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baldursyourgate · 5 months

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Transcript of "Baldur's Gate 3 Interview [Emma Gregory] Minthara Voice Actress" by Skycaptin5 on YouTube

What I did: cleaned up filler words (um and ah), repeated words due to automated captioning, and added punctuation.

Purpose: providing an easier point of reference.

Q: A staple I do in all interviews in order to start things off, is to ask that you elaborate a bit about your work, and this particular role for those not familiar with it.

A: Hi, my name is Emma Gregory and I play Minthara in Baldur's Gate 3. I've been an actor for a long time: I come from very much a theatre background, I've done a lot of theatre and a bit 'telly, and a lot of voice work. I do lots of audio books, for example and games and lots and lots of things but I've done a lot of big theatre like Shakespeare for the Royal Shakespeare company and West End theatre, and all that sort of thing. I absolutely love it and I love playing Minthara too. She was a great challenge, Minthara's situation in Baldur's Gate 3.

Q: In Baldur's Gate 3, you provide the performance for Minthara. Could you tell us a bit about the character and the situation she finds herself in?

A: Well it depends on which path you go down. There are millions of paths in Baldur's Gate 3. Minthara is a drow from Menzoberranzan comes from the sort of leading family of house Baenre in Menzoberranzan. She finds herself in a situation in Baldur's Gate 3 where she has been lured into the cult of the Absolute by Orin, who she has quite a backstory with. She has been brainwashed and in the game you can choose to recruit her and rescue her from the Cult of the Absolute. (...)

She is a very paranoid character, very set in her ways and finds it extremely difficult to trust people; but through the course of the game, she comes from sort of quite a chaotic background of not knowing what she was doing because she was brainwashed into then being... hopefully if you guys recruit her, being part of the party and companions, that she learns to discover she needs in many ways, because she is an exile from Menzoberranzan and having given up the worship of Lolth who is the god of where she comes from. So she finds herself an outcast, once she's not part of the absolute so she finds that she needs the companions in many respects, but of course what she would like them to do is to take over the world you know and have her rule it in many respects, possibly.

I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't played yet but I guess she's one of those characters that people might come to a little later. She is... she has a sort of reputation of being quite brutal, and she is a brutal character. One of the amazing things about her is that if you rescue her, she sorts of... once she's in the party sort of says, well you know? "Why would you do that why would you leave your enemy alive why would you not kill them?" because for her, things are very linear you know? You get rid of enemies and that's it. So she's quite interested in the fact that they've and challenges them to say well you kill when I kill it's for a purpose why are you killing? I know why I kill and I have a very clear purpose about it and I kill my enemies and that's it. They're eradicated but why, why are you doing it? So she questions the party and makes them think which I think is rather good and then also...

I'm giving you a very long-winded answer Jason, but this is her. This is the complexity of Minthara which is wonderful to play, and I hope that people really enjoy discovering her that she's not just a killing machine... she is that but there is much more to her, many more layers I think and reasons for why she is who she is.

Considering where she comes from and her upbringing which any DnD fans can read around, her background is quite brutal, so yeah.

So in the course of the game, it's interesting to see how she learns to trust people, always for a purpose and what she wants of course but there is an arc, a journey for her.

Q: When preparing to perform as Minthara, were you given any initial direction in regard to the character, just in terms of an example of prep work to get into the mindset of this particular performance?

A: No. I mean obviously it was given a little bit of background about the story, but not too much. I was told of qualities of the character by the studio, and the sort of type of voice and things that they were looking for and then the rest of it, I pretty much got from the lines I was given.

I mean I'm guided by a director obviously who I've been living with Minthara for four years so uh that's a long time to make her grow and create her; and I also had the benefit of having the most wonderful writer in Adam Smith, who's the lead writer at Larian Studios and he created between us...

We'd never met and it was quite interesting. Over the four years we'd never met at all, but we did this sort of sort of dance, where you know, I would give him an interpretation of his lines and he would take that and go "oh wow okay let's go down this path with her", you know and so between us we developed someone who we feel is very complex and layered, which is great.

We were given wonderful free reign with them as well as keeping within the storyline and what needed to be achieved, but we were very much given as actors which Larian is so wonderful at doing... They trust their actors, and you know, you're given the role for a reason, which is your ability to play it and they trust you in that. And that means as an actor you're very free, because you can bring ideas to the table as well, and for the character and that's a beautiful thing so as Minthara.

Q: You've mentioned your character goes through a bit of a positional shift as the narrative progresses you know, obviously for running the goblins to then stuff happens. Did that adjustment in your character's role impact how you approach the voice performance for the character?

A: Yes, very much so, and because it was also Al motion capture where you're, you know, you're literally in a bodysuit. And you got sensors all over you, and you're so you're able to really fully physically explore the character as well. Which I believe, you should do anyway in all voice work because it's not just acting from the throat upwards.

