Behind The Voice

Markus and Olli from Poets of the Fall join the podcast to talk about their journey as a band from Max Payne 2 to Alan Wake 2. They talk about how the formation of the iconic Late Goodbye song, working with Remedy and making a fictional band Old Gods of Asgard as well as the making of one of the longest video game songs, Herald of Darkness, for Alan Wake 2.What's your favorite song from Old Gods of Asgard and Poets of the Fall?00:38 Late Goodbye wasn't meant to be04:42 Success of Late Goodbye07:07 How Old Gods of Asgard happened10:13 Old Gods vs Poets of the Fall11:55 How songs are made for Remedy?15:55 Reacting to their songs in-game20:10 Alan Wake 2 musical 25:48 Longest guitar solo28:39 Shooting live action & music video32:24 Old Gods of Asgard album wasn't planned35:55 The Game Awards almost didn't happen40:07 Herald of Darkness impact on Poets42:49 Input on Old Gods of Asgard characters44:19 Fav music video45:30 Touring as Old Gods of Asgard?47:10 Fav Remedy game48:57 Use of unusual intruments51:59 VR in Olli's latest song

Roger Craig Smith joins Behind The Voice Podcast to talk about some of the most iconic characters he’s brought to life in video games.Roger reflects on voicing legendary characters like Ezio Auditore from the Assassin's Creed series, Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 5, Batman in Batman Arkham Origins, and Sonic the Hedgehog.We talk about the moments that defined these characters, how certain scenes came together during recording, and why some of these performances continue to resonate with fans years later. Roger also shares stories about recording some of Ezio’s most memorable speeches, the infamous Resident Evil boulder punch moment, and what it meant to step into the role of Batman.Timestamps:0:00 Intro0:45 Becoming Ezio Auditore (Assassin’s Creed)3:30 Finding Ezio’s voice across three games6:17 Ezio’s most iconic speeches8:22 The legacy of Ezio11:25 Revisiting Assassin’s Creed today12:06 Introducing Will Ospreay at Wembley as Ezio16:58 Becoming Chris Redfield (Resident Evil)17:09 The “Boulder Punching” moment21:09 Recording scenes without seeing the gameplay22:44 Resident Evil 5 remake rumors25:26 Becoming Batman in Arkham Origins26:02 Following Kevin Conroy’s Batman legacy29:05 The powerful Batman–Alfred scene31:00 Why Arkham Origins is often overlooked33:39 Voicing Sonic the Hedgehog for over a decade36:01 Thoughts on Ben Schwartz’s Sonic37:52 Final thoughts

Cronos The New Dawn lead actor, Kelly Burke, returns to the podcast to talk about her role as The Traveler. In this episode we break down the most horrific and painful moments of the game. Kelly reveals the unique physical toll of performing motion capture for a massive, heavy character whose neck doesn't even move and who lacks a face. We dive deep into heavy spoiler territory to discuss the Traveler's tragic realization, the "religious" feeling behind the extraction scenes , and the massive "epic gaslighting" betrayal orchestrated by the Warden. Kelly also shares her candid thoughts on why the game offers no happy ending and the real emotional weight behind the community's favorite tagline, "Such is our calling".

Planet of Lana 2 developers join Behind The Voice to talk about how they created a made up language in their games to tell a story. They talk about how much animation, facial expression and music played an important part in telling the story. It was interesting to know how Planet of Lana actually began with a heavy inspiration from Studio Ghibli and how the game wasn't supposed to have any dialogues.We also dive into spoilers towards the end and what's potentially coming next!

Blonde Blazer voice actress, Erin Yvette, joins Behind The Voice to break down and dive deep into Dispatch's story. She shares her reaction to the success of the game, how she always believed in it since the beginning. She also gives insights on how she gave some feedback to how her character should respond and why she didn't play the role of Invisigal. We also went deep into various story beats of the game such as Blazer's feelings for Robert, players choosing Invisigal over Blonde Blazer, the gala dress scene and whether there will be a season 2. We also touched upon The Wolf Among Us & The Walking Dead and a few fan questions from other games.

