BG3’s Astarion actor was at the BAFTA Games Awards.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Astarion actor, Neil Newbon, cut a very cool figure on the BAFTA Games Awards red carpet, with his shirt-free suit being translated into online fan art almost instantaneously.
While speaking to RadioTimes.com on the red carpet, Newbon admitted that his role in Baldur’s Gate 3 has changed his life, with the game’s adoring community getting a big shout-out from the actor (who was nominated for Performer in a Leading Role at the awards).
As well as telling us his thoughts on the decision by the developers not to make Baldur’s Gate 4, despite the third instalment’s huge success, Newbon revealed that he has an upcoming project related to the Fallout universe.
You can see the full interview with Newbon embedded below in video form, so take a look at that if you want to see everything he said! Or keep on reading for some choice highlights from the conversation.
With Astarion becoming such a beloved character and Newbon’s performance going down amazingly well with fans and awards juries alike, is any part of him disappointed that developer Larian Studios does not have any current plans to make DLC follow-ups or a full sequel in Baldur’s Gate 4?
“No, not at all,” Newbon said. “I completely understand [studio head] Swen [Vincke]’s reasoning and also Larian’s.
“I love the fact that they’ve actually had that moment of honesty with themselves and gone, ‘Actually, you know what, our heart’s not in this, so therefore, we’re not going to do it, we’re gonna do something else.’
“It’s far better to be like that, than to make something that you’re not proud of. That you don’t really like. So I think then, ultimately, you have to then step back and think, ‘Why would we even make that, then?’
“For me, as an actor, if I’m in a role that I don’t like, if I’m not really feeling a character, and I take the job, that’s gonna be very hard to do a good job with it. Because my heart’s not in it. So I think they made the right decision.”
Since he’s not heading back to Baldur’s Gate, does Newbon have any other fun projects in the offing? He said: “I cannot tell you, but lots of really cool stuff is happening at the moment, some stuff I’m really excited about.
“Actually, the one thing I can tell you about, I actually did an indie mod game. I have a voice in Fallout London, which is a mod for Fallout 4. And that was just a whole bunch of industry professionals getting together for free and just doing it because we wanted to make a fun mod.
“I came in very late, it’s been a lot of fun, and that’s coming out very soon.”
Sadly, in the days since Newbon said that, Fallout London has been delayed due to potential tech problems that could be caused by the soon-to-launch Fallout 4 next-gen update. So the fan-made London mod is now a little bit further away than we thought.
As for what he can tease about the hotly anticipated Fallout London, Newbon said: “I would say I hope people really embrace the idea that it’s the same world, but it’s a different world. So I think that’s one thing.
“I think that people go into it expecting it’s going to be absolutely like Fallout. It’s not. It’s a very British invention, I would say. They’ve done some really cool stuff.”
While you wait for Newbon’s new projects to come out, check out our full list of BAFTA Games Awards 2024 winners or our interview with host Phil Wang. We’ll bring you more of our red carpet coverage soon!
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