you and you have that discussion yeah yeah pull back on that try this and the same is true of all the movement you know we we looked for ways of of finding the right movements and uh the movement coach would make uh adjustments or suggest ideas most of the time it's tweaking it it's go further with that gesture or go further in that direction there was one session I did where I felt I was being lizard-like and I think I said that I said he feels a bit sorian in this scene and uh the uh movement that the movement coach I think was in uh I think was in Vancouver this was in the depths of December and he said yeah go further with that and he took the idea and steered and do you love that as an accident you see it together yeah absolutely it's a collaborative thing Dan and that's the joy of it but but look it's all Instinct you know you bring first of all there's the casting and you you hope it has to be casting is 90 they say I mean that was true in theater directors would tell me I didn't have to do it if I cast it right I didn't have to do too much so 90 of the work is done in the casting so first of all there's that so you assume you're there for a reason and you assume you you look at the script you know you understand the situation and uh and you know what what sort of line you're going to take and then um they either say yeah great go further or or pull back it's tweaking then it's it's it's just fine lining it but but yeah it's collaborative absolutely and and you work together and and if I do my job right there's less for them to do when they say I didn't have to tell you to do anything that's a really nice tribute that's the best compliment you can hear right right you know yeah you give me a note what would I do wrong I don't get defensive yeah no it's um it's uh it's a it was a lot of fun and and if if they'd say oh we really enjoyed this session the guys might say we had a terrific session it was so much fun I said it's always fun with you guys and uh and you know you know it's going well you feel it's going well when everybody's enjoying it and then now the game's out everybody out there the millions out there are enjoying it which is fabulous you know so we've done our job we hope we've done our job right oh the cast is Sensational in this one everyone brings their best to the table and of course it's the devs as well and the composer and the motion yes capture people and everyone involved writers everyone's come together to create this piece of art it's quite remarkable really isn't it hundreds of people isn't it hundreds of people all over the world collaborating on this I I had no idea now you say that but you've done a few games in the past haven't you but nothing like this nothing like this yeah hundreds of games but all mainly Voice or all I mean yes you physicalize in the studio but there's and there may be a camera on you for the purpose of the developers yeah uh so they can see what you're doing um and probably use it but no nothing like this no so why why all of a sudden did you get this role why you because it was perfectly cast I mean I can't picture anyone else doing this but you uh not to I'm not supplying smoke really and I know a lot of the viewers agree so why why were you chosen though what was that audition process like for you and it's nice to make something your own isn't it um um it's no it's great privilege for me um well I I was in I've been working with pit stop I don't know since probably about I don't know 20 middle of the 2015 something like that I'd been on divinity original sin but I'd worked with um at Pitstop I did a lot of sessions with Josh Whedon uh and um Along Came this opportunity and I put together some kind of film shot some something on the iPad you know um tried various different characters different whatever was up for grabs vegan remember something a bit a bit like Raphael and then you get the call and come in and but that's that was that's going back for years or more wow the idea would still be doing it and then there was the first the early release yeah and Josh told me it had been successful and there was a lot of talking going on right and on the channels yeah on the networks so he was always theatrical because uh you must you must have a theatrical background yourself you must have grown up doing theater the theater was how it started for me yeah yeah it was how it started um I acted at University at Oxford and uh then trained as in classical theater yeah I started doing theater absolutely touring around I was gate crashing auditions I knew you were up to no good yeah you know I flapped my wings and pushed the door you have a part for me thank you yeah I played Alec derbyville oh wow in test of the derbyville was in a production in 1987 and we toured the West country with it and I gate crashed the audition uh it was a terrific job I Got My Equity card that's how far back we're going right because you needed a card in those days it was the shop was closed with closed shops so I had to have a card to start working professionally I'd Been Working On The Fringe is this okay to talk about this is this this is all uh it's beautiful mate please keep going yeah so um so yeah I needed an equity card I'd Been Working On The Fringe in London uh after leaving drama school I'd already got a degree in English uh are taught for a little bit went to drama school then started working on The Fringe but without an equity card so you'd I'd find out where auditions were happening and the Orchard Theater the small medium scale touring company based in Barnstaple in the west country they were doing tests and I thought well okay let's give this a shot that could be a part for me in this and um I rolled up to the audition uh in astute elegant suit I don't know why I think I've been to something else that day and uh and I'm trying to make a good impression exactly a good impression for a bad guy yeah but that's a debate so so Nigel Bryant said to me the director of The Orchard he said yeah yeah we've got five minutes yeah yeah come in come in I mean often this wouldn't work people would send you away but Nigel said yeah yeah come in and I read a scene uh of Alec uh probably with tests and um went away and a couple of days later I got a phone call now this is before mobile phones just to put this into context so the phone rings and it's Nigel the director on a pay phone calling me to offer me the job and his signs have changed haven't they haven't they haven't made us this is 1987 August yeah he said um yeah I'd like to review part of Alec I said oh oh brilliant brilliant Nigel that's great he said yeah the dates are August this to November that that the money is this uh there'll be a touring allowance there'll be a subsistence allowance get me all the all the facts and figures I said that's that's really good Nigel let's thank you and the Pips went remember the Pips on the pay phones another minute or two yeah and I just said okay he said yeah what I said is it okay about the equity card so I can't work without a card because every company had an allocation of about two is it okay about the card oh yeah that was the end of the call and that was that's fantastic professional career what a way to kick it off yeah well I did three tours with the Orchard and the great thing about that company was that you'd be playing different houses every night different size auditoria so it might