🔴Shadowheart Actor Jennifer English talks BALDUR'S GATE 3, Emotional Scenes & Fan Reaction

well it is a pleasure to be chatting with Jennifer English welcome to the show how are you thank you so much for perhaps like good overwhelmed by the last couple of weeks I was gonna say it's uh it's been a lot hasn't it yeah um look I knew it would be a big deal and Neil who played historian took me aside at one point I can't remember when down the line it was just like you do know this game is going to be a big deal and I was like snail what you want about it's just this little game we're doing um no I never thought it was a little game I knew it was going to be a big game but um yeah it turns out I really should have should have listened to it Listen to Dear Old nail you know I'm sorry saying not um yeah yeah it's it's been incredible I I like the reviews are nuts aren't they I haven't seen anything like it in a long while actually I was going to say the last time a game reviewed this well was Elden ring which you were in as well so we're finding the key component I think what can I say um yeah and Shadow Hearts um story wow it depends on which path you go down um Paula tenor and Eldon rain she had she had a rough time of it very useful though if you bring her along yeah true very very good very good in a fight did you play Golden Ring look damn we had the cut we had a cast party and there was there was which was very fun and there was a big screen and some controllers um to the game and I tried have you tried paying it it's really hard I'm tired it just runs into walls and gets lost and and it's very easy to get lost in Elton ring yeah yeah I think that's one way too incompetent you have to look up your work on YouTube I think for that one Reddit will help you through yeah so so Elden ring was your first game right no no no I do believe no Divinity Divinity Divinity sorry Divinity yeah yeah um yeah which was many means ago and I got chucked royally in the deep end it was really one of those oh you you're in and you've got 30 characters go um what accents can you do can you play a skull can you play a chest um yeah I think I think I did about 70 I worked out so you can find me all over I've never seen a cliff of myself in the game so I don't I can't remember all of the characters that I played so um yeah but I'm there a lot you reckon you played over 70 in the end yeah in the end yeah yeah lots of children and I think there was one point where I was talking to myself like I was paying one child and then another child I don't know whether they kept that or they recast me I hope they got another actor I hope they didn't I want to hear that can you chat into myself a little lonely a little lonely Jen what what's your um do you get lots of children roles um are you there less so now although saying that I just did um an amazing game called Harmony full of reverie where I play this I mean she's got a child's voice but she's like this ageless deity obviously um and yeah so so that was that was another child to add to my roster that sounds dodgy don't keep that sorry to read that that I played in a video game um yeah yeah I've been playing children as an adult I mean my first job at the drama school was playing um one of the kids in the railway children which is very wholesome of me I must say um yeah playing an eight-year-old when I was 21 and partying hard because that's what you do when you're 21. so you'd find me like in the pub afterwards with a giant pint having just gone like where's the train body um oh wow yeah it's not it's nice playing Shadow heart who has a little bit more gravitas um to say the least so how have you how have you been processing Shadow heart and Baldur's Gate 3 for the last few weeks because it has been a whirlwind and I'm guessing you're not used to this sort of attention are you really no I mean I get a lot of attention from my girlfriend on a day-to-day basis but uh she's very attentive but this is this is something else it's wonderful um and I'm sure there's like a lot of a lot of the actors on this game will feel the same way but it's so wonderful we've been doing this for so long well four years of our lives and like Shadow heart really she really hit something deep within me um in a way that I don't think a character has really hit me this hard before and for like personal reasons but also I think John Corcoran the writer like it's next level and and got to depths of human well half elf but you know what I mean emotion and um and it it just it meant so much and of course you do it in isolation and you work with these incredible directors from like I mean it was mostly Ariana the performance director but I worked with um loads of voice directors as well who were amazing um best park in tinny steel um mainly but like loads of others as well and you know we really fought and um as in thought hard to like get this like truth out of the character and and to make sure that we were honoring her story but you kind of do it and then you know you go well this might affect a couple of people and that's all you know that's all we'll want is just for a couple of people for it to resonate with and now getting messages every day really from people that have been so emotionally affected by it and and by her story and have like and it's like it's helped some people through stuff and it's it's made people feel seen in certain ways and all the things that happened to me when I was recording it it's now happening to others and like there's like there's a feeling of like almost like response is it responsibility the right word I'm not sure but like it's like this Collective thing that I I have felt that I'm now sharing like that we're all sharing with other people and my brain is just doing that at all times but it's it's one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had because I suppose it's like the art we've made and I love that that's come from a video game and that people are spending hundreds of hours with us and and just feeling so much about it and not just like obviously we want people to have fun and have this great experience but to have this like deeper connection yeah zebra connection is just it's more than I could ever have hoped for I'm just I'm like I feel joyous I like I don't think I've ever felt so proud of anything that I'd done so yeah it is magical do you think this this role will change your life because I feel like I heard you say you've changed as an actor after this process I feel like you said that in an interview recently yeah I I fully stand by that I think I mean the last the last four years have have changed us all I think because of world events for sure and but I think as I've I've understood myself more and like being on my own personal journey of that um which I'm still very much on um but I think I think that kind of changed my relationship with Shadow heart and and how I felt about her and therefore totally influenced her performance my performance of her so that worked grammatically so yeah I I absolutely think that Shadow heart was kind of instrumental in that as well because it allowed business actors like the the really cool thing about it is that we get to explore parts of ourselves like me as Jen like I'm I'm quite like bouncy and and hopefully not all the time definitely not when I'm tired or hungry but like I I hope to be quite lovely and friendly and obviously Shadow heart is not light and fluffy and it allowed me to explore that side of myself that strength and that determination that I wouldn't share and like we all have all these different aspects within us I don't think I think it's really reductive to go like I'm a shy person I'm a loud person we all have yeah and you know and that's what I love about acting is that it isn't like we aren't characteristics um so yeah exploring those depths of my character through Shadow heart has a thousand percent um helped me grow so cheers Shadow heart you've contributed to my therapy why do you think you were chosen for the role I have no idea when I audited honestly like when I got this part I was like I do you mean me who usually pays like kids in your game yeah and I auditioned so I think I I don't know whether it was the same for everyone but I I think it was with Dev and and Neil anyway who have definitely spoken to you about it but we were given like several different races that it wasn't like a particular role I wasn't auditioning for shadow heart I was just auditioning for the game and so I you know did my various like I think I auditioned for like a drow and maybe um a dwarf and I can't remember what else and so you know you're just like I just played about with it and and I think that half elves one I think I just kind of played with that Stillness and and that power and I I think because it wasn't for one specific thing it meant that I could really play with all the different sides of myself and so obviously somebody saw something but I think what's really beautiful about Shadow heart is a character is that yeah as I said she isn't that kind of one she isn't one specific thing she isn't just sassy she isn't just strong there's a deep vulnerability in her and maybe because I am not outwardly that kind of character that kind of um I'm going to be mean to you it allowed for other kind of what word am I looking for Dan like kind of like currents of other things to yeah yeah to steep underneath so I but I don't honestly I still to this day I'm a bit like it's just a [ __ ] I'm sure you wanted me even before no not four years later come on maybe impossible imposter syndrome is real you know uh yeah I'm just still just like without being too like hashtag blast um but yeah I don't want to be gross but I am still so grateful um to to be here and um yeah it's but like I think one of the things I'm most kind of thrilled by is the audience and and the fans of this game like I don't know what I was expecting but the level of like respect and intelligence and um like interesting chats with people and like so kind and right yeah such a great fan base um like I just want to be best friends with everyone I talk I'm not joking um uh and to be fair of everyone that I know that plays Dungeons and Dragons like you have to have that level of like creative intelligence I think to want to do that in the first place so I think that's perhaps where it comes from and that kind