Summary
- Baldur's Gate 3 has exceeded expectations as a popular RPG with interweaving stories and complex characters, keeping players engaged for hours.
- Devora Wilde voices the fierce githyanki warrior Lae'zel, who stands out among the companions and has a nuanced character arc, including the possibility of a touching romance.
- Wilde did not anticipate the game's success and was initially overwhelmed, but ultimately embraced the role, finding it to be the most complex video game project she has worked on.
Baldur's Gate 3 has sured expectations and become one of the biggest hits of 2023 so far. The much-anticipated sequel to the beloved Dungeons & Dragons-based RPG continues the adventure on the Sword Coast of Faerûn in and around the titular city. With interweaving stories, complex characters, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, there's plenty to keep even the most discerning player busy for hours.
Baldur's Gate 3 boasts an impressive voice cast including Harry Potter's Jason Isaacs, Maggie Robertson of Resident Evil Village fame, and Red Solstice 2's Devora Wilde, the latter of whom lends her voice to the fierce githyanki warrior Lae’zel. Lae'zel stands out among the Baldur's Gate 3 companions due to not only her race but also her approach to problem-solving. However, beneath Lae'zel's prickly exterior, it's possible to discover one of the more nuanced characters in the game, leading to a touching romance for some.
Screen Rant spoke with Devora Wilde about githyanki culture, the complexity of Baldur’s Gate 3, and the positive fan reaction to her “little green lizard”.
Screen Rant: Congratulations on the success of Baldur's Gate 3.
Devora Wilde: Thank you. Thank you. It’s madness, especially now with the PS5 launch. I feel like we’ve hit another wave of players. So a whole new world for people who have been waiting to play it for the Playstation.
Did you have any idea when you first started working on [Baldur’s Gate 3] that it was going to be this big?
Devora Wilde: No. I did not. Because I didn’t really know about the world, I didn’t really know about the game. So much so, I was very overwhelmed in a good way now when it came out. It’s been a great reaction. I certainly didn’t know way back in 2019 I had no idea. Even when I was told what the game was, I was like, “cool”. Because I just, I didn’t know, I’m not a gamer. I didn’t really know about the first two Baldur’s Gates, and honestly, I think it turned out for the best. Because, had I known the scope of it and how many fans there were, and how ionately people felt about the characters, I think I would have been a bit intimidated to go into it.
You're no stranger to voicing characters in video games, have you ever worked on anything before with the complexity of Baldur's Gate 3?
Devora Wilde: No. I wouldn’t say so. Yeah, I’ve done a few video games in my four years of doing voice work. But Baldur’s Gate has been the constant throughout that because it was my first ever project that I booked for a video game. And in of the dialogue options, the endings, the various different arcs that the characters go through, it was certainly the most complex in of that. I think in most games that I’ve done so far the characters have had a fairly linear path so for this one, obviously, to be able to have different outcomes for the same character is incredible, really. And very fun to play as an actor because you wouldn’t necessarily get to do that in any other medium, certainly not in film and TV.
Lae'zel is so different from yourself as well. She's literally an alien.
Devora Wilde: [Laughs] Is she though? Is she? This is true, yes. [Laughs]
Did you have any particular method you had for getting back into character when recording? Especially considering you were recording for such a long period of time.
Devora Wilde: You know, I think that because we were recording for so long and so often, it would be very rare that a month would go by and we wouldn’t be in the studio. She sort of gradually got into my body and under my skin and so I could just go in, literally look at the screen do my Lae’zel pose and I’d be in it. But I think certainly doing the voice, getting that really deep like [shifts into Lae’zel’s voice] Lae’zel voice down here. That really helps me and obviously her sort of movement and her warrior-like posture, I would say, are the things that sort of helped me get back into character. But I think when you’re doing it for so long and so consistently, it doesn’t really take a lot to snap back into it. Even though she is very different sounding and obviously her movements are very different to mine, she’s essentially an extension of me.
Did you do any of the face capture or motion capture? Is that where the Lae’zel poses came from?
