Love, laughter, and gratitude filled the main stage at New York Comic-Con today as Baldur’s Gate 3’s Neil Newbon, Devora Wilde, Aliona Baranova, and Jennifer English shared snippets and stories from their time working on the game.
This wasn’t their first appearance at a convention like this as Newbon called their publicity tour a “gratitude tour…This is a privilege, and we are very aware of our privilege.”
All of their stops have led to the four of them doing a road trip, of sorts, together, and the dynamic that spawned from that trip quickly manifested on stage. Baranova and English repeatedly referred to Wilde and Newbon as “mummy and daddy.” English said, “Daddy didn’t like Chappell Roan,” drawing surprised gasps from the crowd. Later on, the group sang “Pink Pony Club” while Newbon mimed covering his ears in annoyance.
Newbon spilled water on himself and his chair at point, which prompted English to quip, “Did Daddy have an accident?” A staff member was quick to replace his chair while another brought paper towels, which Wilde seized and promptly wrapped them around Newbon like a mummy.
Throughout the panel, moderator Maggie Lovitt of Collider asked the panelists various questions about the game’s development. She wondered if Wilde, who portrayed the Githyanki Lae’zel, had been given a lot of prep work on the alien race. “[Baldur’s Gate 3’s] writing is so incredible I didn’t need to do a lot [of research],” she said. Wilde downplayed her work before performance director Baranova said, “Dev [Wilde] became the blueprint for the Githyanki” in terms of how she would direct other Githyanki performers.
The cast was asked about their familiarity with Dungeons & Dragons and if they knew Baldur’s Gate 3 was based on it. “I think I’m the sort of person who looks intelligent, but there’s not a thought in there,” Wilde said when admitting it took her a year to realize Baldur’s Gate 3 was set in the world of D&D. As an avid geek, Newbon knew right away and called BG3 a “gateway drug to D&D” for the many players who hadn’t picked up a D20 before.
While Baranova wound up as a performance director, she originally auditioned for Shadowheart – the role played by her partner, Jennifer English. “If you can’t get the part, get the girl,” she said. “Jen is the perfect Shadowheart; no one could have done it better.”
“We’re so lucky [Baranova] didn’t get Shadowheart, because we got such a wonderful director,” Newbon added. “So proud of the kids,” Wilde quipped. Baranova did end up in the game, albeit as a squirrel as all of BG3’s squirrels were portrayed by the different directors.
A fan-submitted question asked what surprised the actors when playing through the game, and English remarked that Wilde’s performance blew her away. “Made me cry,” she said. When Wilde wanted to know what specifically made her cry, English responded with a relatable, “Everything.”
English would have wanted to portray Minthara if she weren’t cast as Shadowheart, and Newbon and Wilde agreed they too would have loved to be Minthara. “It’s the low cut,” Wilde said in reference to Minthara’s rather sparse camp clothing.
They offered up advice to players for evil playthroughs, with Newbon saying to “kill everyone” – something Astarion might actually approve of. “I do like fireballing strangers,” English added. On her current playthrough, English is playing as The Dark Urge, but was somewhat forced into a “resist” playthrough as she refused to kill her love interest – Shadowheart.
On the topic of love interests, the panelists were asked whom they romanced when playing the game. “Myself,” Wilde was quick to say. “We call it Astar-bation,” Newbon answered. English said she romanced Lae’zel in her playthrough with Baranova, and yelled, “Dev, we just had sex!” Baranova was quick to add that she romanced Shadowheart before the game was even out.
The panel closed with Newbon, Wilde, Baranova, and English heaping praise on everyone who worked on Baldur’s Gate 3, which is easily already one of the most popular games ever made. They guesstimated that perhaps a 1,000 people in total helped bring it to fruition across all teams – actors, developers, marketers, and more – and mentioned over 250 actors provided voice work and motion capture. “Without them, the world wouldn’t live and breathe,” Newbon said of the massive cast. “[It] wouldn’t feel as immersive and real.”
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