of individuality because you're not doing your run-of-the-mill I don't know you're not sitting down and watching your violent not that there's anything wrong with sitting down I love watching Love Island but you're participating in something that's so unique and like there's no copy paste of what a Dungeons and Dragons game will look like like every single campaign will be vastly different to each other so yeah so I think just the type of person that wants to pay Boulders Gate 3 has that um and I love it um and I I love yeah I haven't touched words come across I'm sure it will but no I haven't seen any toxicity like it's really wholesome which is exactly what I'm here for with a few like swear words thrown in and it's a wholesome I mean Dan there's a there's a lot of horniness going on too but as far as like the instructions go yeah there is a lot of horniness you're right horny horny and wholesome we can be done how did you find that side of it I'm curious those romance scenes and all that like how did you you know because they did a really good job I feel well they do a really good job yeah I think I mean obviously every character's romance storyline is is different I love I love Shadow Hearts that I mean there's there's like there isn't one romance with Shadow heart it's completely dependent on the player and how you interact with it obviously um but even in all of those iterations I'm really proud of that um yeah I was actually having brunch with Tom one of the voice directors today Tom Mitchells who was Intro instrumental in getting um an intimacy director in um and I loved that uh like he he really he was just like this needs to happen and it did and I felt so safe I had my girlfriend there the whole time so you know like Ariana Veronica the performance director who's also an actor as well and so she just understands it and like all the directors made me feel so safe it it could have been awful and uncomfortable but it just never ever was and I think that's so vital because I think you can tell if an actor I mean I know about you but if you're watching something on the Telly and you go there's something off with this sex scene or this romance you really feel it and you're like oh can we fast forward it whereas if you can see that an actor is comfortable and um having fun and really feeling genuine and authentic then that makes us engage so it just it's a win-win for everybody for actors to feel safe um you're just going to get better art so yeah I'm such a big like fan of intimacy coordinators and um and just generally making actors and everyone and it's not just the actors that's the thing it's it's everywhere it's uh it's the mocap engineer it's the everyone was consulted once once we had into us we coordinated in like or it was at a one intimacy coordinator but she she just made sure that everybody in that set I suppose was comfortable with the content and I think that's yeah it should just be a baseline now um as we move forward so yeah so you remember you met your girlfriend through the game yeah yeah I did that's yeah it's pretty special wasn't it isn't it isn't it yeah so she was she was brought on I think six months after I started and um she the first time we met she goes oh I think it was like the first or second session she pipes in going hi hi Jen I'm I'm Ariana I'm your performance director um do you do you have ADHD and they're like who is this guy like and I was like ah don't know why you're asking uh yeah and like because I'm there like wiggling around because she needs like like she was like there's something like different about this and I think the way that I focus and uh anyway fast forward turns out I absolutely do have ADHD and you know you didn't know at the time I didn't know at the time and yeah so she just really got my movement and and helped me Reign stuff in because I just want to Wiggle all the time and you know that's not always appropriate and um with mocha out of the poor that everyone involved trying to learn between me and um and she managed to do it in a way that felt really like it wasn't like I was being like bound or anything and I couldn't move like it just meant that like I could understand my own movement better and anyway so yeah I just thought she was this amazing performance director which he is and kind of said or like I'd really like to have her on my sessions she she knows what to do with the character and um and then lo and behold now we're in love so um and living together and having a great time and she's you know running my running a Twitter account now she she's her own personal assistant but she is she is yes yeah she's a shadow heart Ambassador on Twitter wow so you yeah you fell in love and the rest is history that's that's amazing so yeah how did how did you react when you got that diagnosis of ADHD did it affect you in a good way like how did it very good right yeah yeah it was yeah it was very life-changing and and like it's interesting because I've noticed that a lot of um the fans of the game or certainly the people I've met maybe it's just the Fanta neurodiverse and I think a lot of people who play video games are new rate of US like this is like a bg3 neuro neuro spicy family um yeah it's it's been one of the most like life like that I mean this is part of the four years of life-changingness um of uh Shadow heart and and ADHD yeah so yeah I was diagnosed one was it it was in the middle of the pandemic at some point where which I think a lot of us who suddenly you know had to listen to ourselves and be still and not fill our lives with busyness when that kind of Falls away and you go hang on something's really something's not right and obviously the like ongoing like online conversation and I think um you know assigned female at Birth people um realizing that their neurodiversity is different to the kind of assigned male at Birth like which is where a lot of the research goes into and what a lot of the diagnostic criteria is based on um I think we all like a lot of us kind of went oh oh this is me oh this is me um and yeah to to do that while I can't remember I've literally I've just done the most ADHD thing ever and completely got distracted by my own thoughts whilst talking about ADHD well done me um but yeah and so so that was like realizing that I wasn't stupid and that I wasn't there wasn't something inherently wrong with me that I wasn't a failure because in my memories my short-term memory is crap or that that I'm not a failure because I can never remember to close cupboard doors or you know all those little things that add up to a big pile of Shame um did you feel like a failure a lot of the time completely I mean from a kid like I it's that feeling of because a lot of like one of the big um uh symptoms of ADHD is executive dysfunction which is when when you just can't do the usual things that you want to do and so things like um I like I would want to do my homework I'd really want to but my brain was telling me to not do it because obviously it just didn't have enough dopamine to do it so I'm there this like people pleasing kid just going I can't do my homework and I don't know why and having to turn up to school going I haven't done it and there's no excuse for me having not done it and I want to please you and I can't and now I'm being told off and I'm crying so and and and being called a crybaby because emotional dysregulation is or emotional regulation is a is it yeah emotional dysregulation is like a massive symptom um and uh you know being told from the age of four that I'm this crybaby and I've got all these feelings and I don't know what to do with them and not knowing why I'm crying all the time and when actually you know again it's it's part and parcel of being a person with ADHD so yeah I had some and it's something I'm still definitely unpicking and and and unlearning that kind of I am not a a bad person because I feel deeply or I'm not a bad person because I forget birthdays which you know or I find it really difficult to reply to some people sometimes because my brain is telling me I can't do it so it's definitely a journey that I will still be on for many years I'm sure but I think I found a community of people and and like my girlfriend has ADHD as well which is why I probably should have filled that in in the story which is why UT also really spotted it in me wow and so early on yeah I completely missed that bit of the story down but you know no no that's it makes me a hard person to interview I'm sure um um yeah I forget stuff all the time and I forget parts of stories all the time and I just think I've said it and I haven't oh at least we got the full story now no at least at least we I'm sure there's loads of it that alion is like you forgot to say that you promised her um yeah and and how does have you dealt with the sort of all the messages coming through like that side of it do you um can't reply to them all you know what I mean like I've been I've been trying have you I think I'm glad that I'm glad that I'm not on Twitter my mental health would plummet if I was which is why I'm very glad that alian is on it then she's much better replying um Instagram I've been trying really hard to to reply to everyone um and yeah and like I'm doing my best can't promise that like I'll keep no I am gonna try yeah I'm attempting because I don't want to for anyone to feel and and that's where I like I'm sure as time goes on I'll find um my way through it a bit better as far as like you know maybe a lot in time to do it because it's really hard to and one thing I'm never navigating now is like okay I've got to be careful to not let social media run my day um so maybe in the future it'll be like okay I have my like allotted time and I'll go on Instagram and reply to everyone but um yeah at the moment I am a little bit glued to this why have I got myself I don't know why I've got my thoughts done yeah so you are you are kind of glue at the moment just sort of looking things up looking at different scenes I'm guessing I am loving watching scenes that not just not of me like I'm unless just in general like just watching all my friends do incredible work um yeah I mean I could literally listen to Amelia Tyler's voice all day every day I think it's one of the best I think we all could I think it's just like just universally unbelievable for a very good reason like yeah it's just so