be a village hall on the edge of exmoor or Dartmoor chagford I remember was one what a great name these were the best places they were Village halls there was a feeling that the actors are come hither I was gonna say isn't this other small crowds sometimes better absolutely right yeah absolutely right those are the things yeah the the small scale of it uh the intimacy of those performances and then other times you'd be playing the bigger houses like the northcott theater in Exeter or the Brew House in Taunton are you still interested in them as well I'm still interested in theater absolutely yeah I'm interested in every aspect of this craft yeah but you know that it you go in different directions and you go where the work takes you I would say and after my early years in theater then in those days you could audition for the the BBC Radio drama company and in those days they they would give you they would they were obliged to give you an audition eventually and eventually worked and okay I've got it yeah because otherwise it's no rejection no not even going to bother seeing you but they would see you okay and up after several months I was in town and I could go in and and they said well would you like to join I don't suppose you'd be interested in joining the radio drama company would you and I said yeah why not it was a six-month contract in those days I think it's three now yeah six month contract and you could expect pretty long isn't it so that's a big commitment for you a big commitment but you're in town and you you could you you had so many days leave I mean you know it was like a job insofar as it was possible it was a proper job other than the National Theater or I suppose a long run in the West End what jobs are there like that so if you think about that you you and you could resign if something else came along so you weren't it wasn't Do or Die it was all a question of negotiation and yeah but the opportunities to work with different writers different directors different actors every day or five six days a week new a new pla if you think on on the radio it's practically a new play every day this is a great new writing going on and uh a great opportunity for me and you and you're liberated it's you're not cast according to how you look or sound because you can tap into different accents uh you know your your versatility whatever range you can find you can explore all that and you learn not to be afraid of that you in fact it's it's just terrifically liberating did you do any musicals along your run because you know I'm going to ask you about this I have no clue oh mate I can knock I've played this song 100 times I cannot get enough of it why why what's so special apart from it being unexpected I think yeah it is it is unexpected yeah it's just sort of magical playing through the game I know you don't play games but when you're playing through and then it is unexpected and it's it sort of fits the character the song yeah um it sort of fits the moment and I haven't seen anything like that in a game before which is rare for me doing this as a living so it was yeah it was a magical experience but yeah no it must have been unexpected uh well I mean I just they just I got the call they would like you to come in and do a song I said you know do you sing you know this kind of these questions will you be okay with this so yeah I can hold a tune you know if you're there by my side to help you through it and that's exactly that's exactly what um they sent me the they sent me the um the the lyrics um and and the the guide track I don't think there was any singing on the guide track and then I came in and had a session with uh Boris love and he was brilliant yeah wonderful wonderful composer and he was he was terrific gave me confidence and talked me through it and so you weren't confident at all well well it's it's as as as I mean you ask if I've done musicals no I I can't believe that it does but but in the sense that this was more uh I don't know it's kind of somebody's some some people have described it as a bit Rocky Horror or uh what's the other comparison um oh Disney villain or something so and the Chinese Disney villain I keep hearing that yeah and what what have they got in mind what do you think yeah that's what I I'm trying to think what have I got in mind yeah I don't know but it's it's all about getting the style right I mean you've got the character I had the character and that's really what Boris was what you know he said um that was the most important thing that the actor has the character and he talked about it in terms of a musical he said I I feel we're almost ready to go on to the stage now I think we're you know I can do your business right this is this is gonna be so huge this is gonna be terrific yeah Andrew yeah keep going with that okay we go one more time let's try the get you know and it's time getting the timing right and the counting in and and uh for the familiarity as you would do with with any rehearsal yeah getting the Style and what to go for how much to go for exactly in the same way as you would it's an extension of the character because it is the character he just happens to express himself in in song unlikely though it may be so it was was it his idea I I imagine so yeah okay what what discussions were taking place and decisions were made prior to it yeah they must have must have figured it out yeah we're going to give Raphael a song I don't know do other characters get songs not really no not like this not like this I think it's already got millions of hits on online this song not right yeah yeah I would have thought were you apprehensive at all were you nervous yeah I was because because I want you know you want to get it right um in the same way that you know you're nervous about about any any part of it but you know whereas with this with most with all of the sessions you feel you you you bring the character you know once you've established who the character is and you you will do that in the first session so you'll know you'll feel the character and you'll feel how he moves um and and that aspect of it was theatrical too I felt that on the very first session about the movement you know you're slightly angled and and there's a theatricality to it a theater a theater a sense of acting in a in a space a three-dimensional space as you would be on a stage and you know talking to or or being aware of above and around you yeah in a way that you wouldn't be normally in a in a voice only game so that sense of physical space made it and and your movements within that made it theatrical so when it came to yes so you you established the character and that gives you the confidence for every session so you know who he is you know how he feels you know how he talks how he moves so now you've got to find out how he sings yeah and how do you do that did you warm up beforehand in your in your own time did you prepare in in the same way right just in the normal way uh because because it was a it was a partly song Piece yeah I know there was a big but there was a big moment at the end where you you know yeah it kind of crescendos yes yes and I mean I couldn't hit that note no well I'm not sure I did yes you did come on um but with with help what Barcelona said you know it's getting into the the character really and then everything else comes as a bonus and it will feed into getting that and