I don’t know about you, but Baldur’s Gate 3 took my life by storm just about exactly one year ago. The game captivated me, as it did many others, and led me on an epic Dungeons & Dragons-inspired adventure. There were many excellent facets of Baldur’s Gate 3, but for me, and (again for many others) the character of Astarion was what truly sold me on the game. Astarion is one of the most complex, well-written, and, of course, well-performed characters out there in any medium. He appears as a hedonistic vampire, only out for himself, but the truth, of course, is much more complicated than that. And so it was my great pleasure to interview Neil Newbon, the esteemed voice of Astarion, and dive deep into the character with him—now that some time has passed since his inception.
Newbon shared his candid, emotional, funny, and intensely thoughtful perspectives on creating Astarion, building a life for the vampire, some of his personal perspectives on the character, and other fascinating insights that no doubt true lovers of Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Astarion will absolutely adore. Newbon even went into how “darling” became an Astarion trademark.
So strap in, darling, and enjoy our full interview with Neil Newbon below.
Nerdist: Astarion is my romance of choice, along with Halsin.
Neil Newbon: Excellent taste.
So, I have to ask, what is your favorite facet of Astarion and Halsin’s relationship?
Newbon: I don’t know. I don’t really think about stuff like that. But I definitely enjoyed the surprise bear scene because I didn’t know they were going to use Astarion’s model for the partner of the bear scene. Because I also directed Dave Jones in that scene. Not necessarily all of it, but a big chunk of that scene, I directed Dave in. And Dave was a real champ, actually. He was very professional, very lovely, very talented guy, very nice. And we got to work together as a director-actor. And then I found out that my character was the character in that scene, it was very funny.
Dave sent me a photo of it actually afterwards. We spoke about it afterward, then we met up in, I think we met up in Brighton for a development conference. And I think we tried to destroy the internet temporarily by posting he and I together in a photo.
So it went really well. Yeah, it was very funny.
Of course, as you were saying, you don’t really get mixed up in sort of the choices of the game when you’re recording the character, but if true neutral Astarion had to describe each of his companions and himself in a few words, what do you think he’d say about them?
[Neil Newbon went into the Astarion voice for this answer, so I had to share the audio]
Newbon: Well, you see that my companion—work colleagues, they’re rather wonderful. A mixed bunch of people. Lae’zel is feist, Shadowheart is a little sad, but beautiful and everything. Gale, great hair, lousy bloody wizard. I don’t know. They’re okay. Although I do have to save them from time to time. Gets rather tedious, darling.
I love that.
Newbon: I’m not going to say it as Neil, it has to be Astarion.
Is there any aspect of Astarion that you feel you specifically created in him?
Newbon: I think it’d be remiss of me to say I brought this to Astarion. I took Stephen [Rooney]’s words, which were beautiful, and I did things with them. This is what Stephen told me after the initial demo when I sort of quasi-auditioned, demo-ed for Asatarion. Stephen reviewed it. He liked what I was doing… He didn’t predict the things that I was doing with the character. So they were a surprise to him, which he liked. He then started writing towards the rhythm that I was trying out with the character because he liked it. I think the word “Darling” became more of a thing after he heard me say one line that had the word “Darling” in it, and it wasn’t supposed to be like a thing for him, but it sort of became like an anchor point for Astarion, which I think was really interesting.
Newbon: I didn’t improvise any of the lines. The lines of dialog were beautifully written. But what I did do is the cadence, the habits, the mannerisms, the different jumps and changes, the theatricality, the facade of him, all that kind of stuff I brought in, which isn’t scripted per-se, but I’m obviously following Stephen and the other writers who contributed towards the Astarion’s words and just brought my own take on it, my own flavor on it.
I did a lot of background work, I did a lot of character creation work myself. I spent a long time, over four years, really cultivating different aspects. And I thought a lot about his habits. I brought in a lot of different methodology, from method work, movement work, creature and character design. I spent a lot of work.
This was not something that I just switched on and got into. This took a lot of experimentation to find what was right, especially with things like the voice and particular habits he would do for deflection or dismissing you. I wanted to build very strong habits into him so that even if he was saying one thing, his body might give himself away or what his real intent was. And I think largely we got pretty successful at that because I think you can watch his physicality and realize he’s saying the opposite of what he’s saying.
There was a lot of fun to be had. But yeah, I worked my socks on this role and it was great. It was four years of joy. It was great. Four and a half years of joy.
So, speaking of that work, you did building his lore…
Newbon: Not his lore, the lore is set by the writers, building his life, I think.
Perfect, building his life. Given all that work, do you have, in the fandom, we call it a head-canon? Do you have any headcanons about Astarion that are not explicitly said in the game?
Newbon: I have his background, and I developed aspects of his background that aren’t talked about because that’s a method tool to help live the character’s life. Okay, well, in the past, he used to do things like this. Therefore, that’s a habit that he would carry on into this new life, being a vampire and being a slave, essentially.