good and so funny as well um but I think that's what I love about the game is that you've got this like depth and um intensity and then you've just got so much humor and horniness and lightness as well at the same time and you know I love that makes me very happy so you're not gonna play it I'm going to I am I am borrowing my girlfriend's 19 year old brother's PS5 and I am playing this game um I I am gonna do it whether I'll be any good at it remains to be seen you reckon you're all going to have to help me but I am going to do it yeah I'm not are you gonna are you gonna stream for me maybe if we can work out how to do that I'll help you out if people help you if people want to then yeah absolutely you'll see me being incompetent at it but it would be lovely because also so much like because we didn't record fully in like in wonderful linear order that would have been easy um like obviously we're like recording stuff from act one right up until the end and you know you're not quite sure when you do it where this is going to sort in and what your surroundings look like and who you're talking to and so you know like you know what they sound like maybe but you might not know what they look like until much later on and so yeah I am so excited to play it and come PS5 launch so yeah oh so we could be streaming you never know I'd be screaming yeah I think an eye on your Instagram hey yeah exactly Dad how do I do twitch you'll be right Neil Neil's helped you a lot I know and he'll he'll probably yeah he's uh definitely he's an expert at everything that guy I don't I don't know anything he's bad at you know can you find his weakness he's good tonight I will find his weakness and exploit it that can be my next tasks up I'm just gonna fight I'm just gonna exploit me yeah uh what is what is near a bad day I don't know that's a very good question I think he's bad at resting yeah I'm not saying anything still that's what Neil's bad at um yeah no he's he's been he's been amazing he's kind of held held my hand all the way through this I'm very grateful for Neil newborn um and all of the origins actually like uh Deborah Wilde who plays blazel the irony that she is one of my most wonderful friends when Lazelle and Shadow heart hate each other but we like just we just like I adore that woman so much and yeah and yet do we get on in the game not at all but um yeah no the the the actors on this game have are just I love how everyone's so invested in it and they're so invested in this game and I wonder if it's because we've spent so long doing it and and it's seen us through it's seen us through a pandemic and yeah um you know like it's such a long period of time but every like you know like Samantha Bayer and I like text each other Tarlac and Shadow heart stands and you know all the fan art of those two because believe me I've upgated that uh that relationship with karlak as much as I can and shallow heart fancies Carlock I have made it now oh really okay it's official well it's official in my mind yeah yeah no Shadow heart definitely has a question yeah I don't know how much it's reciprocated but who cares I think that's the good thing about Shadow heart like even if it's not she's like yeah whatever I'm still amazing so yeah did Shadow Heart Change didn't she because she yeah what was it originally compared to what we got in the final product so originally she was she was far more acerbic and prickly and she still can be and it's funny because I spoke to Jonah the writer a little bit about that I mean there is still that option yeah but I think if you play your cards right um and you know you don't do the things that shallow heart doesn't want you to do I've put in too many negatives there she you do do the things she does want you to do that yeah I've made it easier for myself then um then absolutely she she can be a bit Kinder um yeah and and uh less guarded I mean she's guarded for sure um still but yeah I think at the beginning she was just pure mean um which is really fun to play but I think actually we needed we needed a bit more variation there um so yeah but I think I think the fans were kind of instrumental in that and you know I think Ariana said today um because she always makes fun of me for using the word like love letter like I'll watch something be like that's a real love letter for that um no I love saying that um but this this game is of such a love letter to the fans um and uh I think the way that they've been so the fans have been so instrumental in the creation of this game um you know I think is really special I don't know I mean I don't know how many other games are like that where it's been so collaborative um but as far as which is so cool and it just says so much about larian's ethics uh work ethic and things so yeah um so I think the fans kind of went actually I would like to see a different side of Shadow heart and you know very quickly we did um as a result so thank you guys yeah and now now we've got this very very human for one of the best word character um which which I adore playing so yeah we will get into some more uh questions about Shadow heart but I want to do a quick Side Track too because I know you're an avid book lover what are you reading at the moment if anything give us some recommendations I've literally just started tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by Gabrielle's Evan yeah um which is about like I haven't got to the plot bit but it's about video game production so I I don't know how it's going to be I haven't read it but it looks really good it's got great reviews so that's what I'm reading at the moment um what other books have I read recently been reading lots of sad girl literature um and I need to step away from that a bit because there's a great article in the guardian about it but I'm like yeah I'm kind of done with that genre for now because too much I don't want to it's just too much like I love it and there's so many beautiful writers that write about it but I'm like you know I've done enough feeling sad so for now I'd like to pause on that are there many comedy books okay there are I think I like the kind of Comedy book where people go is that comedy you know like I think that always tickles my tickle like there's a really Marmite book called my year of rest and relaxation which honestly you go if people have read it they either go that's funny and Brilliant and I loved it or they go I absolutely [ __ ] hated that book and I wanted to throw it into the River Thames I found it really funny yeah you loved it I loved it I loved it I loved it um yeah I think because she like is such a toxic unlikable protagonist and I just I found the whole concept of it was basically she tries to self-medicate for a whole year um she tries to take sleeping pills to try and sleep through this year and I just I just thought it was genius and it's how a lot of us have felt um where you just I think you're just like I'm out I'm out of life I just want to I just wanna I just wanna sleep so um very relatable but yeah I quite I do quite like it and toxic protagonist sometimes maybe that's why I love Lazelle so much oh shade of shade Lele so what's your all-time favorite series book series I'm curious or give me a couple I love book series for me it's all about his dark materials I could reread that every year um absolutely love that absolutely love that um but like favorite books I loved um Cersei Madeleine Miller very very big on the on the tick tock what's that one I uh so it's a reimagining of um The Odyssey but Through The Eyes of Cersei who I think is a witch but I like I love anything Greek mythology um I only read I only read The Odyssey um like a few years ago and I was like well I like because I didn't go to a private school so I didn't study Classics and although I would absolutely love to apparently but yeah I I really adored it although it's like yeah I'd like to I think what I loved about Cersei is that it was through the lens of a woman and not you know and the thousands of year old men telling stories I think we're kind of done with that but yeah so um yeah Cersei highly recommend that um I've got I'm looking at all my books I moved in with 14 meters of books when I moved in with my girlfriend 14 meters meters yeah we because we had to sort out shelving and things oh my goodness yeah I really like I really like your house as a library it is pretty Library um I need another bookcase as well because I just I like yeah as well when does the obsession end when when does The Collection stop it never stops we're going to keep the train going yeah just love them so much so if anyone wants to talk books with me yeah there we go I love it do you have any do you have any aspirations to write a book or anything not at all just to read it and just to read it I think if I suddenly woke up with the inspiration and went yeah I really want to write this story then I absolutely would but I've I've just never had that I like to write poetry um not to share with anyone else just as like my own personal creative thing and I think we should have more of that I think there's always this like kind of pressure of like oh you do a creative thing and that's to make money somewhere or to show someone and maybe actually like draw some bad drawings just for yourself write some bad poetry just for yourself and you know enjoy the fact that it's a bit [ __ ] that's where I'm at in my life anyway like be a bit rubbish at stuff and I think it's it's hard like I'm a perfectionist on so many levels um which is I think a really toxic trait of mine frankly um and uh doesn't make you very happy and so I think it's really good to practice being rubbish and you say that but your poetry could be magnificent and we would know that is also true yeah you've got to be brave enough to be seen sometimes yeah it's hard like I think it's a tough one because when you read so much and you can consume so much like but good literature and good art like I have such a high standard for it like I'm a bit of a book snob and and so like if I write something I'd want it to be as good as yeah it's a real tricky one it's a real tricky one but then I feel like I'm a bit like that with my acne as well like I hold such high standards for myself um and and really push myself to do like as beautiful a job as possible and I probably have a lot more fun if I took that pressure off