just but yes the timing and hitting the notes those are the technical things that I was nervous about but but that's why you rehearse that's why you know you allow the time for the song and and and I think we both thought should we give it one more shot at the end uh have we got time yet no we've got to move on uh have we got time to do it I think it'd be good because you just bring everything together just synthesize everything that you've done and go for the not just the technical things but go bring the character and just try to get everything together to make it work yeah no in that sense it was like it was like any other rehearsal I suppose any have you heard the final product yes I've heard it on YouTube and what was your reaction did you show your family and friends did you go take a look at this guy I forwarded the link to to a few people yeah yeah I'm not what they make of it but of course it's it they've done a great job on the production and then the girls have uh added that wasn't there before it was just the music and another layer didn't it yeah other another layer and just just more atmosphere yeah no they've they've done a great job oh that's awesome yeah yeah no I know I I love people um absolutely love that song as do I it's phone repeat it was fun to do and uh yeah Brave of them to us but it's great having a challenge so last one on that so you were never you were never gonna say no to that you were always yes absolutely yeah no I wouldn't say no I mean if you get in there and you and it just doesn't work then you do then you can question yeah yeah then then you say well you asked me I you know I just again you know it's I can't sing I'm you know I just wanted to like make oh man that's good the rock and roll Raphael it's a rolling stone number right I can do it like that yeah you know you just oh my God goodness that's good well now I've got to ask what else have you got in the tank in terms of Impressions I swear you've probably got thousands um not thousands done but one of my one of my favorites it's all very well playing a famous wizard can you possibly tell me who this might be that's pretty cool that's pretty good it's all very well playing fair I really wanted to play Paul Betten his part in Wimbledon no yeah um yeah so yes I'm I'm as one of our most distinguished character actors who happened to play Gandalf and Lord of the Rings oh can you conduct that the interview um in that voice from now on Andrea yes um who wants to ask me where I started and then yes I feel like you could probably do a a bit of a Christopher Walken too I feel like you could do him um he's tricky you know people people do do very good Christopher walk-ins and I must work on it but um yeah what a great uh Great ACT I love it when he does that you know when he goes into that I mean kind of grappling and then you know it's a kind of not exactly uh yeah I don't I don't really do walking but oh I think you do now no what a tricky customer yeah yeah yeah so talk to me about the voice of Raphael how uh was this something that you developed finding his breath finding his voice or was this something that was just right there from the start it's um probably right there from the start because as I was saying the casting you you know once you I I think I knew what I wanted it to do and it they must have the guys must have felt the directors must have felt that that the voice fitted uh I mean there has to be a reason why they asked me to do this so I don't know if it was the the uh besides the tape looks the film the film that I did or uh or whether it was Joshua I'd worked with a you know on other games I I don't know but I had a feeling how I wanted to play it as I say you know I've been playing characters I'd say not dissimilar I just enjoy these characters the the the villains are the best parts and I felt it was it was uh bringing a bit of Milton to uh you know a bit of Lucifer to Boulder's Gate why not I've always loved playing these parts and and have been casting them yeah right the villains the the machiavelles people with authority but charm yeah right yeah um because Raphael has to be Charming that's a word that keeps coming up yeah Charming yeah but also one step ahead exactly yeah smart clever make it powerful authorities charismatic dangerous but seductive so you know get all that right and um you know but but it's also about being trying to not trying but not trying it's about being effortless so you cut Raphael can't try too hard he lets people come to him so I I'm sort of trying to sit back on it too I don't know how you do it it sounds very complicated let me tell you but it's also done Instinct Instinct you know you just have a feeling acting especially in in games and you know it's about Instinct you just go you go you absolutely go and you go on the fly with it you you're on the wing you're you extemporize you try things out if they don't work you try something else and uh you know when I go in for sessions on games often I don't know what I'm doing they may have sent the script they may not I said don't bother sending me the script because what can I do until I I know until I get there and then you get the the situation and you get the background you don't you don't need too much yep you know with the character what status is he what's what does he what does he want the basic questions what do I want who am I what do I want how am I going to get it uh who what where when you know very simple questions and uh but but really you know does it go back to gilgood it's getting the style right you know once you get the style right so you know how Arch is Raphael how Camp is Raphael he's both in different at different times how danger and I you and the times you feel the danger coming out some words you drew out in other words you let breathe like there was a Cadence to him too right was that into I'm guessing that was intentional well intentional in so far as uh in the moment it felt right yeah I mean there's nothing that you that you sort of deliberately set out to one it is it should feel completely natural yeah look into the character you don't you might get a note the director might give you and we had terrific directors might give you just just pause there or just get breathe after that phrase or you know you might get something like that that helps but yeah I mean you just do a pass and a line the way you feel it should be what makes a good direction for you you've been doing this for so long now what is the difference between a good director to you and a and a bad one I know you could answer that in a few ways but it's a very difficult question um what I would say I think it's a light touch coming back to the light touch um a director should well everyone's going to trust everybody else because it's a collaborative thing as we were saying so the director so the actor brings what he brings I go in there and I I this is my idea of Raphael or how I feel he is and this is how I think the line should be and the director will just say yep great um movement director will say try it yeah yeah great or or just nudge you or just breathe at the end of that or or pause try a pause there but it's just subtle and you you'll do two or three different passes at the line but if it ain't broke don't fix it and the the director will know when to you know just don't don't over labor it don't over correct it I've seen I've been