Devora Wilde: Not the face capture. We just did motion capture. Yeah, yes, that’s where all [the poses] came from. And now when I’ve had so many comments from people going like “you really look like Lae’zel” and I’m like “well yeah I did do everything apart from the face”. But people now seem to have this idea that her face actually looks like mine, even though I don’t think the characters necessarily modeled on our faces. But what [Larian] did do was while we were recording, we had an autocue, and they filmed us just to see how we would, how our faces would naturally move in said situation so then they could animate the character in the same way. So I guess that kind of helped as well for the likeness.
They are phenomenally detailed, the way they move in the game.
Devora Wilde: So good isn’t it? It’s so hyper-realistic. To me, it feels like I’m watching a film or TV show rather than a video game. It’s just incredibly immersive. Very cinematic, definitely.
Technically, Lae'zel is classed as evil.
Devora Wilde: Is she though? [Laughs] Who says that?
She’s been transported over into Idle Champions now and she’s been given a moral alignment. So she’s classed as Lawful Evil.
Devora Wilde: Oh. [Laughs] So you’re telling me it’s official are you?
Well, I was going to ask did you ever let that label influence your performance? But clearly not.
Devora Wilde: No. You know what it’s only now that we started talking to people and doing interviews that I’ve had a couple of people ask me, “did you see Lae’zel as evil, she’s an evil character.” But actually, when we started the recording, it was never ever mentioned that she is an evil character. And I definitely don’t see her like that. I think she certainly does some questionable things and reacts questionably in certain situations which, you know, some characters wouldn’t necessarily act like that.
But I do not see her as evil, but that’s so interesting. I’ve never even clocked that. I think when you play a character, as an actor, you really resist judging them because if you judge them, you’re getting yourself stuck down a path, and you have to love them to play them and to get to know all their nuances and stuff. So I have never thought of that. I was like, ok this is quite an abrasive, funny, sort of deadpan githyanki that I’m playing and she is just very driven on her path and she would do anything to achieve her goal. Which is essentially getting rid of the tadpole and I would argue that she is the most driven towards that goal. I think that some of the others are like, “oh yeah, I really want to get rid of this tadpole, but oh look! A shiny object over there, let’s go after that and see what that does,” and Lae’zel is like, no! We don’t have time to do that. Let's move on. [Laughs] So yeah, I would definitely not call her evil.
I think it’s to do with her culture. It’s so different from the other characters. It creates an interesting dynamic.
Devora Wilde: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think the culture is definitely it. I mean, she has several lines where she references and talks about how children are brought up in githyanki culture. And you’re just a bit like, oh god, this is disturbing. Really disturbing stuff. But that’s all she’s ever known. And for her that’s completely normal and fine and that’s the way things should be as far as she’s concerned. So, culture clash for sure.
How much input did you get, if any, on Lae'zel as a character?
Devora Wilde: I think I had a reference of what she looked like, I had a backstory but not a super detailed backstory. I didn’t know too much about the githyanki, actually hardly anything at all about them as a race and what they were like and all this culture stuff we’re talking about. I didn’t really know that. All that was informed, I that I got my information from was really from the writing. So once I saw the way she was written and how sort of honest she is, and how cutthroat she is in the best possible way. I was like ok, I know this character, I can see this character. But honestly, I thought it’s maybe a her thing, and then I discovered later that it is a generally githyanki thing as well.
It’s funny actually, you’ve reminded me of a comment I saw, somebody was like: “If you know githyanki, you’ll know that actually, Lae’zel is one of the nice ones.” I was like, wow. Ok, ok. wow. [Laughs] That’s saying a lot, isn’t it?
How much input did you personally get in her development as a character or did she stay pretty constant throughout your time recording?
Devora Wilde: She stayed pretty constant, I think at the beginning, we experimented a bit with the voice and the movement. The voice was not as low and as raspy as when we started and it gradually, naturally moved to that place. And the movements started off being very jerky, very jerky, and very alien to the point where I think I started the sessions, I was like, I cannot maintain this head, extreme head jerks for however long this is going to be. This is going to be taxing. But then we had from the cinematics team that it didn’t quite look right, so we reined it in a little bit. And it was just like a bit of a play at the beginning to see what would fit the character and it was just a team effort between all of us, all the directors and everything, to discover what felt good for her. And then once we got that, then pretty much, she stayed consistent as you see her now.