myself and probably do a better job I think where I've really relaxed into things and gone it's okay I can I can fail a bit that's probably where I've done my best work so you know I think I think a lot of us are on that Journey aren't we but uh like the creativity like what what is it like where you uh there's a there's a there's a word for it down or like there's a name for it where you've got the you've got the peak of Mount stupid and then you've got the the bit of Despair I know what you're talking about oh that's gonna bug me I know what you're talking about Valley of Despair and you know I feel like hopefully I'm in the Valley of Despair rather than the people come out stupid um yeah uh yeah that's brilliant oh goodness me we better get into some fan questions I mean oh yeah I don't think I've I don't think I've ever had this many come through like I'm really ever 150 episodes there is so many we're just simply not going to be able to get to them but we'll do our best to get through as many as possible um Homer Homer lives says I noticed changes in how Shadow heart interacts with the main character from Early Access to release version did you record all the dialogue at once or did Larry and bring you back for rewrites to the dialogue oh so many rewrites and so many uh yeah I've been back in and as I said before like we've I mean right up into the end we were doing stuff we would sometimes go oh this is a scene from act one and you go oh great okay where where is Shadow heart at on this journey like what what's been going on yet that must be tough though it's really like thank God for our directors who are there to help with that but yeah we jump about all over the place so yeah there's been so many rewrites and so many um versions of things and yeah like the way we interact like the way I interact with the player is going to be really different if you're a fellow Sharon and you're Romancing me then if you're a gif and or a saloonite you know like we the way I interact with with the way the companions re interact with the player like very hugely so it might also be that you're on a different playthrough and you've made slightly different choices and therefore the story is going to go very differently for you because you you've made one choice instead of another and you've gone on like diverging paths that's that's the beauty of this game so yeah I'm not surprised hey do you know what race you're going to choose for your playthrough do you know um what are you gonna do I'm thinking I'm doing lots of research about it I think I'd like to be a drip I think I'd like to be a druid I think I'd really like to to talk to all the animals and I think yeah because um yeah yeah I think I'd really like I'd really like that so I think Druid um from my first playthrough I'm not sure I'll probably get to the character creation and be like a drought you know darker I'm not doing dark Edge will you be one of those no oh okay will you be one of those people that spends like six hours with a creator eight almost guaranteed look I'm a Sims child like guys on the first things and you know where you spent like and we had an awful computer and it would literally like I would go I'd set it loading go off and have my tea and then come back and it would still be loading that's that's how rudimentary it was um I'm showing my age here and to Sims talk how could your Sims talk um one of my favorite things is to listen to Katy Perry singing in simlish it makes me like like listen to it it's like if you just wanna if you just want to feel a bit happier in life then and do that oh goodness me when when's the last time you played Sims I'm guessing it's been a while like since since I was a kid so yeah I think oh wow yeah I will just we will just lose me forever if I say The Sims again I just can't do it so yeah character creation like it will be a full day thing because also I can't make decisions so I've got a decision that I need you to make Act One hairstyle or act three hairstyle okay be careful of spoilers here don't I hyper shock 1994.3 okay love it I have to agree as well spoiler water spoiler water spoiler water okay next question did you prefer Shadow heart or sweetheart genevelle that's a massive spoiler understanding I'm sorry spoiler oh that hit me in the gut when you said that you can't see that here like spoiler hey this is the top question by the way so everyone's obviously yeah everyone's already in on it I think well look look I there are similarities in a name for a reason um I uh I love this part of the story when I first read it it made me cry I really yeah so you can't have one without the other yeah so how can I choose like it's like choosing a part like it's too too rich and too much apart um too intertwined so I can't choose but that I know what part when I play it I know what path I will go down and it's it's the one you probably think yeah the one that's more like yeah yeah and so you were you you read the script and you you just you were kind of just sitting there sort of wow this writing is incredible I had no idea yeah I think John Corcoran I think he deserves all the awards I mean all the writers on this game are fantastic and obviously I mainly deal with John um and I I think he's such a talent and he wrote Shadow Hearts yeah yeah that's his baby and and so honored that I get to read his words you know that I get to that that I I'm the one that gets to the get I mean he writes other characters as well he wrote house in and he's done amazing work all over this game but that's that's kind of his child isn't it like yeah and yeah and yeah like I'm so honored to be the one that that plays Shadow Hearts for his writing as much as anything else and and obviously like the animation and the design and all the people at larion and all the people that pit stop who record the dialogue and and the mocap and edit it and like everyone involved is like holds such a huge place in my heart and deserves all the praise that it's getting but um but yeah yeah John so John knows how to how to destroy people's hearts including mine so yeah I love him so he's he's off like whenever you're shooting a scene you can contact him on slack right if you need it if you have any questions I mean I I didn't but like it's really it was mainly Ariana actually and they still they still message a lot and I mean all day sometimes they're really good friends I mean like and I'm like they're like hi I love you um the other third wheel yeah I'm the third wheel in this and I'm okay with that no um yeah I'm really hoping I get to meet him soon because I haven't actually met him yet which is nuts um because Larry and are all over the world that's crazy yeah literally everywhere and you're like am I talking to you in Canada or Malaysia or against or um yeah they're all over the shop or Dublin and Guildford you don't like it everywhere so yeah so there's so many people that I haven't met and I just want to like condom whether they want to cuddle me or not I don't know consensual cuddle I love a good cuddle yeah have a good hug uh I think me and Shadow heart differences no she's a tough nut to cry because I am yeah yeah uh that one was from this one is from morica sorry if I'm getting your names wrong guys Jeremy Lee the voice actor for cyberpunk 2077's protagonist V shared that in order to get into the character she would start off by saying what's on the menu a couple of times to find the voice was there a quip that you did to get into the voice of Shadow heart no not to get into the voice that just kind of that was easy it for me it was the physicality because she's she's like a trained Warrior right and I am not I am a pretty good I saw you on top of a hot air balloon I mean I couldn't do that something called base pose which all of our uh when we record mocap every we always go back to the same bass pose so for me to really find the character no that's the T phase that's the t-post yeah and we've been doing apos for the last couple of years as well so um no we do the ROM and which is where you you do all these different movements to to get all the soft hands so I'm such a wouldn't understand you guys um uh so yeah you do it like you're on and then once that's all so all the systems calibrated and it's got all your skeleton all in the system and stuff right yeah then you do your repos and then you do your base post which for and everyone's character-based pose is slightly different um and me getting into Shadow heart it was this kind of raising of the chest and shoulders back and right foot forward and yeah so I'd find her confidence physically yeah confidence for sure and like groundedness um so that was the way that like I would immediately be like Shadow heart and the other day I was recording a cameo for someone who wanted a message from Shadow heart directly and um I I was going to do it from the sofa and I was like I can't I had to get up and just do my bass pose and then and then I could get into it but yeah that's that's how I feel her physically um not vocally vocally vocally was fine that's interesting yeah yeah [Music] I absolutely love doing them and the problem is that like I think you're supposed to do a minute and I'm there like talking three minutes later yeah your own personal podcast from me um yeah like yeah if you want me to reply that's the thing like I love a voice note I'm one of those Millennials that lost the voice note it's personal podcast for your friends they're great it just feels so much more personal and also I got fat fingers I always misspell things uh you know I and also like I can't walk and text at the same time I just do not have that multitasking capability I wish I could I know people do at the other day I'd try to and I stacked it in the middle of Battersea and I've now got a job on my knee yeah because I tried to text when I should have voice noted oh no well I hope the recovery is going all right and so it's a tough one frankly uh you can all send me flowers and grapes grapes I don't know what what else do you get when you you slightly grated Jacqueline Sparrow is there a particular scene or moment that stands out as your favorite and did you ever get emotional yes and we just mentioned that before yeah yeah so for me spoilers but there's a particular moment that we probably all know that involves a couple of other people yeah you know what I mean yeah under