in Productions where a director will try to to do too much not on this not on this show no no no no no bg3 but yeah other projects on other other shows yeah just overbearing yeah over controlling trying to do to trying to over the actor shouldn't try to do too much neither should the should the director so it's it's the director allowing the actor to find the role and to find the delivery and to find what he does but you just nudge you just steer but yeah the director should not do too much it's about nudging steering always supporting always being positive finding the positive so it's a it's a canny game it's a psychologically uh you know you always said the actors they act as confidence has got to be there so you can't go no that was crap no no no do it again no no no no no and then you think well okay but it's about listening to everybody listening yeah and uh trust and as I say trust and if you if you um you know and trying things but a good director will do that but give but give you this that first of all always give you the positivity and the confidence um but as I was saying you know that you go where the work takes you and uh it took me into radio and after I'm not not exclusively because I was still doing theater but I started I did a lot an awful lot of radio uh twice on the radio drama company and then 20 20 years ago this year I I went to audition for a the part of Adam in The Archers wow 20 years my god I've been doing the show 20 years but that's nothing in the scale of that because that show's been running 70 years 70 years the the lady who plays my grandmother Peggy June Spencer she retired last year at the age of 103. I mean that's just not doing it properly is it I mean that's doing it come on Gran you can keep going surely we can give goddess some slack isn't that amazing that's amazing I love that hello but longevity with a show like The Archers I mean you talk about my passion and keeping going I've been doing it this this show 20 years but it's nothing but how do you keep a show um fresh after that long that's a tough thing how does it you know how do you keep evolving in a role like that well first of all part of it is Monday part of it is the um is the everyday aspect the the calming the uh the reliable the the everything revolving around the seasons and the land because it's a story about a farming Community I think that's part of it um the um I mean some people might call it wallpaper but you know Goss it's all based around people talking gossiping Stories being told through that through that means you know there's a pub there's a shop people gravitate together they chat exchange information and then there is often something dramatic happens there's a fire in a barn as there was in 1955 the death of Grace Archer which coincided with the start of ITV and uh another dramatic stories and gradually the Turning of the knife until finally the Dam breaks and something dramatic happens in in an unexpected way well might be unexpected might be expected um I didn't expect Helen to be the one stabbing Rob but her child was threatened and in the impulsive nature of the of the dramatic moment that's what happened and then the court case and how everything unfolded ensued after that but yeah so I'm saying that it's the every it's the mundane it's the um you know the everyday aspect of it but also the heightened dramatic so you get that balance I mean it could be four-fifths to one-fifth heightened or melodramatic and that's how you keep the balance but they have a lot of writers they have about a dozen writers and uh um probably a similar number of directors producers and uh that's how you keep it fresh it's constantly looking for for storylines yeah no that makes sense and going back to Boulder's Gate this is your first motion capture job did you get the bug is this something you you think you want to do again or how did you find the whole experience of putting on the suit and be honest with us you might you might like it well well I it was weird to start with my very first session I recall was in January I don't know whatever it was four years ago maybe four and a half years ago and um there I was in the in the suit all sort of togged up ready to go um gloves on you know fighting really all the light receptors so we're all geared up and the fire alarm goes off we have to evacuate the building oh well this is great so there I am on Croydon Croydon High Street on a rainy Monday morning probably it was raining there's a fine drizzle standing there on my pajamas will it help me [Laughter] that's fantastic that was my introduction to it what do I thinking yeah yeah and and also technically the the guy the technicians the the you know the experts the boffins they're they're solving problems all the time um and that's fascinating as well technically you're you're that they're being as creative as they can how are we going to improve this I mean that started to be chips put into the gloves to to create all the hand movements or the hand embellishments so they had to be fired up connected by Bluetooth and um you had to go to base pose always have to go to base pose that's that's a slightly uh unusual thing you create the bass pose and uh and return to the bass pose after the line yeah and you look like a Power Ranger on the Monitor and you think what kind of fancy this you know um so that's all weird because you try not to look at that um and um yeah yeah it's gonna tell you uh but but you've heard you've heard the stories it's um but how did you find it Andrew I want to know is this something you think you'll do again it combines different aspects of the graph just to say it feels theatrical [Music] um it's like theater and and on screen sort of mix yeah yeah and and there's the like the line comes up on the the monitor so that's that's like you're doing any any game any other game where it's just voice but at the same time you have to move and and it becomes three-dimensional it becomes like it so it's a new form it's not it's it's not quite theater but it is theatrical it's obviously voice based and uh yeah then it comes out and it's a movie it's incredible incredible Sound and Music when it's all together we've got some fan questions here we better get to some of them the first one is from El Coco each and every Raphael line is delivered with perfection how many takes are needed on average for you Andrew well we usually do at least two passes but sometimes there might be three it just depends I think we essentially we run on a sort of default of two so I might do it a couple of times and then we might move on or the director might say something often I'll deliver a line and then think that I can do this a different way or and I'll immediately do it again and if it's a long speech where you can connect perhaps two or three different speeches but just connected so it becomes like a monologue almost we will we might take that apart a bit but I'm I will suggest I'd suggest at the end of it if I can have one pass straight through a bit bit like I was explaining about the song so just have another go I feel like they use those some of those where you did one full Parts because it's it's very smooth some of them yeah you get yeah good great thank you I mean just so you get those transitions um organically uh you know and made make the adjustments as instinctive as possible yeah yeah you know you've got the time