So, I took habits from his past that aren’t scripted and developed those myself. Nobody knows that. Nobody needs to be told that. But what it does do is that if I’m put into a new context of a new scene, I know how he’s going to react habitually and also his wants and needs and objectives, anyway. All of that factors into the choice I will then make in-line with physical movement because I have his life in my head. So, if you want to call that a head-canon. That’s kind of like a historic head canon.
What I don’t do is head-canon the future of beyond the story because that story’s happened.
Is there anything you can share there? He loves wool and socks or something.
Newbon: Yeah. There’s a thing where Astarion always checks his nails when he is trying to just dominate people. He dismisses them with a head turn, usually to the left. He does this to put people in their place. To make very them acutely aware that he’s in control.
Actually, one thing I can tell you, the base pose that he has, which is this very upward movement, arms open. That was something that we experimented with, that was actually a combination of myself and Josh Weeden, who’s one of the directors on the game. We came up with that together. They wanted a unique base pose. The footing is different from everybody. But then I add this sort of open arms up and his head up, looking down his nose at everybody.
So the reason that his head stands like this is a psychological thing. He thinks everybody else is beneath him. So he looks down his nose, which is why the head is slightly angular. So, that is a very particular habitual choice that we made to inform more about the character. That literally, I look down my nose, and that’s sort of why his stance is like that.
I think there are a couple of the characters that have unique bass bases, but most have the same bass post. He’s one of the unique ones.
Baldur’s Gate 3 performance director Thomas Mitchells recently shared that in the scene where Astarion kills Cazador and then sobs, the sobbing moment was not scripted but kind of a raw impulse from you. Do you remember what you were kind of feeling at that moment and what led you to that response?
Newbon: Well, I mean, I believe that actors live fictional truth. So in the safe confines of knowing in one part of your brain that you are in a set and you’re in a volume and that it’s not like you are actually having a psychotic break where you believe that you are actually there and you don’t see anything other than the walls. I think you have to willing suspension of disbelief yourself into that place as an actor, which is what tools are for, which is what craft is for, that you are living that moment for real. It is a fictitional truth, which is why it’s safe and it’s not your life, it’s the character’s life. But for that moment in time, it is real. And your imagination takes you there. It’s like playtime again.
So, it was an impulse that came out of the experience. I was having as Astarion, for helping his story along, and it was just an impulsive reaction to the experience that I’d created with Thomas. Well, I asked Tom to let me do the whole scene complete. I knew it was such a big powerful moment that doing it line by line, which is often how we do these things, doing three takes in a row of a line and moving on, it wasn’t going to work. It needed that flow and the energy flow through it to be able to go from start to finish to really captivate and understand where he was at that one time. I’m pretty sure that was take one. And we didn’t do it again because I’m pretty sure Thomas was happy with it.
And he just went, we’re not doing it again. That was what we needed. So we only did it one time. We did it 20 lines pretty much. I think it was like 20 lines straight through the scene for that particular branching pathway because, I think, again, doing it line by line wouldn’t have worked. And he was so happy with it and I was happy with it as well. I thought it was really honest and truthful without being melodramatic, without being over the top, without trying to say, “Look at me. I’m a great actor.” It was more like, this is really raw and exactly how he feels, and it’s slightly understated. People could have gone way bigger, or I could have gone way big with that choice, but it didn’t feel appropriate. It felt very appropriate. Like this is a release.
I’m actually getting the memory of it right now. Yeah. It was very affecting.
So Baldur’s Gate 3 also grapples a lot with this idea of generational trauma for many of its characters. Do you think Asatrion sort of knew that Cazador had been tortured by Velioth during the time when he was in that enslavement? And how did it impact him when he found out?
Newbon: I don’t know, actually. It’s something that didn’t come up during it, and I think from Asarion’s point of view, I don’t think he would’ve given a shit. I think had you asked Astarion, what do you think about Cazador’s own trauma, blah, blah, blah. I think he would’ve told you like, “Who cares? It’s meaningless. It doesn’t matter because that’s not the point. He’s doing this to me.”
A big part of Astarion’s objective is to be free. And I think there’s this kind of ruthlessness that comes in sometimes with the character that he’ll be free at any cost. And I think his developing friendship or romance with the player, depending, changes that aspect a bit. But up until things like that happen, his goal is to be free. He doesn’t care why this person is doing this to him. The fact that he’s doing it to him is the thing. So I don’t think Astarion really gives a shit about whether Cazador suffered or not. The point is he made him suffer.
And he shouldn’t.