certain big person and and yeah and I yeah I tried not to I think there was some there was a lot of Tears around that um I mean there's a lot like a lot but I just remember coming home and just being a little bit inconsolable um yeah that was really hurts yeah I mean I spent so long with this with this with Shadow heart and I'm so like invested in her story and so when something like this came along it of course it was going to affect like that like I knew I knew if John did something like that I would probably fall apart and I did like you know healthily fell apart but um I'm okay guys don't worry but um yeah I it's really hard like acting and I think it's why like I don't know how people do like full-on method acting like Lady Gaga and um Gucci and things like it's going to because your brain can't or certainly mine can't differentiate I think that is a psychological thing where you kind of pretend something it's why like people smart you you tell someone to smile and sometimes I mean it's a little bit toxic positivity but you can smile and kind of trick your brain into thinking that you're happy right and why like laughter is so important and and things and so sometimes when you're acting you're like you know whether it's like anger or grief or like you can't your brain kind of goes oh yes I'm feeling those things like of course and when you're really invested in in that it's so hard and not to for that not to like seep into you and I think like so many of us and I know like so many of the origin characters specifically but actually like all 278 I feel like the general feeling is like yes like in investment and importance in our characters and I think that's what makes this game so special as well um is that everyone cares so deeply and the directors cared so deeply and what everyone does everyone's passionate aren't they it seeps through passion into the world it really and of course it does of course it does and um and it goes both ways you know like I think the more passionate the fans are the more passionate the creators are and and you know we just kind of hype each other up in this gorgeous snowball of positivity and passion but yeah I I like of course I was going to be affected by that and um yeah it was exhausting and I think there was one point where I I felt like it was a real like I needed a good few days off like and thank goodness I did but like I like I'm it it was hard it was really hard and I'm glad it was hard you know like I'm glad I that I that the writing and the story was good enough like as good as brilliant as it was that I could feel like yeah it shouldn't be easy privilege yeah exactly yeah we don't want to be in our comfort zones and I don't want to just stroll along and um and Coast I want to I want to feel this passionate about something so yeah it's nothing but a privilege I like I just want to make that no no it's it's abundant I hope you've made that clear and and yeah it but it yeah that that scene that I think if you played the game and and followed Charlotte hot story you know what I mean um yeah there was a huge huge amount of emotion that day well those days because it took a while but um yeah did you get yeah I got two on there did you were you nervous heading into that scene and secondly did you get any direction from anyone on that scene with we we collaborate all the time so um like so at all points there's a there's a performance director and a voice director and it's a constant conversation so like nothing like I'm not out here directing myself no way no I I just mean particular like did you get any specific sort of guidance or anything like that for that scene I mean it's yeah I mean I'm trying to remember now I'm just like it's been a while I think it was yeah it's been a while it's been a while I think I was made to feel I think it wasn't so much that I mean obviously all the time as I say like every line is directed and but I think for at that point I mean there's there's a point where for all especially the origins where we got to a point in our story where we know the characters so deeply and the directors do as well and so there is an element of just kind of going for it and I think with the big emotional start it didn't really need too much because it was all kind of there in the text and in the story so there didn't have to be a huge amount of pushing from anyone to to get us to those places like with with Neil doing a story and his like giant storyline which is beautiful and um you know like it like I think it's just a case of making the actors feel safe enough that they can go to those places and I think that was the beauty of the working progress is that uh process even that that we did feel that safety and that support from the team that we could just let go right I'm going to go through a really vulnerable place here and I know that you're going to be holding me at the end of it were you shooting yourself absolutely but then I think I was shifting myself all the way through um I think I'm just I'm just constantly shooting yourself on set just constantly [ __ ] myself literally a shot I'm called charts for a reason guys constant shafting it's funny you say that was actually like that was actually a question do you know about shot yeah that's funny but also I think I think Tilly uh one of my amazing voice directors I feel like she created like she didn't create I mean shark created itself you know but um she's been calling me sharp for years um yeah this is my nickname childhood nickname yeah what was the origin of that you can shouted yourself one day yeah sounded myself one day and the rest is history done I'm sorry um my name is my only nickname I have many nicknamese Jake or are we oh God that's funny yeah so so you were you were kind of nervous throughout yes yeah I mean yeah I don't know if nervous is I don't know if nervous is the right word you're probably excited as well yeah I think it's more I think it was more the the weight of responsibility without sounding too uh about it but like I think I think especially I think the turning point for me was um going to my first Comic-Con and meeting the people playing the game and I think meeting the people spending those hours with with us that really shifted I mean I've always felt it I've always felt that kind of we've got to do this Justice um I've always felt that like level of care for it but I think that really meeting the people and seeing how wonderful they are and kind and generous like you wouldn't believe like how wonderful the people I've met are like you're a bit like do you actually exist like are you just beautiful deity Angel things coming into like what um but I think meeting meeting them and kind of going right I'm doing this I'm doing this for you um that sounds a bit holier than now but you know what I mean like that kind of yeah I think I think Meeting those people like meeting people and going right okay you are spending so much time with these characters I mean there's what a hundred and what was it Valerian says two hours of Cinema 10 context so that's what like 80 films worth of content [ __ ] I didn't think about it like that that's crazy like and how invested do we feel after watching One fail you know you can watch one film and be like I love these characters I love this film like and it's only and two hours long so let alone all of that and you're playing as an extension of yourself as a character it's not just you're watching it you're playing it you're living it and so I think that really shifted something in me and made me not nervous but gave me a different angle of care towards it and so I think I've just always felt like yeah it's not it's not nerves but it's certainly an awareness which I think is it the best motivator ever like I never once went oh I don't want to go to work today because how could you feel like that when you've got people people like that coming up to you and going like I've really enjoyed this story like like you know yeah it's just again I don't want to sound too hashtag blessing four years of your life I think you yeah seriously thanks um Peril 2077. do you prefer Shadow Hearts more heroic redeeming Journey or do you like the more villainous route more I I mean it kind of touched on that I I mean for me the the heroic one because you know like you've got a hero savior complex or something no I think we all want to be good right however I did have a lot of fun I did have a lot of fun doing more villainous aspects of her um I didn't find it very difficult which I thought I would maybe I am a secret villain [Laughter] maybe so you thought you were going to struggle with that but I yeah I genuinely thought oh I'm gonna find that really hard now I loved it I think maybe maybe like you know I keep on protesting about the dark Edge and about how I'd never do it maybe I'm starting to question that yeah yeah I'm starting to question myself starting to question myself maybe I do just want to murder everyone I don't actually I don't really I have to go the good path when I play a game for the first time I can't bring myself to be the villain until the second or third playthrough I just there's something I don't know I just can't I feel like that's a lot of like like from what from talking to people I feel like that's generally how it goes they'll do a couple of playthroughs and just try really hard and then and then just go [ __ ] it you know Murder everyone and plot and scheme and be awful and I'm like yeah I do it much better you do it in a video game than in real life right so you know yep 100 uh White Hawk what was your experience with Dungeons and Dragons did you have any interest in uh I've always wanted to do it and I just like I just I just haven't been invited um no I just like like yeah I know so I'd like I've always I've always wanted to do it and you know I was the kids like I grew up in the middle of nowhere and I always played imaginary games by myself and like created these worlds by myself and I've always loved like I always loved the imaginary play like I was that I was that child that was a bit weird um in a good way and I think I've always got this like urge to do I mean that's what probably why one of the many reasons why I'm an actor um and I'd love I'd love to kind of stretch that muscle again outside of work or acting um so yeah I think maybe we need to set one up with all of the