to to do too many well I was gonna say is it was there ever one that you maybe took four or five times or was it never I know I'm pushing your memory so that then may have been but but some of them will be adjustments will be tweaks to a line I mean if you do it four or five I I would never feel that that feels like a lot yeah I know yeah but if as I said if if it were one of the monologues you might do it four times you know I ask I hear these stories of I don't know some directors where they'll have 80 takes and I think that is insane 80 yeah 80 to 100 takes I'd go psycho yeah that yeah those stories on movers don't you and you just can't believe yeah who knows what they're saying but sometimes it's for technical reason oh yeah that's the other thing oh no we gotta we've got a noise the microphone or you brushed or something fell or the or the uh the the the the tracking on the cat on the hand didn't work you know the the something there was a blip a technical so sometimes you have to repeat for technical things and just on the technical thing I was going to say walking into the studio one of the first times you look around you see these cameras they're above they're below they're behind never seen anything like it never you know that gives you a sense of the three-dimensionality of it but you're not playing to those cameras you're just just being aware of them but but that's extraordinary you're being filmed from every which way every time I would love to see you to remote because usually motion capture You'll Play off someone else in the suit yeah and obviously in this you didn't so I'd love to see you in a role where you get to play off someone in the suit I think you'd really love to do that yeah I asked a radio director who incidentally also was the same person who gave me my first job in the theater Nigel Bryant a story I was telling you he gave me my first job in radio and I once sat in on an editing session and I said to him when you're editing is there a default take you go to do you go to the first take or the last take as a default is there a and he said invariably you go to the first take because it's got the Instinct of the the actors delivery it feels the most natural the most instinctive because the second time you're trying to reproduce something possibly but he said you might take the first take as the base and just add a little bit of the third or this or whatever you know so you do a combination but it could be for technical reasons yeah right that's true also in The Archers I would say so your first take is should because it'll feel the most natural to the actors you'll already have read it through yeah see I'm not thinking of the technical side but yeah it must come into play as you said well it's it yeah it does especially with with uh with the motion capture um I mean if you if you I can sometimes hear because you've got the headphones on and I can hear sometimes if if I've brushed the microphone they've got a microphone on your forehead um you know if I lift my eyebrows it might move the microphone and I hear something and then they'll say they'll stop there can we do it again for Tech um and that's another thing to to bear in mind we haven't you know there's the the sound guys uh are listening for for Perfection yeah and the directors listening for intention yeah you know so you've it's it's absolutely collaborative yeah and then and um I think weird goes wrong with the avatar uh then you know or the hand or the you know the Chip's gone or the Wi-Fi's broken the Bluetooth connections lost yeah then yeah that's a whole other aspect of it so are you hearing anyone's lies are you getting to play off any lines in your head at any moment on this game I'm struggling to think that that did happen but it does on other games if they've recorded the other lines right so if they've had them they might have done but they're read in they are the director will read them in would you like to hear the line or you know yeah are you okay just to take it in your own time we're gonna I think the answer is no Dan interesting but that makes it even more unbelievable the performance um Natasha I'd like to ask if Andrew expected the players to end up loving Raphael as much as we did because it was a shock to me oh shock how much he was loved um that's the the complexity of the character and and the joy it's you it's all those things we were saying you you go for the charm the power the easy power the the the the the seductive the the confidence that just that sense that he doesn't have to try and that maybe maybe that's what makes him attractive but we also are wary of people like that I don't know about you yeah you know yeah what's up his sleeve yeah yeah beware you know I don't know that's fascinating it's it's what makes us Who We Are Tyler here says I don't have any questions I simply just need to express what an outstanding performance we receive from Andrew thank you Tyler thank you uh Brad here says Andrew can we please hear the voice it's absolutely incredible what you did what's better than the devil you know no it's the other way around isn't it what's better than the devil you don't know uh devil you do oh they're gonna love that uh do I get the line right I think I believe so yeah I love it and then that laugh that chuckle I love that love yeah I love the moment you kind of hysterically laugh as well oh yes that's right yeah you remember that yeah yeah I think that was the romance scene right I think I think uh the player asks is Raphael good in bed and I think you hysterically love I think that's the line right I think that's that's the dialogue right uh right that whole thing the Raphael only can make love with his own image that was crazy that was crazy and finding a way to Stage to do that it had to take place I haven't seen the scene but it had to take place on a bed so I'm on my knees for a lot of it oh really yeah yeah so you know I mean we have to do a lot of those takes on your knees yeah you'd have to have knee pads if you were if you're in the rehearsing it or something but yeah so but you just pause between takes yeah and then go back into it but again yeah finding that different level of campness and uh playfulness all the movements slightly exaggerated can you ask Andrew to read a page from the phone book thank you uh how does this feel hearing these comments Andrew well it's lovely it's very flattering and uh you're all too kind uh what was your inspiration Andrew for this smug bastard I instantly wanted to stab him in the face but I still give him a 10 out of 10. who says that someone call me doc said that call me dark um I don't know if there was an inspiration it might not have been no that's perfectly fine it's something that as I said these sorts of Parts these smug bastard parts are things that I've played before arrogance Swagger they have to be they have to be like that don't they with the protagonist of his of his do you share any of these traits in your real life quite the reverse that's why that's why they're so cathartic to play It's So cathartic to play these characters I don't know we've all got bits of bits of Raphael in us that's why that's why we love him and hate him too because we yeah I don't know I'm curious what you do to relax Andrew I know this is a left field question but hey do you read do you play golf well you hang out with fam what is it that you well