Amelia Rose Blaire joins Behind The Voice Podcast to dive deeper into her career as an actor. Starting from one of the biggest TV shows, True Blood. She mentions how that show changed her life, being a regular in that show especially the final season and playing a vampire was her coolest moment. She also talks about being in MTV's Scream TV Series which also shocked her as her character went through a change. We then covered her amazing career in video games with the most popular, Detroit Become Human and how that was a life changing moment. I had to touch upon some Remedy stuff with Quantum Break and what unique challenges that brought into the table. We then ended up also talking about God of War Sons of Sparta, Santa Monica's new 2D metroidvania game where she plays as Eleonora.

Bryan Dechart  @DechartGames  joins the show to talk about 8 years of Detroit Become Human and how the story still resonates with the fans. He reflects on meeting fans and sharing the story worldwide, preparing for the role of Connor, how his relationship with Clancy Brown evolved, the start of the streaming career and where it is now.Bryan also talks about working with Santa Monica Studios for God of War Sons of Sparta & how challenging this new role was. He'll be streaming the game with his wife on Twitch.

Marvel Rivals Angela's voice actor, Brittany Cox, joins the podcast to talk about how she plays a superhero that she always dreamed about. She explains how she had no clue about who Angela was but her Husband did. She has her own take on the outfit of Angela and the relationship with her family members. Brittany absolutely loves the character and hints at something more coming!

The creator of Rosewater indie game, Francisco Gonzalez, joins today's episode to talk about how he hired 22 incredible video game actors for his game. Even though its a point and click adventure game, a genre that is very niche, these actors were still interested to be in his project.Francisco talks about how he has been a fan of point and click adventure games and started making them years back. Every commercial game of his also had actors however all of them were non-union, except Rosewater. Its amazing to know that SAG-AFTRA has developed new contracts that helps indie developers get the funds they need for hiring actors.It was incredible to hear Francisco's ideas around indie game development and how he would love to see more "serious" storytelling across the genre of point and click adventure games.

Abby Trott (english voice of Momo Ayase), AJ Beckles (English voice of Okarun), join Behind The Voice Podcast to share their opinions and reactions to Dandadan Season 2.They talk about how certain scenes surprised them the most, the relationship between Okarun & Momo, and the relationship between other characters. What is your fav episode of Dandadan Season 2?

Jennifer English joins Behind The Voice to talk about her iconic role as FemShep in Mass Effect trilogy, Jean in X-Men 97 and much more. She also shares her feelings towards AI and tells people to use AI and participate in AI because that's the future. She also opens up on the use of AI in games and with voice actors. She also talks about how singing was her original passion and how she did her first voice over role. It was incredible to know from the iconic actress who has worked on multiple projects, both video games and animated series. I also tried to get some more details on KOTOR Remake & X-Men 97 Season 2 but wasn't successful.

Alanah Pearce talks about how surprised she was to see the popularity of Dispatch game, how she thinks anyone could play the role of Malevola and how she never expected fans to say one thing about her character. She also talks about her career through IGN, acting in Gears & Cyberpunk and a lot more. It was incredible to get the opportunity to talk to Alanah Pearce who I've been following for some time now and just talking about content and being a part of the industry was wonderful!

Charlotte Hoepffner, the performance capture actor of Maelle in Expedition 33, joins Behind The Voice Podcast and talks about her experience working on the game. This was her first video game role ever and she's genuinely surprised that video game acting can be so intense. She describes what it was like working with Estelle & Maxence, which was overwhelming at first, but she became friends and now she's very comfortable working with them. She dives deep into the making of certain scenes and what each scene means to her. Charlotte is truly brilliant and she lived her role as Maelle in the game. She has a plan of finally sitting down and playing the game and saying goodbye to the character.Timestamps:00:00 Charlotte forgot about the game01:24 Performing live on stage02:56 Charlotte on fan interactions04:10 Charlotte almost didn't audition05:47 Playing video games06:42 First scene as Maelle08:32 Doing motion capture for the first time10:43 Scenes that Charlotte improvised12:23 The first Maelle nightmare scene13:51 Maelle & Gustave's relationship14:29 Couldn't stop laughing while shooting16:23 Burying Gustave scene18:57 Multiple takes of Gustave's death scene21:59 Video game stories are so real?23:13 How did Charlotte brought frustration to Maelle25:37 Impact of this game on Charlotte's life28:21 Charlotte's fav lines31:11 Maelle & Renoir arguing scene32:32 Does Charlotte relate to Maelle's story?33:12 Charlotte's plan to saying goodbye to Maelle35:05 Charlotte wants more video game work36:35 Clashing cameras during performance capture37:43 Hardest scene to shoot39:52 Is Maelle's journey over?40:29 Shooting emotional scenes42:02 How did Charlotte portray Maelle?43:08 What inspires Charlotte as an artist?45:15 Charlotte on hearing Jennifer English's voice

