Summary
Fans everywhere fell for thepale-skinned elf AstarioninBaldur’s Gate 3due in no small part to the performance of actor and motion capture artist Neil Newbon. Painted as a breakout star of the game, Newbon has been a working actor and even a voice actor for video games for quite some time. This includes big projects such as performing motion capture for the filmKingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.
But what makes his characters memorable? Part of the strategies that make great actors great is finding connections to the characters they play even if they aren’t that similar. Tethering one’s self to a trait allows one to bring authenticity and sincerity to a performance – something Newbon displays in every role no matter the scope or moral alignment.
This article contains minor spoilers for the following games:Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier,Beyond A Steel Sky, Detroit: Become Human, We Happy Few: Lightbearer, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Resident Evil 3, Deliver Us Mars, Warframe, Resident Evil: Village, and Baldur’s Gate 3.
This game, released in 2020, is a follow-up to a 1994 title calledBeneath a Steel Skyand takes place in a distant-future Earth that has mega-cities despite disasters such as nuclear war. The game plays like a Telltale game with features like 3D exploration, immersive dialogue, lots of puzzles, and great writing. Newbon’s character, Mentor Alonso, appears to have a bit of an antagonistic relationship with the player character “Graham Grundy.”
He is sent to identify what might be “troubling” the supposed Grundy, but he certainly reads more like an inquisitor than a counselor. The dystopian, Big Brother-esque world of the game makes it clear that Alonso’s intentions are not to the benefit of the player character. Fans of Newbon’sBG3performance might see a touch of Astarion in this character’s performance.
9Planet Of The Apes: Last Frontier - Bryn
An Overlooked Performance Due To External Factors
This might be a game many people played, but Neil still voices the character of Bryn in it, and it’s a performance worth revisiting. Not only does Newbon deliver a performance in English, but also uses grunts and non-word-based sounds. The role marked one of his first big projects wherehe did motion captureand voice acting for a character. Taken from a pure performance perspective, Newbon’s voice manipulation for the role of Bryn is clear and impressive. The guttural, breathy nature of his performance differs greatly from his most recent turn as Astarion inBaldur’s Gate 3.
Unfortunately, the game was not well-received due to elements such as a lack of player interactivity, ineffectual choices, its short length, and a somewhat myopic presentation of the ape culture.
The photorealistic gameDetroit: Become Humanacts asa meditation on what it means to be human(much likeBlade Runnerand many other works). Newbon portrays Elijah Kamski, the creator of androids and former CEO of Cyberlife – a company he founded at age sixteen. He even lent his real face to the character who proves to be an antagonist in the game. Kamski is a narcissistic genius who holds contradicting views on androids, deviancy, and humanity’s place in the philosophy of machine freedom.
The unique thing about this character is that Newbon voices him with an American accent, but also that, while still charismatic like so many of Newbon’s characters are, Kamski is just a walking, talking thought experiment. He has no real skin in the game despite constantly pestering people about “who they are” and “what side they’re on.” The performance is not one to miss. However, in comparison to some of Newbon’s other characters, it doesn’t have the same level of nuance. Kamski also doesn’t have nearly the same amount of screen time in comparison, which pushes this performance below others.
Fans of theHorizonseries will understand that joke, but let’s clue in the rest of the class.Deliver Us Mars, an action-adventure title from 2023, details how Earth was abandoned due to ecological disaster and is a sequel toDeliver Us the Moon. Isaac Johanson, voiced by Neil Newbon, is the man at the center of the story who may or may not be responsible for Earth’s destruction. The irredeemable character waxes and wanes about feeling guilt over his action – something that can ring false if an actor isn’t as invested as Newbon.
For some players, this limited nuance made the character frustrating, while others found a character so spineless and selfish to be almost too realistic. One cannot sympathize with Isaac, but that doesn’t make him a two-dimensional character and Newbon’s performance certainly adds dimension. For Newbon himself, as seen in aScreenRant interview with the actor, he feels more of a connection to the character because they are both single fathers to daughters.
The world ofWe Happy Fewdraws inspiration from absurdist dystopian media likeBrave New World,Brazil, and others. The hallucinogenic drugs that keep the masses controllable inthe police statecome to the forefront in theLightbearerDLC, but not as tools to dull the senses. Nick (a.k.a. Norbert Pickles), in contrast, is so addicted to these drugs that he has to take them in large amounts. However, that doesn’t stop drug trips and lots ofAlice in Wonderlandadjacent hallucinations. It features lots of literary easter eggs such as his agent being named Virgil, a character named Morrie Memento, and more.