um reading is something I tend to do for work nowadays so I don't get to read so much for pleasure because I'm preparing I've just been to Spain preparing an audio book uh and I just take off to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and uh work through PDFs on the iPad and make annotations and you know do it but do it in a place of Tranquility sounds like a dream well yeah but it doesn't need much money at the end of it but yeah yeah it's a sort of way of justifying the the break in a way you know because yeah yeah so you do yeah so it's a working break but um what do I do so um I love movies I I really love watching movies um and great uh the you know the the world of now the series that we've got on streaming platforms you know the latest thing if you know that I hear about you know and then getting involved in in that but no movies yeah I've seen Oppenheimer oh nice but Christopher Nolan is such an interesting director I've nothing but admiration for him and what he's done with Oppenheimer is is outstanding technically those images I went to see it on a huge screen in in London Shepherd's Bush um and you can feel the the music too feel the thunder coming through the the base coming coming through the fill this the seat shaking it's an amazing experience I feel sometimes it's perhaps slightly over wrought he you know um with in some scenes and other scenes I wanted to hear more there was a party scene where someone says Professor could you explain quantum mechanics to us and I thought oh this would be good you know just a few we're not obviously not going to get into an hour dissertation but I thought yeah we'll get a few lines so we're not not taken for complete idiots and he's sort of got a few words into it and somebody interrupted the discussion ah what did you think what did you do you like it I I love the aspects you said the the visuals the music I I thought the acting was quite good as well yeah I thought overall was a great experience yeah I think so that if I have to give him a critique for his last few films it would be sometimes there's not enough emotion with the characters would you agree exactly that yeah yeah I was yeah their cerebral experiences I felt that um it's terrible I feel terrible criticizing such a great deal no I still recommend it to everyone I think it's fantastic but yeah but you but but you know you go but right back to memento which is a brain yeah um brilliant brain teaser written by his brother Jonathan who who created co-created Westworld the television yeah he's very talented too yeah yeah brilliant um going right back to Memento which which is just terrific um but their cerebral experiences that I I did laugh in Memento a few times this is one bit where Guy Pearce sort of comes into Consciousness as it were in his 15 15 minute spells of memory returning and he says oh who who am I chasing now oh no that's right he's chasing me yeah but that that that is darling isn't it that sort of stuff that really is yeah that's kind of what he does yeah but their neighbors I think Dan that you have to see several times uh I mean apparently with Inception people would be queuing around the block to see the movie in in Hollywood but for the second or third time or fourth time and and this was became known as the re-hook that Hollywood Executives originally was suspicious of the movie because it was too clever then decided oh no we we like this because I can't see it right you know so they're coming back to try and figure out the but not everyone can get away with that Andrew not everyone's away with that yeah absolutely and Nolan's about the only one who does why is that because that because he's doing something he's an altar and he's doing something that nobody else is I can't think of anybody who does things the way he does and he can make whatever decisions he wants to make and make exactly the kind of move as he he wants to so this is why I feel slightly churish about criticizing him but I absolutely agree they're not emotional you don't you don't care in the same way that you do uh in other movie experiences emotionally got me definitely um but that's interesting yeah yeah and and I'm amazed my friends told me oh they went to see Oppenheimer on a Tuesday afternoon in the middle of wheelchairs you know in in a small Market town and it was packed wow yeah now I mean what else can do that well he tried it with tenet but we were still really in lockdown there um yeah weren't we and some people say tenant I haven't seen tennis have you seen Dunkirk I feel like you'd like Dunkirk no it wasn't cool it wasn't didn't quite do it for me aspects of it I liked so give me some of your what are your some of your favorites so we're going on a tangent now yeah over the last few years give me some of yours so I can get a taste of your flat power I'd have to sort of top 10 movies I'd have to think about but in recent years let me come to it you can go back if you want yeah let me go back so I'd have to put North by Northwest oh yeah because that movie has everything um romance glamor comedy um Thrills and Spills and set pieces and the crop dusting and Mount Rushmore and Carrie Grant well out of that comes James Bond you know because you've got 1959 so that whole Bond thing the man on the run the um you know and that there now there interestingly you asked me modern films the the Bourne films I recently watched the Bourne ultimate Mason for no other reason again for no other reason than it happened to be on my laptop when I was in Spain and loved it that 20 minute section her first half hour of the born ultimatum in Waterloo Station because they because because of the success of the Bourne films and the way the action scenes were done then when the bond franchise started off again with Daniel Craig all the fight sequences were done in it so they they had to rethink Bond because of Bourne they may even I may be wrong about this they may even have used the same fight team stunt teams but the the the the action choreography it was of a diff was it was different when Craig came into new Bond but but yeah what Paul Greengrass is doing this almost documentary style to the the action sequences I thought was brilliant um but so Hitchcock Box North by Northwest or you could probably put all of the hitchcocks into the category three window rear window rear window absolutely um vertigo yes Jordan um but what what uh I'd also put Billy Wilder Double Indemnity film Noir love the film Noir Classics um Some Like It Hot comedy brilliant gotta put that there I'm one of the fastest and funniest films Carrie that I've ever seen Cary Grant again um his girl Friday his yes his girl Friday it's a real Friday hey it's a remake of the front page Rosalind Russell Cary Grant I'm saying they're just not fire cracking wit uh you know it's just just brilliant brilliant I'll have to check it out yeah yeah but um you know one of those classic yeah what um so what about the last 20 30 years in movies yeah uh what what have we had lately [Music] um that's all right you can't think of any it's all good well well um there are amazing films um Amorous Perros you could've got the whole you know European and also South American um influences but Amore's Paris that's a Paris that's about 20 years ago yeah I can't think of many films this year that blew me away besides Oppenheimer uh um a very good remake of The Three Musketeers