It's like any acting, you get into the character that you're playing, and you feel that physically because then that determines your breath and how you live and breathe the character, and that's got to come from your whole body, your whole soul.

You know with Minthara I very much felt there was a journey with her vocally. I made a decision, I suppose which... I guess everyone backed because nobody told me not to do it, but she's quite staccato in her vocal delivery and I think that very much emphasizes and shows her lack of emotional centeredness if you like.

She's not someone who delves into emotions very often, and yet, she's a very emotional character. She keeps it like a pressure cooker I guess... but I discovered as well that along with that staccato kind of delivery, there was a sort of shift we found in in movement and voice between when she's under the influence of the absolute and when she's then freed from that, and I think it's interesting for her to explore how that freezes up vocally a little bit.

Maybe not quite so tight in the throat once she was freed, you know, learning to relax a little bit, as much as Minthara can. So yeah there was a nice shifting slightly of Minthara, just slightly. I hesitate to use the word softening, but yes, softening a little bit, softening the edges a little bit vocally and physically once she's gone through that journey of being not brainwashed and discovering who she is again.

You know yeah, I thought that was actually really interesting in the game because she comes off as very... You know dark, intense, and then immediately once that's gone, I was kind of like okay there's a lot more under the surface.

Yeah I mean she'll always be dark and intense, she is, in inverted commas, an "evil character", she's not to sit and you know talk about fluffy kittens.

You know but actually she might! She quite likes animals. But she does definitely go on a journey of finding out that she needs allies. Because certainly by the end of the game, I think she's got quite a soft spot for many of the companions as much as she can have, she has had quite a few of them you know, like Lae'zel for example, and Shadowheart and Jaheira.

Yeah, so that was interesting to explore physically how she can soften, and in intimate scenes or romance scenes with her, she can play the part of being soft and intimate. Whether she's really feeling that inside is another matter, depends on who it's with, I guess. But yeah, that was interesting to explore vocally, from being less sort of rigid and staccato like during the absolute brainwashing, and then finding she's always staccato but whether there's more sort of range and colour in how she speaks once she's freed of the tadpole swirling in the mind swirling in the mind when performing the role.

Q: Were there any particular lines or moments that really stuck out to you whether that's a behind the scenes moment or something from the dialogue?

A: I gosh I love all our lines. Well I love the obvious jokes that lots of people love like that "it was a beautiful webbing", that sort of thing. I love the lines that she's given when she's explaining, you know, when she's grateful to having been rescued and explaining that, no one would know about her and all the vulnerable moments that she has when she's talking about how she feels, about... I think she's quite shocked, you know, having had the brainwashing happen to her, having been so deceived. And so, the dialogue that happens once she's rescued, and she's sort of discussing that with the player are beautiful lines, of sort of realizing my God you know I trusted this person and Orin, and I can't believe that's happened to me and also that she misses her home you know.

I think she really loves Menzoberranzan and her upbringing too but also recognizing how brutal that was too and so all of the that sort of dialogue, cut scene dialogues I think, are beautiful really lovely. And I love it when she challenges if the player decide... I think there's one scene where the player decides to go with Minthara I think it is and then Minthara challenges that yeah. Lots of different lines that I love be hard to pick one but that sort of thing and...

Actually, oh I don't want to do any spoilers but if Minthara is Romancing Karlach, there's some beautiful dialogue in that which was really moving to play, and particularly around Karlach possibly dying that's all I'll say for anybody who has not played it yet. That's certainly a player driven decisions, deeper level of role playing and choice behind Baldur's Gate 3.

Q: What are your thoughts of the mini layers to what choices players could pick and the response you would be performing in reaction to player-driven decisions?

A: Oh my gosh repeat that last bit Jason

Q: Essentially there's many choices people can make, what are your thoughts on the branching choices that could pop up? You know, this decision here this decision there and how you would have to respond to that?

A: I love the huge range and option and diversity in the game. I think that's what people are really responding to. You can be anything, do anything you want to do in the game, and I believe that's quite revolutionary in this game, quite unique. I think that's why everybody's getting such a kick out of the game because there's so many options you know. Just Minthara for example, I know I'm very aware that people are going to very often not choose her to begin with, and then they can go back you know.

My nephew for example's played the game three times you know and each time he's chosen many different paths including Minthara now and so I think that's fantastic for people to have that option that it's not rigid. It's really fluid in terms of you know race, colour, creed gender options, dark, light whatever you know, whatever path you want to go down, there's a million options for you to choose. Is that what you meant by the question? Relatively specific then give me something more specific if you want me to further answer that.

Q: No, I think it about covers it and I think we covered this next one a little bit, but let's dive into it a little further.