There isn’t much voice manipulation needed for Newbon as his normal voice has such swagger and character. But the zany, 60s Brit rockstar persona crumbles and comes back together in the span of a few lines – the nature of the game world itself due to “the bad thing” and the aforementioned drugs. The cocktail of mania, sincerity, hedonism, and fear makes it difficult to know what’s real and what’s exaggerated or downright fake. Though some fans have dubbed other characters “Astarion 1.0” or “Fishtarion,” this character bears the most resemblance to Astarion from a character perspective.
Newbon so often voices villains or morally gray characters that it’s refreshing to see him as Zeon inXenoblade Chronicles 3.The youthful character is already in command of an entire colony and Newbon’s performance reflects both his idealized leadership style and the weight of responsibility. The character Eunie sums up the character best with the line “…you’re not the kind of guy who makes fun of people when they’re trying their hardest. You help people in need.” This represents two ways a person can go as a leader: the softer, more supportive way or the harder and seemingly negative way. Zeon’s character begins to embrace his softness throughout the story.
After all, he just seems like he wants to settle down with a nice garden. That softer side of Zeon does make an appearance when he makes leadership decisions. He prioritizes preventing unnecessary loss of life and the well-being of his troops. Throughout the story, Zeon also becomes more flexible in how he views “good” and “evil.” Newbon’s performance brings romance to the character in a Studio Ghibli way while maintaining an air of weaponized capability.
Resident Evilgames always have some kind of zombie or monster as the “main villain” of the game, but there are always humans who portray monstrous qualities, too. Nicholai is one such character as, in the remake, he is a spy trying to sabotage the protagonists and murdering whomever and whatever he has to in that process. He represents one of Newbon’s only high-profile performances in a Russian accent. In the game, he is alwaysantagonizing Jill Valentineand making traditional “bad guy” decisions like shooting someone before confirming whether or not they were infected.
Despite the character feeling like a trope, Newbon’s performance rings true to the character – a former Russian Spetsnaz and mercenary. The bottom line is money, time, and completing the mission; this kind of ruthless pragmatism boils in the tight-jawed voice lines. Unlike Heisenberg or Astarion, Nicholai’s emotional spectrum never really goes above a 5\10. He always has to feel in control or not reveal too much to others with his emotions. Using this as a rule allows Newbon to make bigger impacts when he breaks it to show what Nicholai truly fears: death. He’s a greedy coward at heart despite his bluster, which comes across in Newbon’s performance.
“Fishtarion” as some fans call him appeared as the leader of the Cavia (one ofmany factions in the game) – a group of failed experiments from Albrecht Entrati. The character doesn’t have much lore yet, but there’s plenty of room to grow asWarframeis always adding new story bits. As for Newbon’s performance, the character is different from Astarion despite his continued sassing of the player.
Fib is far more comedic, for one thing, and has more of an upper-crust, older British gentleman vibe than Astarion’s mischievous tone. The same breathiness that Newbon brought to other roles is present here, as well, further aiding that posh, “I know more than you” vibe. It’s unclear if Fib knows what the character’s true motives are and the humor Newbon brings to the role deflects any attempts to discern them.
Being kidnapped and experimented on to be controlled by someone is a serious character background. On top of that, Heisenberg is an engineering genius and heir to his family’s factory – a motivating factor in why Miranda found him useful, perhaps. But bringing all of that into a character voice is how Newbon truly personified Heisenberg and it’s a wonderful performance that adds nuance to a character who could feel one-note otherwise. It’s another rare occasion when Newbon does an American-style accent.
The gruffness and cruelty to Heisenberg are betrayed by more vulnerable line deliveries in moments of conflict. It shows the inner child and personal goals Heisenberg sidelined because of Mother Miranda. When he speaks to Ethan alone, his voice has less aggressive posturing in it. There’s a real “more flies with honey” vibe until aconfrontation where Ethan rejects Heisenberg’s planfor revenge against Miranda. And yet, there is no real malice in Heisenberg’s voice until after he mutates and even then, he tells Ethan “Don’t come back” instead of killing him outright. Newbon again brings nuance to someone who could easily just have been a two-dimensional bad guy.
1Baldur’s Gate 3 - Astarion
Not God’s Favorite Princess, But The Internet’s Most Beloved Brat
Though the hype around the game has simmered a bit, the character of Astarion fromBaldur’s Gate 3has left a lasting impression on video game storytelling. Newbon’s performance and support of the character have both cemented his status as a true artist in the form. From the questionable morals of Ascended Astarion to the quiet vulnerability of a romanced Astarion, Newbon showed such a range as the character full of nuance and humanity. He also showcased his mocap prowess throughout the game, as fans can see in action in the image on the left abovefrom Newbon’s X account.
To date, Astarion might be Neil’s best character performance in a video game. But who knows – he is supposed to be voicing Barry the Boat in theFallout: Londonmod soon. Newbon’s talent is sure to continue to grow even if fans have seen the last of that sassy little vampire.
