Posted 28 minutes agoSubscribe to Screen Time NewsletterCaret Down"It Completely Shocked Me": Bastila's Voice Actor, Jennifer Hale, Was As Surprised By The "Knights Of The Old Republic" Twist As We WereThe voice behind Bastila Shan talks legacy, plot twists, bringing unforgettable characters to life, and the power of storytelling.by Andrew FirrioloBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink Jennifer Hale has voiced some of the most iconic characters in video games and animation. Scott Garfitt / Via Getty Images From Mass Effect to Avatar: The Last Airbender to Star Wars, Jennifer Hale has done it all - even earning a Guinness World Record along the way. We caught up with the legendary voice actor at New York Comic Con to talk about her unforgettable role in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, how she found Bastila's voice, and to take a trip down memory lane.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For Jennifer, it all starts with the writing: BioWare / Via Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Jennifer: For all my auditions, every single thing comes out of the writing. I think writers make the world go round - without them, we have nothing! Every piece of the story is there because the writers brought their ideas onto the paper. For Bastila, I dove into the story and the writing, like I always do, and the clues were all there. I knew of the Star Wars universe, and it's one that I really love. Star Wars has these clear lines between good and evil, most of the time, and you can win, and you can actually save the universe. I love that about it!Bastila's voice is based on a British dialect. The beautiful thing about the Star Wars universe and other sci-fi universes is that the dialects don't have to be "accurate." These worlds are not of our Earth! Knights of the Old Republic wasn't recorded in chronological order. BioWare / Via nintendo.com Jennifer: When we recorded Knights of the Old Republic, we recorded individually, and that's one of the major differences between games and animation. Recording an animated series is like doing a radio play. Everybody's either in the room together or virtually dialed in together, or you're taking turns doing your pieces. But when you're doing a game session, it's generally a four-hour, one-person show.
In animation, we work in chronological order. But in a game, you might start with a line two-thirds of the way through the game, or even at the end, and then pop back to the beginning. Everything's generally out of context, and you live in the moment of every line. You're heavily reliant on the voice directors, who I think are some of the unsung heroes of the process. Jennifer was initially shocked by the dark-side version of Bastila. BioWare / Via Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Jennifer: This was my first experience with the light side and dark side. I first did all the light-side story, and I got to feel fantastic. I got to feel like the big hero, and it was so much fun. Then I came back in, and I was a little bit confused. I wasn't exactly sure what we were doing.
Ginny McSwain and Darragh O'Farrell were our voice directors, and they told me, "It's the same stuff, but you're doing it this way now." I went, "What? She what?" I almost felt personally betrayed. (Laughs) I was like, "No, she can't! She's the good guy!" Then I thought, you just have to surrender. I learned that the first game I ever worked on, Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition. I walked in that first day, and I simply had to say the names of countries, and I didn't understand. I was thinking, "What's the moment before? Who am I talking to? What's the scene?" I could feel their frustration beginning to mount, and I thought, "You just figure it out!" That same tool kicked in with Bastila. You just go with it. This is what they need. It's not about you - let's get to work! Jennifer recalls being "gobsmacked" by the big plot twist! BioWare / Via Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Jennifer: I did not see the twist coming! Knights of the Old Republic really showed me the level of writing, storytelling, and surprise that was possible in games. It was so adventurous and forward-thinking and incredible. It completely shocked me. I remember just being gobsmacked by this game so many times because I didn't see it ahead of time. I discovered the story as I recorded. (Laughs) I really had to work hard to overcome my own experience of what I was reading, and just jump in and be in the moment. When recording for games, Jennifer typically doesn't see the script in advance. BioWare / Via Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Jennifer: Before we went more digital, the directors had these giant binders that they'd flip through. They looked like old phone books stacked maybe six high!We never got our scripts ahead of time. Most of the games I've ever done have been cold reading. I walk in, and I see the line. I do the line, and it goes to market.
We recorded Knights of the Old Republic in chunks