came out this year among others yeah in French and I think there's going to be a part two coming up but I thought that as a historical Epic uh it's just just glorious to watch beautiful sense of style sweet swashbuckling you know verb and terrific filmmaking I feel like probably like you'd love a film called cachet just came to my mind I don't know if you've seen it who directed that Michael hanaki ah yeah excellent yeah yeah um cachet have I seen that it's a French film from 2005. one of my all-time favorites brilliant what's what's hanukkah's most recent oh now did he do the white ribbon yes he did yes he did 2009 yeah won that period That's again amazing disturbing a lot of these in films they're they're uh but you're meant to be disturbed by them exactly that's that's the whole point yeah yeah yeah um back to these questions um what do you remember from the night Lords Andrew um great Trilogy yeah great King again I was very lucky to be asked to read them because they are so good and um yeah I mean the easy power of the night Lords it's a it's the same kind of thing the the guys we love to hate the good guys we love to hate they're sort of good they're sort of bad they inhabit this dubious moral universe or Universe of moral debiity um that's the right word uh they they're they're just they're they're very well written very stylish very powerful I enjoyed them tough tough going they're intense I was going to say you probably want to break after doing that you want to just lie down yeah we we took them one at a time I did get a break between between them I couldn't have done them back to back but when when I do a tad Williams it's it's often two weeks in studio I have to stagger the the days oh really yeah yeah or a book like that I mean it's about um well they're about 35 or more recorded hours and uh you know you it's several books in one because of the multi layers of narrative going on it's telling several stories at the same time yeah and um yeah uh to take they take weeks to prepare so that'll be a long trip to Spain right well you that's the one you've got to take that to Australia Andrew oh yeah that's it boy that's the point uh what was your favorite voice line from Raphael if you remember any well I think it's the one I did for you before yeah delivered for you earlier the one I think I got right would you black Rising here says would you make a deal with Raphael Andrew no way no way I know him too well uh um I agree uh do you ever feel the need Andrew to bring out Raphael at the dinner table at home uh you know if you feel like I need to add something to the meal experience I feel the need but have to resist it for the uh the Peace of all yeah uh not a question just love for Andrew Raphael is my favorite character from the game everything from his demeanor animations looks and of course the amazing voice acting truly superb job oh too kind too kind thank you it's it's lovely to um hear that people are enjoying enjoying it because it makes you feel you're doing something right and it's just great to have that feedback I'll leave you with one more on Raphael what do you want people to take away from him if anything wow what do I want people to take away from him maybe they should keep away from him at the same time Andrew you have to meet him well it but yeah at the same time I want people to be drawn to him I want people to keep coming back for more but against one's uh better Instinct maybe I don't know that's the that's the joy of it that's the complexity of it the push-pull you know on the one hand he's this on the other would you trust him all these questions are sort of aiming towards that aren't they you know what do I want people to take away from Raphael or the answer to all their problems [Laughter] and and how would you sum up the four-year experience with Larry and Pitstop everyone involved unbelievable um so surprising so surprising at the success that the games become um nothing but admiration for everyone and thanks uh to everyone who's been involved technically and creatively in terms of the production and the cast I I feel honored to be part of a company like this although it's so strange not to interact and to feel well it was sort of acting in isolation although although in another way I don't feel that I'm in isolation but but actually we go into studio and we are in isolation but then then the Joy on occasion of being in studio at the same time in the in the other Studio there's Neil he plays a Starion you know and we get to chat and that's that's great but most of the time no but it's a it's a joy a privilege to be a part of the team and just thanks to everybody um and uh here's to the next one yeah yeah no it can't be another 20 years Andrew my goodness and you need to strangle them and I want you to come back maybe not as a devil this time maybe an angel oh yeah but you see Lucifer was a fallen angel so that's the you know there's the The Paradise Lost there's the miltonic thing that that uh the the the power the pride of Lucifer but yes he was an angel yeah by the way you mentioned Neil did you did he direct you no Neil never directed badly but I know he did direct some of the sessions yeah so you just met him in the corridor or whatever he was just yeah we met in between in a break I think oh yeah a couple of times and then I was doing another game I came in and and he was doing a session oh wow um so I met him a couple of times and I know he's doing a live stream he's organized the live stream he's passionate passionate are you going to join him on that or you don't know I'm gonna I'm gonna talk to him about it I haven't managed it since I got back from Spain I haven't managed to speak to him but uh I'm hoping to yeah if if everything aligns timing wise that yeah I can I can be there would you ever do any Comic Cons or anything like that are you interested in doing anything like that in the future if you've got time why not why not yeah meet the fans yeah I put my wings and horns on and well they'll be doing that they will somebody did someone tell me there was a Comic Con and somebody did go dressed as Raphael yes is that right that's true yeah yeah that's true where was that then I think it was in uh I think it was in London I think yeah right yeah well I'd certainly that must be a proud moment yeah no really it would be yeah well then you know your characters reach some kind of iconic status there was an audio drama or series Audio Drama Series I did called John Sinclair and this is a bit cult ish sort of um horror it sort of crossover Noir horror yeah pulp fit meets horror and uh huge if you Google it then huge in Germany John Sinclair and there was a the the guys from column from cologne came over and we did about 15 episodes in English and I was cast as John Sinclair who's a little bit um you know he has that sort of you know um detective but I'm very English you know um that I have this uh you know it has all that smoothness of Raphael and same sort of vocal qualities um but it's um they're like audio movies heavily uh post-produced looks big soundtracks sound effects crashing cars and oh yeah explosions zombies mummies plagues all of this sort of stuff wow and um I went to coron to Cologne for a convention over there it's massive Johnson wow over there in Germany of all places in Germany and I was introduced to the English John Sinclair the guy who was Voting the