Newbon: Yeah, exactly. I think it’s difficult, isn’t it? Because it comes into I always believe that people should take responsibility for their actions. There may be a reason why, but it’s not an excuse. The excuse is kind of difficult to justify when the actions are so terrible. Do you know what I mean? Especially if the person is cognitive and intelligent, which Cazador is, it’s like cool, but you’ve got to take responsibility.
On a sort of lighter note, I think the queerness of Baldur’s Gate 3 is such a beautiful thing.
Newbon: It’s a beautiful thing.
Did you sort of imagine Astarion when you were creating that he would be such a meaningful and representative character?
Newbon: No, not really. I don’t really think of the end game of a project. I’m not thinking, “Oh, I wonder if the audience will like this or that,” because the problem with that is that you start judging the character, and then you start trying to play to the audience. That’s not a good idea when you’re trying to play a character’s truth because you start judging the character. So if you start making judgments morally or excitedly about, “Oh, I think they’ll like this,” then you are not actually playing the truth of the moment of the character.
I’m very, very good at not judging my characters about loving them, even if they’re the most reprehensible beings on the planet. I still love my characters, and I play them as truthfully as possible. Nikolai Zinoviev (from the Resident Evil 3 Remake) is a good example of that. He’s a mercenary and he’s a fun character. He’s not a good person. So if I start judging him and trying to slant it one way or the other for the audience or for myself or blah blah blah, then you’re not really playing his story properly.
So no, I didn’t expect it. Really. My main thing with Astarion, and Stephen Rooney and I talked about this, was that I just hoped that people got it. That it was the conceit of the hedonistic vampire, and then actually take that off, take that layer off, and you realize Asterion is a lot more complicated and a lot more interesting than that. So, for me, and that was my only worry that people weren’t going to get it, and just going to kill my character off straight away.
I can’t believe people who do that!
Newbon: Which is also okay, by the way.
No, of course, of course. It’s completely okay. I don’t understand, you understand.
One relationship that is kind of niche, but I love, is the one between Astarion and Sebastian. Was there ever any sort of more to interactions between them, or was it just that?
Newbon: Everything that’s in the game was in the game. There’s no hidden content or deleted content, especially from my point of view. There’s nothing that we did that didn’t make it in some form or another.
Absolutely. Do you have a favorite ending for Astarion?
Newbon: No. The reason is I played every single possible ending for Astarion. So coming back to judgment, I lived every ending in its full entirety. So, for me, all the endings are possible, depending on what the player chooses and what’s right for their story. Same thing with head-canon beyond the end of the story; I don’t have an opinion, actually. It’s now the audience; once we finish our performance as a director or actor, we hand it over to an audience. At that point, we must let go and step back. And for me, the only way to do that is to not have any presumptions or have any head-canon or anything like that about what should happen. It’s more like “What do you think should happen?” as the audience and the players, because that’s more interesting to me.
So Astarion’s been popping up a little bit in the greater D&D world in Magic cards and other exciting stuff, is there anywhere where you’d be particularly excited to see him appear?
Newbon: Sure. I mean, Wizards a great company to work with. They’re very supportive, and I really like them a lot. Larian have amazing as well, obviously,. So for me, I don’t mind. I’d love to keep playing him in different things. I don’t get to choose that.
But one thing I would love to do is play him live-action. I’d love it because I also look like him, which is very useful. I’d love to play Astarion in live-action. That would be a real hoot. I just dunno if it’s going to happen or not.
Is there anything that you’re working on right now that you’re really excited about? Anything next up for you you can share?
Newbon: I’ve got about eight projects on as an actor. My production company’s got two projects on. There’s another thing I can’t talk about. And yeah, I’m directing a thing as well. None of which I can talk about apart from Greedfall 2, which I’m allowed to say I’m in, but I can’t tell you what I’m doing.
Is there a character that you’ve played that you wish people would find and give more attention to?
Newbon: No, not really. Anybody? No, not particularly. I’ve got lots and lots and lots and lots of different characters. I’m very lucky that I’m a character actor. People find my characters. I had somebody come up to me with a Star Wars Dosk, which was a first. Somebody wanted me to sign a Major Dosk, which is an Imperial Star Wars character; I think it was in Star Wars: Old Republic. And somebody brought a picture of him. He was first in life. That was the first time anybody’s ever asked for that obscure character.
Amazing.
Newbon: Well, I don’t talk about that character very much. It was just a fun little silly thing I did. And he found him. So, not really. I think it’s fun when people find random mini-characters. I was in one of the LEGO games and I played a caveman. It was a Brummy. And I think it was the only Brummy character I’ve ever played. No, that’s not true. I’ve got to play another character whose a Brummy. But yeah, I made the caveman a brummy. That means, from Birmingham.
A Brummy is a colloquial for a person from Birmingham. I don’t think that game exists anymore though; I think it. got shut down.
I’m sure the internet will be on it.
You can catch Neil Newbon’s performance as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 and make sure to keep up with his latest endeavors on his social media channels.
