Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Was "Not Sure" About Neil Newbon's Take On Astarion

thegamer.com:

When it comes to Baldur's Gate 3's more eccentric characters, you'll be hard-pressed to find one quite like Astarion. Not only is he initially rather hostile, coming at you with a dagger when you first meet, but the whole vampire thing definitely makes him one of the more unique party members in terms of character and his story.

That kind of eccentricity required a similarly enthusiastic and risky performance, something that actor Neil Newbon was more than happy to deliver. However, he recently revealed in an interview with Game Rant that not everyone at developer Larian Studios was initially on board with how he was playing the character, with head honcho Swen Vincke apparently "not sure" about his take.

The choices I was making, I think, were quite big. And a risk, I would say - which I felt was the right thing to do. I know not everybody was sure about it initially, until they got what I was trying to do.

Newbon goes on to explain that the risks he took with the character eventually started paying off, and credits cinematic director Jason Latino and Astarion's head writer Stephen Rooney as big reasons for the character's success and popularity. There's no telling how Astarion could have ended up without Newbon's input though, and Larian will definitely be glad that they kept him around and made the right choice.

In a game as full to the brim with interesting characters as Baldur's Gate 3, it takes a lot for one character to stand out. Newbon managed it with Astarion though, and has been aptly rewarded for his efforts, taking home multiple awards for his work, including the prize for Best Performance at The Game Awards last year.

Astarion even managed to sneak his way onto the list of gaming's most iconic characters earlier this year, placing in seventeenth, right between Cloud Strife and Kiryu Kazama. That's some good company Astarion has found himself in, and an impressive feat considering Baldur's Gate 3's full release is still less than a year old.