Neil Newbon was already a rising star earlier than his portrayal of the sardonic vampire Astarion, however his award-winning position in Baldur’s Gate 3 has undoubtedly elevated the actor’s profile.
Astarion was a posh position to drag off, Newbon needed to distinction his devilishly witty closed-off exterior with a extra weak and fearful inside. The character of Astarion modifications considerably because the participant’s journey progresses.
The position has earned Newbon the Golden Joystick for Greatest Supporting Actor, the Recreation Award for Greatest Efficiency and a BAFTA nomination.
Whereas Newbon’s immaculate portrayal of Astarion might lead you to imagine the position was made for him, the actor tailored the character rather a lot, a lot in order that he fearful at first that not everybody understood his imaginative and prescient for Astarion.
Excessive Threat, Huge Reward
In a latest interview with Recreation Rant, Newbon spoke concerning the ‘danger’ concerned in his adaptation of Astarion, and the eventual gratifying consequence.
“The alternatives I used to be making, I believe, had been fairly huge,” Newbon begins. “And a danger I might say – which I felt was the proper factor to do. I do know not everyone was certain about it initially, till they received what I used to be making an attempt to do.”
Newbon credit cinematic director Jason Latino and Astarion head author Stephen Rooney for supporting his interpretation of Astarion. The danger-taking of Newbon paid off, with Astarion rapidly turning into established as one of the crucial standard social gathering members in Baldur’s Gate 3.
The actor was unwilling to simply accept the entire credit score for Astarion, as an alternative saying Rooney and different writers had been pivotal to the success of the character.
“It labored tremendous nicely,” Newbon says earlier than slipping into Astarion’s accent, “Maybe just a little too nicely, darling!”
Dungeons & Dragons writer Wizards of the Coast is definitely impressed with Newbon, enlisting him to voice the infamous lich Vecna in a trailer for Vecna: Eve of Spoil, an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons journey e-book.