origin origin characters of The Companions and oh that'll go crazy yeah and that would be so much fun um so yeah I I'd love I'd love that so yeah I I I'd really like to and I've kind of always wanted to um yeah but it's just it's just not happened so um yeah eventually definitely um but knowing me I'd get like so invested and emotional about it and cry Maybe just get really drunk or I don't really drink that much but you know I don't know I'm just like worried that I'd get too into it too into it yeah yeah favorite line with lizelle from jerich 86. for me it was Barry the hatchet okay remember that one that's bad I've got so many have I written any down no and whenever you ask someone your favorite line they just they forget yeah yeah because there's so many to choose there's so many there's so many like it's really tricky because there's like a few memes going around in my head and I'm like is that is that a line from the is that a line from the game is that I mean um like like my favorite one at the moment that's going around is with all due respect which I have none um but uh yeah I can't I'm sorry I've failed that question I failed I started it I've sharted it just so many I'm like absolutely but um yeah yeah I love I love the lady Al banter I love it it makes me really happy absolutely walrus says is Jen's girlfriend allowed to romance anyone but Shadow heart in her playthrough [Laughter] uh that's a good that's a good question I don't think she would I don't think she would I don't know Carla's pretty I love Carlos I I think our romantic and she no I know actually I think she romances I think she's a romance day though yeah there's a connection there yeah I'm gonna ask her that no I wouldn't know I'm very I'm very cool yeah um yeah I think she'd romance today though we love Dev so that's okay she's she's allowed that one I think I'll romance karlak though um I'm not gonna romance myself that would be weird or will I yes you will come on yeah well yeah you have to you have to yeah yeah no I would like to see see them all like play out as I'm saying it that would be really cool maybe one player through where I romance myself and and another where I play as myself I know now I want to create a character um but yeah I think I think Ray Della Carla she's allowed Neo created a character and he's Romancing a story and I think so in his playthrough of course he is yeah of course he is darling darling yeah Des distant how do you feel now after seeing the character you portrayed is one of the most if not the most cherished character of the game by the community how does it feel I don't know I want to cry um can't oh I can't quite fathom it I'm just I'm just really grateful that she's been understood I think maybe because at the beginning when we first went on Early Access and I knew there were depths to her I just knew that like the prickly side was a front right and I'm like I just don't understand and I was a bit like oh God is everyone gonna hate her because she's not this like Labrador and it's not that there's anything wrong with the labrador Labrador um but it's just it's a little bit mind-blowing and a little bit like the best thing in the world and I'm just uh like again without being too like I'm so humble um it is just one of the best things that's ever happened to me and I'm just so like glad that people have seen it now and that that the work that we put in hasn't been in vain and that people like recognize not just and like it's not just my work in any way at all like I'm one tiny tiny part of this huge operation I mean how many people have invested years of their life they're logging on this game um like all the people at Larry in all the people at Pit Stop who record the dialogue and mocap all the game designers yeah animators game designers riggers um mocap technicians like there's and then like I've met like a tiny amount of them and they all tear so deeply about the game um and so yeah I'm just just a little bit astounded and like all of the origin characters uh are loved and in their own different ways from from karlak being like so there's like lovable creature to minsara and her dog evil ways to historian and his like dramatic Beauty and lays out like that like everyone is so special and loved by their own like fandoms and but I think also they're kind of loved by everyone as well and I just yeah and just so it's just proud it's really really proud of it I was gonna say have you ever been this proud about something you've worked on before yeah oh for sure like I've never worked on anything I've been really lucky and that I've done so much theater work that I've been like yeah again like I think I do get invested in pretty much everything I do um and like I'm I like I wish I could be a bit like oh yeah [ __ ] like um you know I don't care a lot more like like less like emotional about things but um yeah like I've done I've done safe work that I'm like especially that I'm like so proud of and I'm like so proud of Elder ring I mean I was like a tiny part in that but you know it like I was really just like a tiny Cog in in Alden ring but like I loved my character's storyline and um I thought that was beautiful and the writing and everything about that game was stunning yeah and like pretty much every game that I've worked on I'm like yeah I love that but yeah yeah I did I've done a lot of theater in the past and um again kind of like I Fall In Love quite easily as a person and with my with my work and with work that I do so like I do kind of I suppose like passionately advocate for the for the characters that I play and I try to only choose characters that I really um feel invested in and obviously there's been points in my career where I've gone like oh that wasn't my favorite project and I love that one as much you know yeah but for sure I I like I have been I have been really proud of the work work that I've done and the people that I've worked with really try to keep in touch with with people and and invest in in my friendships with people and stuff and and like I'm just really lucky that I have worked with a lot of incredibly talented and kind people in my life and and this game is no exception so yeah that's the weird thing though about being an actor you're always getting new friends and they're sort of like going to summer camp and then it's like sometimes it's like a holiday romance but with colleagues and friends yeah thank God for for social media because ah like that like I would I'd be I'd find it so hard to keep in touch with people but like I'm keeping in touch with ADHD is hard and I'm sure there's people listening watching this that is like that will have it that agree like that's something I really struggle with um but luckily like a lot of the friends that I've got are insanely patient um with me and and understanding but yeah you do you do and it's really hard to not go I'm going to be best friends with everyone because that is my instinct um and you have to go oh no probably not everyone because you'll be exhausted um yeah but uh but saying that like on this game like yeah that it it's I'm really glad I've got friends from this that are going through this at the same like we're all going through this at the same time and you know able to send each other the memes and um and the reactions and kind of going like oh so-and-so said this about you look and you know everyone's so proud of each other no I know there's a group chat for the um for the companions for the companions now is that group chat sort of a meme Fest what are we what are we looking at is it a meme Fest no do you know what it's not Samantha Bayer and I send each other um kalak and uh until their heart memes and they um they send me a lot of like Tumblr posts and I send them like reactions and stuff and Dev and I uh so me Adriana and Deborah all in a group chat which we've called schnitzel okay shout out lay down um lay Heart is also the other name and yeah yeah but yeah schnitzel we send each other a lot of memes yes because there is a lot of very high quality status meme content going on so yeah there is a lot of that there should be more memes there are some in there but who's making it makes these memes though you know I've never made a meme I'm not a smart enough I no I like if there was like a micro is there a Microsoft Paint that I could use I like how do people make them eat so I'm saying is there a main generator yeah there probably is isn't there yeah probably I imagine there is um I mean I did read out I did read out read out a meme as shallow heart that it was all and that went viral and I was not expecting that that Ariana put on her Twitter um so you know I can read I can read out the memes oh [ __ ] uh Hopscotch was this your first motion capture experience yeah it was yeah yeah I've never done it before life that was scary I was nervous the first day for sure um yeah so I don't think people really know that we MoCA nearly everything so everything pretty much there are a few like where we're running through you know various places and we're like ah statue like that's not mocaps that'll be well I think it is but not by us um but like everything pretty much where we speak that Smokehouse I did the uh I reading out the the meme and people were like oh you've got you've got her head head tilt and I'm like yeah because I that's me the hotel is me guys um so yeah I don't even quite understand but we did we did all of that mocap so and then of course Darion and there's a team in Guildford that did all the amazing uh other bits of mocap and I think they did it up in Dublin as well and weirdly Aliana who um uh my girlfriend who was obviously the performance director she did a lot of the makeup with them um as did Neil and Josh whitchard he's one of the um uh the Taps so as well as other people um and uh yeah so they would do like the more complicated like stuff technical language again I'm so good at it and so like you know things like like the the rump like proper like sex no I know what you mean yeah yeah not me but you know everything where I talk me yeah the sort of I think I think I've represented that right I'm sorry if I said something wrong so many things have I said that right yeah so I know Neil he did um when you're selecting the characters at the start he did sort of the body movements for all the characters I know that yeah so there's different