German Johnson he's the same guy who was the voice of James Bond and probably many others Daniel wow this was voicing Daniel Craig in Germany is when you're a a successful voice artist and you get to dub Daniel Craig Gerard depardie someone like that you do all his movies because of course all the movies are turned into German and dubbed and so you've instantly got work for years yeah however long it yeah he'll be doing those movers but he was uh he was John Sinclair but I'm only mentioning this because I went over they flew me over to to the convention there I'm just just had a great time yeah but I have no idea what was Germany like by the way it was amazing it was terrific I'd been to I've been to cologne before um beautiful beautiful city but you know one of the things that I was thinking about this the other day when I was going through the airport one thing I remember waiting at Colin airport is there's a sort of smoking room inside the building you can go into this room this smoking room but it's a perspex chamber you go in there and it's I don't smoke just to sample it but you go in there it's just smoke it's a smoking chamber there was a smoking where's your next trip probably Spain again you just love it all right can't get enough uh it's funny when places draw you back it's it's but I might go to a different part of Spain I was talking to my nephew last night and um because I always go to the South to go to Andalusia there's a I don't know maybe the dialect Isn't So understandable down there it's perhaps a thicker dialect I I think I might have uh might be better for my Spanish learning if I go into the North it's greener in the north I have been to the north but I just like the I like the the Ambiance of the South the foothills of the Sierra Nevada so you recommend that for me and my girlfriend for if you're coming over yeah next year we're thinking of going yeah well if you're going to what to Spain to Spain yeah yeah well it depends what you like but okay the thing about the south and Lucia you've got the three great cities Sevilla Cordoba Granada yeah you've got amazing monuments the mosquito in Cordoba the Alhambra in Granada and Seville is just an amazing City yeah say um but then if you you know it's big it's the big region but then if you go to the Foothills if you go up into the al-buharas Europe I don't know the first well a couple years ago I went to bubion one of the three famous Pueblos Blancos this is a pampalera bubion and capillera bubion you've got this picture postcard view down the valley towards the Mediterranean and I was there the air is so pure uh you can see right the way down to the Mediterranean and some say you can see to Morocco um like I could see the I could certainly see the Mediterranean and at night I've it's it was when I went there it had been decades since I've seen stars like that and only last week I would look out at night there's the moon and there's Jupiter and there's capella and there's you know anyways it is uh Astorian no yeah but but it's the night sky I sort of remember as a kid but uh but the clarity wow of the Purity and but then I went two years ago and I arrived in November and I flew to Malaga drove up took a couple of hours is that winter time well it's on the cusp December January is winter but the question of how much it snows now is a moot point there was no snow on the Peaks when I was there just now there often is or used to be but I arrived in November and I thought I'd be okay because I checked the weather I wasn't looking for heat no warm enough coming from an English November and and I certainly didn't want rain ironically I had a tropical downpour last Sunday yeah but I drove up from Malaga a couple of hours and I arrived and I'm twisting Alpine roads and you know I'm driving at night this is November two years yeah get out of the car and there's a a crisp coldness to there and I I'm thinking oh no is this going to be too cold um but but it was a crisp Purity Clarity and I looked up and there was this guy but I thought it might just be too cold but the next day the next morning the Sun was shining and I was walking around for the for the rest of the time there in a T-shirt during the day it was beautiful it was like spring summer in the UK on a good day it might have been a cloudy one twice and if it is cloudy the winds take it away quite quickly but the nights it's cooler but not so cold not compared with England so nothing's like England well it's either damp or it's or it's freezing the funny thing is London's very much like Melbourne down here Melbourne's very similar yeah that's where you are right Melbourne yeah yeah very rainy yeah but we're starting to hit Spring now and then summer down here so yeah summers are very hot here so it's sort of every all extremes down here yeah Four Seasons right in one day sometimes one day yeah yeah so you're coming into summer yeah wow sweltering yeah we've just had a heat wave here oh yeah yeah oh yeah it's been really hot and humid um it's a bit cloudier cooler today weather's broken a bit but London yesterday was even yesterday was still a sweat box oh yeah yeah yeah we you know we can't complain because you know it's cold cloudy and that's usually summer you know and clap you know you think well where did Summer go we had a nice spring but and then we hit two months of nothing but then suddenly you get an Indian summer in September thank you for your time by the way uh Andrew we really appreciate it man thank you Dan I appreciate your time your questions your passion your intelligence your love for all of this and your enthusiasm thank you thank you for the questions that everybody um yeah is there anything you want to say to the fans quickly of your work in any realm yeah I I I'm just just just humbled and delighted that everybody's enjoying this game and and Raphael so much it's just it's so gratifying because as I say just it makes it makes me feel that um you know I'm doing the right thing and and that's great because if you're working in isolation you don't necessarily know that you haven't got an audience that can applaud or laugh or Boo or hiss or or whatever you know um so it's great that it's it's captured this wave of enthusiasm it's staggering humbly and I'm so appreciative really keep keep listening keep playing keep enjoying keep the faith fabulous we really appreciate your performance and your time today and um we wish you all the best and hopefully we can do this again uh soon Andrew yeah let's do it again anytime you know when you come to London you know you want to bear or something you want to hook up yeah I'd love to mate yeah I mean I've never been to London I've actually never been no I want to go yeah yeah well I feel like I knew you after this yeah [Laughter] um last one absolute last thing can we hear Raphael say something to Dan to close this out better the interview you don't know than the interview you do [Laughter] or something like that thank you

Channel: Dan Allen Gaming

Views: 177,334

Keywords: bg3 rap, bg3 raphael fight music, bg3 raphael theme, bg3 raphael, bg3 raphael fight, bg3 raphael ending, bg3 raphael romance, raphael, raphael boss fight music, raphaels final act, raphael baldurs gate 3, raphael boss fight, raphael fight bg3, baldurs gate 3, baldurs gate

Id: l1h5Zug84gw

Length: 79min 42sec (4782 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 13 2023