So Minthara has a rather enchanting romance option with the character. What was it like to bring that connection to the player to life?

A: Beautiful, really amazing certainly for Minthara who you know because that's part of her journey of discovering who she is and what she needs, and how she feels about people, and discovering relationships. I don't think she's someone who you know she's had partnerships before, but I don't think it's someone that...

She's always used them for a purpose. And I think exploring being hurt if the player makes a decision to go with someone else or the player rejects her. It's really interesting to play those sorts of vulnerabilities and colours, really. I enjoyed that, because that was part of exploring her softer side… or brutal side, depending on what the reaction is from the player because she can be quite… you know, she can dump you.

She can challenge you as well. I like the fact that the characters challenge the player you know Minthara does Minthara says well you've rescued me why, why did you do that surely it would be better for you not to have an enemy in your party you know and so I think that's one of the great things about the game is, the game makes the player think and that's you know rather than just shoot it up or kill.

If you kill for no reason, you have characters like Minthara asking you why and I think that's really interesting.

Q: Some other performers from the game have been playing the game and attempting to romance themselves, have you given the game a whirl and have you or would you try to romance yourself?

A: I've seen some of the others doing that, it's really interesting, it's very funny. I've watched some of their live streams.

fun fact: there were screenshots of her commenting in Lae'zel's VA Devora Wilde's livestream where Devora was trying to and eventually getting Minthara's romance scene.

I haven't yet played it, I'm very much excited to do so which I will be doing in this new year. I don't know about... I've been asked whether I'll do it live, quite a lot of people want me to do that. I don't know yet, don't know whether I've got the confidence to do that, because everyone just seems so brilliant at it. And I probably really wouldn't be, but I've looked at a lot of the game, obviously, and I just think it looks so incredible, so I'm very, very excited to play it.

I think I would play myself yeah, I don't know if I'd romance myself, that would be weird, but I've seen a lot of the romance scenes anyway, so I'm not sure about that, but I would love... I'd definitely play, I'd definitely recruit Minthara yeah for sure and that would probably be my first playthrough actually going down the "bad route" in inverted commas.

So yeah, I'm definitely going to play it and I will play me, but I don't know if I would romance myself yes.

Q: We had an interview there with Lae'zel's performer Devora and she's like oh yeah, I romanced myself. She was very, very into it.

Q: What's it like to see your voice and movement attached to a game character?

A: Oh, it's amazing it's just amazing because obviously, we don't look anything like our characters it's really, I remember being so bold over when I first saw what Minthara looked like and in any of characters I've played in other games. But that's the wonderful thing about voice acting is, you know you can do it forever there's no time set on it is a real freedom as an actor.

You can play a million parts that you'd never play maybe on TV or film or theatre and yeah, seeing your voice attached to something very otherworldly is amazing.

I love how my voice works with Minthara and also our movement and our expressions and what Larian have taken, and the animators have taken the visual artists have taken from how they've seen us. Because when you're in the studio, they can see what you're doing obviously, your morph suit and it's funny to see some of our expressions or you know obviously as well as the map come into the character and how that affects the voice, and how they've put that onto the game.

Yeah, it's lovely, it's amazing to see. It's very exciting.

Q: Is this a character you'd like, Minthara, sequel, prequel; to return to down the road if possible?

A: Oh my gosh yeah definitely very, very much so. I adore her, and I adore her because I've been allowed with Adam and Sven and Larian to explore so many different layers of her as well as keeping within her aim, her goal which is ambition and revenge and all those things.

I think her story and the Menzoberranzan story, the Underdark all of that is extremely interesting so it would be amazing wouldn't it, Jason? Let's have Baldur's Gate 4 where we explore the Underdark. Yeah, I'd live with her forever if I could, you can almost do a Minthara prequel. For sure that would be amazing, yes. Explore her childhood all the way up and how she's got to where she is now, and then also be interesting to see what happens to her after Baldur's Gate 3, where she ends up. Does she survive or you know, who does she ally with and does she go back to Menzoberranzan and take over the Baenre because there's a lot of stuff there that's unresolved.

Q: Where do you stand on the whole evil aspect of "Is Minthara Evil ?"

A: Minthara... Well, she is an evil character. I mean there's just, you know, she's not going to, there's no, there's no redemption there, I don't think, although there is... because in the long run it's going to always be for her about ambition and drive and getting what she wants: power, being in control in her in her way...

Whatever that is, eventually, but along the way with that there are people that she will gather, and trust I think, and learn to trust more, but in terms of Baldur's Gate 3 the game there are lots of other characters who do lots of really nasty horrible things, so I feel sometimes... since the game was released and I've been sort of in all of this and watching everybody's response I also feel that...

You know the tiefling bit is not the only bad bit in the game.