Erika Ishii, the actress of Atsu in Ghost of Yotei, joins Behind The Voice Podcast to share her honest reaction on being a part of this game. When I showed her some of the scenes from the game, she was unbelievable shocked at how good it was and also a bit shy as she was looking at herself and acknowledging that its her voice and her face. She also praised all the other actors involved like Feo Chin, Judy Alice Lee & Noshir Dalal. Timestamps00:00 Erika's reaction to the game's release01:47 Erika's cosplay as Atsu03:34 Fans reaction to Erika's performance05:20 Erika shares her audition story06:59 Leading a playstation game08:38 The process of bringing Atsu to life10:15 Erika on doing stunts and posing13:56 Atsu's humor16:00 Behind the scene story of the opening scene17:46 Killing the first Yotei 621:21 Erika's shocking reaction to this cutscene22:48 Mesmerized by Lord Saito's actor28:28 Elgato Black Friday Sale29:14 Erika's reaction to *SPOILERS*32:52 Atsu's emotional journey34:07 Erika loves to do emotional scenes36:49 Erika shares her feelings towards *SPOILER* moment39:14 Blown away by people's reaction40:05 Brother and Sister relationship45:01 2K Blockbuster Collection45:44 Erika reacts to another *SPOILER* scene46:56 Erika reveals her feelings towards Atsu48:46 Paying homage to Japanese samurai films51:27 How Ghost of Tsushima prepared Erika?52:07 Life lesson from a video game52:46 Fav character outside of Atsu53:50 Fav weapon as Atsu54:07 Experience working on this game

Dying Light franchise director, Tymon Smektala, opens up how they underestimated the fans and the community and made decisions that the players didn't really need. He talks about bringing Aiden in Dying Light 2 instead of Kyle Crane. Why Dying Light is different to Dead Island and the real story of why they changed publishers. He also talks about what makes Dying Light special and how they missed it in Dying Light 2 and fixed it in Dying Light The Beast.

Silent Hill f Rinko's voice actor, Frankie Kevich, talks about how dark this game was and how overwhelming it was for her to play this role. She describes what she had to go through to portray her and shares her opinion on various Rinko moments that shows how 'evil' her character becomes by the end. She also talks about how incredible the storytelling of the game is and how she was surprised by what was going on, especially with Rinko. And also the fact that maybe Frankie & Rinko would not be good friends.

Rebecca Hanssen, the voice actor of Eve from Stellar Blade & Ciaconna in Wuthering Waves, returns to Behind The Voice and talks about what its like to play these characters. She reveals why she can't let go of Eve from Stellar Blade and how Ciaconna was similar to Alfira from Baldur's Gate 3. She also talks about her recent role as Olivia in Dying Light The Beast and what it was like to work with Roger Craig Smith.

Former Halo story director, CJ Cowan, made a new horror game with Probably Monsters studio, called IRE A Prologue. In this episode, I asked him why he moved from Halo to a horror game. He also talks about how this game is basically Silent Hill PT on a boat in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. He also answers what makes this game different from any other first person walking simulator horror games, and how the focus of this game is on the storytelling and relatability. A big thanks to Probably Monsters for sponsoring this episode!

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 lead writer, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, joins Behind The Voice to reveal how she and Guillaume (Director) made the story. It's so interesting to know that a big part of the story came from a dream she had. She also reveals the difference between the studio's first game, We Lost, and Expedition 33 along with why there were 4 GENERATIONS of Gustave's family written. I also tried to ask her about Clea's real purpose but she didn't say much. What is your fav moment from Expedition 33?

Carina Conti, who plays Isabella in Mafia The Old Country, joins Behind The Voice Podcast to talk about how this role was the highlight of this year for her. She talks in-depth about specific scenes, whose writing she absolutely loved, and how much she was mesmerized by the kind of the story this game was telling. She also reacts to specific scenes in the game and breaks down how they did the scene, including a discussion around whether you should drink wine with your eyes closed or not. Carina loves this beautiful love story and shares how much she would like something similar in her life. Mafia The Old Country in the end is a beautifully structured love story in a Mafia setting.