One interesting thing, though is that I had no idea, and I don’t think anyone did apart from the devs, maybe had a rough outline, I’m sure they did. About where the character was going to go. So every time I was coming in to do a session, I’d get the script beforehand, of course, but I wouldn’t necessarily know which scenes we were doing or which scenes they’d added that progress her character and also where her character was going. So I’d be like, oh, now Lae’zel does this? Oh, ok. And that was so great from an acting point of view because it meant that I was really present in the moment, I could only play what I was given. I didn’t know where the character was going to end up. So that’s really exciting that I didn’t have the whole script, so to speak, because sometimes I think there’s a temptation if you know where the character is going to end up, you start playing it, to push them towards it and it doesn’t come off as authentic. So, in this case, I literally couldn’t do that which was great.
Do you have any particular scenes or Lae'zel moments that are your favorites?
Devora Wilde: I do. All the scenes where she’s being snipey with Shadowheart or just deadpan sarky with others are my favorite. Very dry comments are just… I love them, I love them. There’s some scenes, that I don’t want to spoil too much, but I’ll give little hints. There’s some scenes at the circus, like some light-hearted moments. [Laughs] There’s some scenes at the circus which just ended me, I was dying honestly because, you know, it’s just quite funny. It’s meant to be a little light-hearted moment, and Lae’zel’s just like: “F**king hell, let’s get on with it. What the f**k are we all doing? Come on guys.”
And then there’s the classic sunrise scene, which I won’t say any more about because some people have yet to discover it, but that one is one of my personal favorites. Because it’s such a different side to Lae’zel, and it was a real treat to record that.
She’s quite a brusk character, but she’s almost become the face of Baldur’s Gate 3. Has that surprised you that she’s almost the mascot, in a way?
Devora Wilde: [Laughs] The little green mascot? I don’t know if I see her as the face of Baldur’s Gate. I feel like we’re all, I mean, we’re all sort of getting involved on social media, and I think that’s why maybe you’ve seen more of Lae’zel than some of the other characters. [Laughs] That’s my bad. It’s just me.
But what I’m enjoying a lot is because of social media now, people that have dismissed her at the beginning and thought of her as a bit rude and just can’t be bothered with her bullsh*t, which is fair enough to be honest, have now been like “oh ok I’ve seen all the behind the scenes banter, I’ve seen what you’re doing on TikTok and stuff and I actually want to give her a chance.” And I think that’s very, very cool. And I think more people are giving her a chance and there’s some people that are despite their best efforts, they’re really pushing through with her and they’re getting rewarded in the process. So I love that. I love my little green Lae’zel. I call her my little green lizard even though she’s not a lizard, but that’s what I call her.
Have you been surprised by the fan's reaction to her?
Devora Wilde: I’ve definitely been surprised by how many fans there are. And how ionately people are into this game. And how much they’ve been waiting for it, and that’s been incredible because obviously the game’s been out in early access since 2020 and there was a reaction then, but it wasn’t a huge reaction. So I thought ok, the game’s fairly successful, obviously people have been looking forward to it. But once it came out now, it’s been a tidal wave of reaction, which is really amazing.
So I have been surprised, because again, I had no context of the game and of the world and of how many people play it and love it. And it’s been a really pleasant surprise and I was talking with Jen [English], Shadowheart, and we were saying how amazing we are about the fact that the fans, there’s been no creepiness, there’s been no weirdness, it’s all been pretty much 99% all love. And I think that’s incredible.
Finally, as we wrap up, having worked with Lae’zel for so long, she must hold a special place in your heart. Is there anything about her that you want to share? Something you particularly love or anything people might not know?
Devora Wilde: Look, I coined this little catchphrase since the beginning of one of my interviews I did back in July with Jen, and I was like, “give the green lizard a chance.” And that will remain my slogan forever. So give the green lizard a chance. I think that she will surprise and delight you. If you push past that rough exterior, there are things to be discovered and uncovered with her. She has an amazing growth and arc, and in many ways, she’s very interesting to discover because you have to really get past that exterior to get to the good stuff. So it’s, I would argue, it’s all the more rewarding because you have to really dig deep and once she’s your friend, she’s very loyal. Loyal for life. Give the green lizard a chance.
Source: Larian Studios/Youtube
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now on PS5, PC, and Mac via Steam and GOG.