There's lots of other stuff going down and lot of other people making big decisions about stuff, so I think, she's not the only bad character in it. You know I sometimes find it hard to sort of understand the difference in the game between you know good killing and bad killing. You know she she's very much in the bad killing bit, it's like, well killing is bad, so you know you got to have a bloody good reason for doing it oh sorry I swore Jason sorry.

I don't know, it's hard for me Jason, because I'm inside her as it were as the actor, so I don't see her as evil necessarily, but I understand that she is labelled that, yes. Because obviously what she does is brutal, and her background is brutal and she's not going to change.

So yeah, she is evil but one of the great things about the game is that it's not just black and white, that it's, you know there are layers. There are grey areas, there are reasons for things, and you're allowed to explore that in the game. And that's what makes the game so interesting.

Q: What are your thoughts on DnD and or other role-playing games in Thoughts on D&D & Roleplaying Games Genre general?

A: I love the world of DnD and I mean my only other, a long time ago, I used to sit around with friends of a weekend if we had nothing else to do, and we would spend an entire weekend playing Call of Cthulhu. I really loved call of Cthulhu very, very much and I loved that whole experience because it for me as an actor obviously, allowed me to just sit with some characters and get into taking them anywhere I wanted to, take them obviously with whatever the games master would allow obviously, but it just fires up your imagination. You could see the worlds blah blah blah what they're wearing where they're going how they look so I really, really love roleplaying I don't do enough of it, and I should do more... And Dungeons and Dragons is an extraordinary world and I see that too in in in other worlds.

I do a lot for Warhammer and the Warhammer worlds. When I go to do recordings for them at their base in Nottingham for Games Workshop, and I pass by the area where people are going to play the actual games on tables and stuff: the kingdoms and the characters and the and the models, and the things that people are creating and the love and devotion for that, is just beautiful because it is escapism, isn't it? It allows you to leave your own troubles behind for a bit and get into a world where you can do anything you want, and be anything you want, and do things that you wouldn't do in this world, you know and that's really interesting to me or be a god or be a wizard or be a saint, or Minthara or you know. It's beautiful I love it!

I love the imaginative escapism of it and the confidence that it gives people actually, Jason, because we've had... a lot of us actors have had a lot of fabulous response from people who've got so much out of Baldur's Gate 3, where it's allowed them to express who they are to maybe in this world express who they are. It's given them a confidence to do so to be who they really are in real life and be okay with it. And that's beautiful that they identify with our characters to give them confidence.

Q: And that leads very well to my next question because I was going to ask what are other characters of viewers might know you from, and with that as you just mentioned, I understand you're fairly well-known Warhammer wise would you care to give us a taste of that in action?

A: What do you mean you mean...

Q: Perform a bit of it just a little line or something?

A: No, no there's enough out there for people to go and explore no I love I love all of those all of those characters all of those worlds and I love all the characters I've played I appreciate the fact that I've been involved with Larian before in Divinity: Original Sin one and two.

So, I've played everything for them from Minthara to talking chickens to Bears to wizards to all sorts of different to princesses or whatever to, you know, yeah that's great and Harry Potter and Star Wars and all those wonderful games that I've been involved in. I'm just really, I really love it I just love the imaginative creativity of it and yeah Warhammer! Very fortunate to be a battle sister or Celestine the living Saint, yes all of those big characters that I've played which people can go and explore in their own time, don't need me to do any of that right now.

Q: I guess that doesn't farewell for my next note where I'm like "would you mind giving the audience a brief line or "Taste of Minthara", taste of Minthara in action?"

A: [Using her Minthara voice] Jason why are you asking me to do lines there is enough in the game, Jason. You don't need me to sit here and recite more. [/end]

There you go, that took you by surprise!

Jason: Perfect, yeah you got me there. You really did.

Q: Okay and for my final question. I always like to leave a spot for you to say anything or go over anything I might have missed during the interview anything you want to pitch or whatnot, that you're working on?

A: Don't need to pitch anything, working on a lot of things but can't say what they are. This is often the way with things, but I'd just like to thank everybody again for the amazing response to this to this game and to Minthara, and to ask personally, as actors it's been extraordinary. The support has been extraordinary and I'm really, really grateful. I'm really grateful and also everybody supporting all of our other work that we've done in the past, you know before Baldur's Gate 3 and obviously in the future and yeah keep listening keep playing, and we'll hopefully, we'll and also all the people I've met at conventions and stuff like that just fantastic really beautiful the love that people are showing so yeah let's keep on doing that been really great thank you./.

Note: Gods. This took longer than I expected it to. Btw every time she said Jason (the interviewer's name) my mind just autocompletes to Jason Derulo.

#this was so much work lmfao #it'll only take 30 mins at best I say #[extremely loud incorrect buzzer]#minthara #minthara baenre #emma gregory #interview

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