A long-awaited sequel to a classic RPG
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the latest installment in the popular role-playing game series based on the Dungeons and Dragons universe. The game was released in August 2023 for PC, PS5 and Mac, after six years of development by Larian Studios. The game features a massive story with 17,000 ending variations, 174 hours of cut-scenes, and a two million word-long script. The player can create their own hero or villain and explore the Forgotten Realms, a world full of magic, monsters, and adventure.
Tracy Wiles voices Jaheira, a fan favourite character
One of the characters that the player can meet and recruit in the game is Jaheira, a half-elf druid who was also a companion in the previous two games. Jaheira is voiced by Tracy Wiles, an actress from the Isle of Islay who has worked on stage, TV, film, radio and video games. Tracy has voiced other characters in games such as Diablo IV and Divinity: Original Sin II, but Jaheira was her biggest role in the industry yet.
Tracy described Jaheira as “passionate, old, wise, and full of grief for her murdered husband, whom she loved so much”. She also said that Jaheira is “hilarious and very funny”, with witty lines written by Ruairà Moore. Tracy spent over a year and a half recording Jaheira’s lines, which she said was “a joy” because she loved the character so much.
Tracy also did motion capture for the first time
Besides giving Jaheira her voice, Tracy also did motion capture for the first time in her career. Motion capture is a process of recording the movement of the actor and using it to animate the digital character. Tracy said that she loved doing motion capture, even though it was challenging at first. She said that she had no training in motion capture and that she learned on the job. She praised the director, the movement person, and the sound and mo-cap team for their guidance and support.
Tracy was not the original voice of Jaheira
Tracy was not the first actress to voice Jaheira. In the first two games, Jaheira was voiced by Heidi Shannon, who was unavailable for Baldur’s Gate 3. Tracy said that she was aware that some fans were hoping that Heidi would reprise the role, but she hoped that they would accept her as the new voice of Jaheira. She said that she tried to honour Heidi’s work while also bringing her own interpretation to the character.
Tracy was amazed by the game’s graphics and fan art
Tracy said that she was astounded by the level of detail and realism in Baldur’s Gate 3’s graphics. She said that she only saw what her character looked like after the game was released, and that she was impressed by how they modelled her head, body, and clothes. She also said that she was blown away by the creativity and talent of the fans who made fan art of Jaheira and other characters. She said that she felt a lot of love from people for the game.
Tracy will meet fans at MCM Comic Con convention 7
Tracy said that she was looking forward to meeting fans at MCM Comic Con convention 7 at the ExCeL London centre from October 27 to 29. She said that this would be her first time attending a convention, and that it would be exciting to meet all the other actors who voiced the origin characters and companions in Baldur’s Gate 3. She also said that she was curious to see how fans would react to her as Jaheira.
Will Tracy play Baldur’s Gate 3 herself?
Tracy admitted that she had not played Baldur’s Gate 3 yet, even though she had watched some streams of other players. She said that her excuse was that she had a MacBook, which only supported the game recently. She said that she was hoping to get a free pass from Larian Studios to play the game, or else she would buy it herself. She said that she wanted to play the game but that she was afraid of getting lost in its huge world. She also said that she wanted to meet herself in the game and see how Jaheira interacted with other characters.