that's why mine's rubbish yeah yeah so Leo did loads and I think he's done bits of Shadow heart and uh I'm sure he has I think he's done this with everyone and yeah but for the most part it's yeah yeah lots of time in a in a like absolute with all the bubbles and loads of cameras on you deeply uncomfortable and when it's hot is the last thing thank you I can imagine I'll give you a few more I know we're really appreciative of your time by the way that's all right that's fine yeah sawyer249 why did it take till the end of act two for you to kiss me we spent the night together and kissed all the way back in act one and we're obviously dating what happened look look I'm sorry um she doesn't make it easy but then isn't it more rewarding you don't want it to be easy you know not we're not all like Gail you wanna you wanna work a bit you know yeah hard to get like otherwise you're done and then you can just move on to someone else no work it work it work for a bit enjoy enjoy the pain okay enjoy your um what's it called where you've got like your your attachment anxious attachment enjoy your anxious attachment being exploited you know good things Don't Come Easy do they yeah yeah I don't know I don't know severe Artisan thanks for the opportunity to ask Jenna question my question is what do you like the best what do you like the best about shadowhunt as a character um so many things I love I really love her vulnerability and I think that's where I really enjoyed myself those glimmers of of her like figuring herself out and and the inner conflict and I think you really see that early on that conflict coming through I think it would be easy to write her off as this you know like it makes me cross when people are like oh she's an evil character like she absolutely isn't and you really see that like if you try if you really notice you you see that that isn't the case from the get-go 100 yeah well not quite not quite the get-go maybe but yeah but you know like like in the T like with the tiefling massacre and you know hopefully that's probably another spoiler but it's early on so I'm like come on um uh but there's a lot going on um under the surface and those moments where we get to show that um and you know there's always that and that's what made it such a really interesting creative process because it's like how much is she showing here because we could have played it guarded all the way through but what's the right balance yeah what's the right balance and so there was always this this really clever play of of like how much are we showing here where are we at with the player at this point like what's the approval rating at this point like titty titty Steele one of the voice directors really good at that going right okay the the approval rating is here so I think at this point she's like just friendly enough that she can show this but not too much that she's really obvious about it so we were always really specific and I'm very like detail-orientated in the room um so that we could get a very like individual approach so one person's playthrough with Shadow heart is going to be completely different to the other and that's that's by Design you know and that's like the writing as well um and and we were always really careful about that because it isn't a one-site fit all just like in life you know how I'm going to act with you Dan is going to be really different to how you know I might be with I'm gonna hopefully like it would be weird if I was Snogging you but you know what I mean like like we we have such different relationships with everyone and why should that not be the case here um and and that's the beauty of the Dungeons and Dragons World you know so that it is different for everyone playing um I've forgotten what the question was what was it I've gone on such a tangent now no it was um oh [ __ ] now I've forgotten it um the question was oh yeah what was my favorite part yeah so I think that that you I did go on a tangent royally but that's okay um [Music] yeah they're encouraged then that's that's why we'll be friends forevermore because I am a tangent the the inner conflict um and her wrestling with what her morals are um I just found so fascinating Rue Boyd Jennifer's Instagram warms my Shadow Hearts and I can't wait to see what's next in her journey on that note are there any roles she would love to play in the future um how does it really uh thank you uh what was it rude rude boy or Rue boy Rue Boyd um thank you um where my I think it a lot of us as actors will go like all right like and maybe I did this at the beginning I really want to play Judy X and Romeo or I really want to play Lady Macbeth or something and I think where I've had my best roles and the most joy in my career is when I've kind of let the universe kind of go okay try this and it's never been what I've expected so other than like you know period drama children which is definitely something that's in my like comfort blanket like safe Zone um and I'm like yeah okay I don't mind saying that but um like Shadow heart I would never have picked for myself um and I think that's where I've I've really enjoyed life the most when I've gone this is not where I expected it to go and I think as soon as I grip onto I want to play these kinds of roles next then then I won't I just won't have as much fun the universe won't reward me as much that sounds a bit wee-wee you know what I mean like I think sometimes when you just let life go a bit and stop I mean like I need to take my own advice here but yeah but and you also can't control yeah yeah no and I don't know if I want to control and right now that might change in 10 years time yeah but at this point I'm like cool what's next um and I don't know what's next and and for the first time I'm really okay with that usually I think I'd be freaking the [ __ ] out but right now I'm like I'm just really enjoying this right now and and talking to Fascinating People and and enjoying the aftermath of this four years of work and so that's okay um so in answer I've got no clue what I want to do next but I'm very secure in that you know that's good that's actually really good because yeah a lot of actors are kind of like what's the next thing you know they can't sort of sit and breathe for a little bit and enjoy the ride enjoy the afterwards as you said yeah yeah and I want to enjoy the ride for a bit um I'm sure there will come a point where I'm like I Need A Five-Year Plan um but right now I'm okay yeah was there any inspiration for the voice and how flexible were Larry and When developing the tone and Pitch thank you so much for the for your work oh thank you um thank you thank you thank you for enjoying it um uh at First Shadow heart had a really different voice which I'm really glad we didn't stick with because I didn't like it um so we did we did play around with her voice quite a lot so At first she was like a bit deeper and just a bit more serious and then I think we had a little pause and came back to it and then started to realize that actually she can have a lot more fun and humor um and I think that's where we got a bit more like flexibility in her voice I've never really thought too much about it because I've just I think it's far more important as actors that we um or certainly for me anyway that we think mainly about what the character wants and what um like yeah what what the character wants and how they're going to get it and their relationship with the world around them the relationship with with the people around them and so the voice just kind of found me rather than me like creating something because I wanted it to feel really genuine and authentic and I wanted it to come from a really natural place rather than like I'm creating a character which is which is a totally valid way of going about it it's just not for not my way for this role either like because I think in every project I've kind of approached character differently and and tried something different because each story is different and each right and like each writer is different and each director is different so for that but for this one I after a little bit of experimentation just just she just kind of came she just like it was just a really natural thing which is kind of beautiful actually now I think I haven't really thought about it so thank you capita for a really really good question um and yeah as I said kind of said earlier the The Voice never felt difficult or that I had to like remind myself yeah like she just kind of sat in me quite quickly yeah the despite being so different from myself like I feel like she kind of lives somewhere inside of me uh without sounding too too weird about it but yeah so if you had to go back let's say and do more work on the character you'd you'd be able to go no problem straight away I hope so I mean like ask me in a year's time but yeah I I think so but I think I feel like that about a lot of characters I played that I could probably like give me give me you know five minutes half an hour to kind of look at to really think about it again but I think they do kind of stick with you not all of them I'm sure some of them I'm like I don't know which one was that and maybe some of the some of the characters that I played in um Divinity yeah I remember I don't think I don't think I'm really counting too many like the chest or something I probably wouldn't remember which voice I did but as far as like the characters that I've spent longer than you know an hour in a recording studio with um yeah they do kind of sit with you and and stay a part of you which I think is a nice way of me for me like now I'm just like kind of exploring this it's like free therapy sessions um like and I feel like yeah I think they they kind of add to who I am as an individual um and that's kind of how I want to see them um that they add something to my life um yeah it's quite beautiful already in it yeah that was a beautiful answer where'd you come up with that yeah yeah are you a teleprompter yeah I've got an author key right there [Laughter] Oak Enthusiast 90. I am also an oak Enthusiast I love oak trees I've stuffed it it's okay Enthusiast yeah sorry I got really excited about trees I love oak too man I'm I'm the okay I'll cut my fingers off for you Shadow heart so not a question more of a statement not sure please don't so please don't maim yourself until I ask self-care