"I realized very quickly this was D&D": Astarion actor Neil Newbon sniffed out Baldur's Gate 3, or maybe Icewind Dale 3, and put in for 10 of the RPG's 12 races mid-Final Fantasy 16

Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing Astarion, a pale white-haired vampire man with red eyes
(Image credit: Larian Studios)

The actor behind 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur's Gate 3's Astarion immediately signed up to play 10 of the 12 in-gaಞme races while par꧟tway through doing performance capture for Final Fantasy 16 - because he knew it was linked to Dungeons & Dragons.

Neil Newbon, who portrays Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3, revealed in the interview with BAFTA below that h♚e was partway through filming performance capture in Hungary for Final Fantasyꦦ 16, when he heard about an interesting new project in the works elsewhere. 

"They sent me a pack of all these different races, and I realized very quickly this was Dungeons & Dragoꦆns," Newbon recalls, off the back of inquiring about the project. At the time, he wasn't sure if it wo😼uld be a new Baldur's Gate or perhaps Icewind Dale 3, but he was into it. "So I got very excited and submitted 10 of the 12 races, which I wasn't supposed to do, but I was like 'I'll play anything. I don't care, I'll play a goblin holding a pint." 

Neil Newbon would love to play Astarion again and how he ෴landed the role in Baldurs Gate 3 | BAFTA - YouTube Neil Newbon would love to play Astarion again and how he landed the role in Baldurs Gate 3 | BAFTA - YouTube

Newbon recalls being asked to come in for a demo for ♛a vampire character, which he assumed would be a bad 🌌guy and thus "killed off immediately." Larian revealed the role was actually for a companion character and that it would be "probably about a year's worth of work." 

Four years later, Baldur's Gate 3 came out, so it's fair to say the role overshot Lari🍃an's expectations by some margin. Newbon also reveals that Astarion's script "didn't change much" throughout Baldur's Gate 3's development time, which is pretty shocking not just for any video game but one tha🌸t took well over four years to make.

It's fair to say Newbon's role has been one of the best in a video game over the past five years, if not the last decade or so. He was nominated for a BAFTA for 'Perform𓆉er in a Leading Role,' which he ultimately lost out on to N🦋adji Jeter of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, but he did take home the award for 'Best Performance' in a game last year at The Game Awards.

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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ bas༺ed out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.