is important put yourself first in any relationship guys you've got to come first don't maim yourself this isn't what's the uh the Banshees of it in the Sharon okay I might have spoiled it a little bit but there does involve fingers and you know don't don't be don't go down that route guys it's not it's not healthy good movie that's with uh wolf uh I loved it yeah I loved it I loved it and if you liked it in Bruges then you know it's it's the same writer and um I think same director I'm assuming yeah I think so yeah yeah I think I know I know so it is so I don't know so and now I'm doubting myself but yeah go and see it I really loved it I really loved it and they have a donkey called Jenny and you know I'll call Jenny so deep connection there favorite flower obviously nice Orchid is uh Shadow heart's favorite flower for me Jen I love wild flowers and so not not dissimilar because I think you know and I talk or kid is probably I don't know if it is a wildflower in Builders gate land uh but uh yeah wild flowers for me I love them yeah beautiful um and then last one here is there anything you want people to take away from the character that's a really good question what do I want people to take away from the character that what first comes to mind when you ask that we're all so complicated and there's so much pain within all of us like I don't know a single person that hasn't like felt something deep or been hurt in some way and I think that that we're all so complicated and so capable of going down different routes in life and that I hope that shadow heart represents that that we can go through these very heavy difficult things and there's always this option to choose something hard and difficult but to choose the light or that we can go down a different path and choose our own power and to be Unapologetic and unafraid of that and and either way I hope that that through Shadow heart we can look at our look at those sliding doors moments and and pick what is right for us and make that into the best decision for ourselves does that make sense talking about Unapologetic that we all have so much capability to be what we want to be and to choose that life path and to feel proud within that whatever that life path is this only makes sense if you played the whole game just as a caveat but um and you know Charlie but I'm assuming if people have got to this point then they they and are watching that they they have but you know what the tough thing is some people don't know what their passion is you know even you know and that's okay as well if you still haven't I think that's okay I think and there's this such this this pressure of like you must find this life path and stick to it and maybe it's okay to not know and it's okay to to experiment and it to explore and and maybe it's more freeing to not have this one vocation maybe maybe that's okay and and maybe there's so much joy to be found in that too ah yeah 100 like yeah I don't yeah I kind of feel like your job doesn't have to Define you if you if you don't want it to you know not at all and maybe maybe it shouldn't Define you maybe what should Define you is is like kindness or like you know like like it's like with the um the whole like there's a big narrative at the moment on Snow White and um and whether it's okay because the new the reimagining of Snow White at the moment is that she's this like this leader and and like this boss and powerful and and and I think now like I think it's really important that we went that far and that you know we could show that women or or people who are assigned female at Birth can do whatever they want to do but know that being you and and this is something that I'm exploring at the moment as well that just us being art and us trying to do good and trying to be the best versions of ourselves whether that's a huge leader or or not maybe that's totally and utterly brilliant and okay that that we don't need to be anything other than ourselves whatever life throws at us and wherever we find ourselves in life because nothing defines us other than how how kind we are hey true people yeah yeah so yeah that's something that's in my head at the moment anyway why is that may I ask hi maybe because like this is a real uh like maybe it's because this job and this like Journey has is coming to an end and um like it's very like new experience for me to to suddenly have conversations with people that I've never met before and um you know meeting people that have been affected by the work we've all been doing and you know and kind of reassessing my role in the world I think so many of us are and um that have worked on this game and and being visible for the first time and kind of going well it's not my job to to like obviously not to save anyone or to lead anyone but maybe it's enough that that I can connect with a few people and and you know share my work with them and and things so you know and that's the first time that I've done that on this scale and I'm finding the whole experience quite beautiful and very touching um touching is the wrong word maybe like emotionally like it's looking very emotional about it fulfilling thank you Dad um yeah it's really it's really fulfilling and not where I thought my life would go and that's okay um very joyous you said that you're a bit of a crybaby or that's how we're only joking around but the um have you actually you know reading these messages and everything have you gotten emotional since the game's got now in your own time and obviously done we met yeah I've been crying all the time Suzanne we read a message we made a message from someone in the car and she was just dead yeah silent tears rolling down a face yeah we both because they really open up don't they in in the in these messages yeah yeah and which is good because I'm very emotionally open as well so you know I'm I'm very up for that do you know what I mean like I really love you know and I'm not here to help like you know I'm not a therapist or I know but nobody's seen me as that it's just we've been sharing stories I suppose and um I'm just been having a very like open open and honest conversation about things and like I'm always up for that I do like I don't see the point in in Garden like you know ironic that I'm playing a very guarded character but you know I just I don't want to be like British about feelings and kind of pretend they don't exist when of course they do and there should be no shame in having deep feelings about things and and to be affected by things um we've all been through so much uh in the past few years and I like I know very few people that haven't been affected in some way by the pandemic or just by life um and I just don't think we should have a stiff upper lip about it and like I'm not here for that and I think that really affects my work and in a good way I hope because like I don't think I could access that part of myself if I hid it in real life you know like I think it's like it helps with the emotions of things um and the emotional availability of the characters I play and that's all I ask for really so yeah I like Yay emotions um yay feelings thank you for being so open with us today I I really appreciate it I think people are really going to take a lot from this chat I'm is there anything you wanted to say to the fans where to begin thank you deep breath honestly like thank you um thank you for being the kindest most generous friendliest most loving group of people I've that like it feels like I don't want to be too I don't want it to sound disingenuous but it feels like I've got a new family um not to replace my old family I love my family but it feels like a family and like I feel nothing but like it feels like open arms and um yeah my heart is so full and yeah and and just just thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart and and I'm so glad I'm so glad that that shadow heart and that Builders Gate 3 has has made so many people so happy it's all it's all we could ask for really um yeah and thank you for a spectacular performance if you're not nominated I'll be having Stern words thank you uh I I think this game has to win game of the year that's just me but um who knows who knows I mean at the end of the day it's just an award show it's just an award show it doesn't yeah but um it's people enjoying it and and people getting a lot out of it that's that's what we want not the shiny accolades so they are nice I'm sure but you know um yeah a yeah so finally uh follow you Tick Tock Instagram and cameo Jennifer Jennifer J English on all of those yeah and then uh and I'm not on Twitter but my girlfriend is uh she's following your girlfriend follow my girlfriend she's lovely and she uh she'll talk to you it's very chatty um what's she on Twitter yeah she so Aliana baranova won and uh she's on there and is an incredible performer actor in her own right and plays Karina the squirrel in the game another one The Sassy one say you know that's cool um but yeah it's been so [ __ ] lovely to chat to you I've had a really great time me too thank you so much it's been a pleasure I am as I let you go can Shadow heart say something to Dan to wrap this one up Dan Shadow heart approves all right it's fantastic I sort of just did you see me I just sort of got lost in there I sort of just went a bit sort of got lost there yeah thank you thank you very much I really appreciate it

Channel: Dan Allen Gaming

Views: 313,904

Keywords: jennifer english interview, jennifer english, shadowheart actor, shadowheart actress, shadowheart baldurs gate 3

Id: WU3dH-BTlEQ

Length: 111min 20sec (6680 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 25 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/Gulrakrurs]

Knowing how much they all care about and love these characters is great. It shows in the performance.

[u/Slumlord722]

The one guy who said he’d cut off his fingers - why? Let me get inside your head.

[u/GamingGeckoLife]

Absolutely loved her reaction to “have you heard about Shart?” Was really hoping that question would pop up at some point

[u/Original_x_Username]

She’s just lovely!

[u/ryothbear]

Everything she said about ADHD was so relatable, it's so common for women to not get a diagnosis until we're in our 20s or later - the same thing happened to me, lol

[u/DanAllenGaming]

thanks for watching!

[u/Fav0]

Matt should rly play a 1 shot with them