Voice Actor Joseph Tweedale Interview

Hey Chris! Hey. Oh yeah, we did it! We did it! Yeah, right. Finally, after many months, many weeks. How are you? Good, how are you? Yeah, good, thank you. Yeah, really well. I'm glad to be here. Yeah, it feels like we've been pulling off for ages, but now finally we're here to talk talk, which is good. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, thank you for doing this. Yeah, no, no, my pleasure. Yeah, yeah, really excited to chat and discuss. Yeah, yeah. So I could just jump around a little bit before getting to metaphor. Yeah, of course. So I know you went to school for acting, right? Yeah, I went to a university in Bath, and it wasn't a drama school, but it was a university that had a course that was sort of tailored for actors and performers. And I did the course, and it was a great course. It was sort of tailored to people who wanted to sort of make their own work and make their own shows and that kind of thing. So there were acting classes, but there were also lots of singing classes and playwriting stuff. So it was really varied, and that really set me up quite well as a young actor going into the industry to try and sort of make my own work. And I did some of that. I made some of my own work, but then I also fell into doing theatre quite soon after I graduated from university. And then it kind of like just sort of snowballed after that, really. I did lots of theatre when I was younger, and I still do quite a lot of theatre now. But thankfully it's kind of, well, not thankfully, I think fortunately, it's also branched off into other avenues. I still do quite a lot of music because I play a lot of instruments. And that was actually, I thought I wanted to be a musician before I moved into acting. And I'm really pleased that I can still kind of do that in my work. And yeah, so yeah, it's great. And like I was saying, it's kind of nice to be able to do lots of different kind of things like voiceover and a bit of playwriting and a bit of filming, a bit of theatre. It keeps it all fresh. So it's good. Yeah. Yeah. Is there a special story of how you got into equity? Equity? Yeah. So I did a show. It was a tiny, tiny theatre space in London called The Blue Elephant. And I think I had a student membership when I was at university, but it was a student membership slightly different to a full membership. But I did a show, an adaptation of the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Blue Elephant. And it was my first ever show. I was probably, I was about 21, I think. And I was terrified. And I probably wasn't very good. But it was, yeah, it was a way of, it was how I sort of got into it. It's how I got an agent. It was how I met lots of people who sort of were casting directors in the world of theatre at that time. So yeah. And that's how I got my full equity membership. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Was there something that inspired you to try and pursue voiceover too? You know, I'm a big game. And I always wanted to be in games. And I liked sort of listening to audio drama and that kind of stuff when I was younger too. But I don't think there was anything like that really inspired me. What was funny, how I first sort of started audiobooks. So I've done quite a lot of audiobooks. And that was sort of how I first really got into it. I think I just decided one day that I should, I'll buy a microphone to try out some voices and see if that works. And it was one of those really, really bog standard, I think they were like Yeti blues or something like that, or Yeti snowballs. It's like this tiny plastic mic. But now when I look back and listen to the audiobooks I made with that, I'm like, oh no, it's awful. Please no one listen to those. But at the time, it was so exciting because I was experimenting with voiceover and with accents and different timbres of speaking. And then that did lead on to doing a lot of things in radio, but with Big Finish who produced a lot of the Torchwood audio dramas and Doctor Who stuff. And yeah, those early days of kind of wanting to get into games and not really knowing how, and not really having the teaching. We didn't have a voiceover course at university, so I was just basically sort of making it up and listening to stuff and going back and looking at games and doing voices and things. And yeah, it felt like quite a funny way of starting, but now I'm here and I'm in Matterport and it's great. It's crazy. Yeah, yeah. Were you very aware of anime-style games prior to this? You know, JRPGs are not a massive genre that I've played, really. I was a big fan of Final Fantasy when I was a kid. Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy X, they were my go-tos. I loved Final Fantasy X. But JRPGs in general, anime-style games, they weren't massively on my radar. Obviously, in the world of gaming, I know about them. I know about Kingdom Hearts and I knew about Persona and Atlus, but up until doing this metaphor, I'd never actually played a Persona game. So I feel almost like heresy saying that. But yeah, they weren't really massively on my radar. I like to play, I like a lot of shooters and city builds and that kind of thing. Kind of chill stuff. But now, I started playing Matterport a little bit. I don't really have much time at the moment, but I'm loving the vibe of the game and it's so exciting to hear everybody as well. And I think maybe I'll get Persona as well. Maybe. So everybody else that I've talked to that's on the cast so far, they said that they auditioned for all the characters too. Was that your case? Yeah. I think I auditioned for all of the main party characters. So we got a big character pack through with all the character names and I was like, well, I've got to do it. I've got to send it all off. And yeah, I loved auditioning for all of them actually. It was so much fun because they were all so varied and all had such regional accents in the UK. And these are all accents that I imagine a lot of British actors will sometimes dip into and especially voiceover artists. So that was quite fun to do. But the moment I saw Luis, his character profile and his artwork, because they provide some artwork with the pack sometimes, and that was great for this game because it's such a wild story. And it's so fantastical that having this artwork was so useful. And I saw that character, I know exactly how he would speak. And I think we did some tweaks in the room, but yeah, just seeing that artwork was so useful. I think the artwork had his profile, like his face. And then there was an image of him sort of sticking his hand out and he's like a sorcerer. And I was like, yeah, I know exactly how he'll sound. But yeah, I sent off so many clips, so many clips of all these other accents and characters. And then when I got the call from the agent, my agent, a few months afterwards, I sort of did it all. I was on tour with a musical at the time. So I sort of took a day off, well, took a morning off in one of the studios for the theater that we were in at the time and managed to sort of build a recording studio, spent the morning doing it, forgot about it, and then had the call that I'd be playing Luis. Didn't really know, I was like, who is that one? Which one was that? And then when I look back at the pack, I'm like, oh, oh, great. That's amazing. And we didn't really know much about the game at all going into it. It was heavily NDA'd and that kind of thing. So I didn't really know what to expect and whether he was a character that would pop up for a scene or a few scenes. Yeah. And then pleasantly surprised when we got to, yeah, I think the first scene we did was, this isn't a spoiler and most people play the game now anyway. It was, we did, the first scene we did was when Luis kills the king. And I was like, oh, he's the big bad. Yeah, that was great. It was an amazing moment in the studio just realizing that, okay, I've got to do a good job. It does sound like it's pretty much tonally that it's just like your natural voice almost. Yeah. I think he might be a little bit lower in my register, but yeah, quite similar to my own voice. And I think that's really what Josh and the team at Pitstop and Scott, the localization director, they really wanted really authentic voices. And for the most part, well, they really managed that. I think it's interesting in voice acting that you can do lots of accents and silly voices, but really the truth is in your own, is what you bring that isn't affected. And yeah, I think they really nailed that with this game. I think there were times where I would have to, because I'm quite a physical performer. So I think that comes from my theater background really. And there were times in the studio where I was just not getting lines or things would drop off slightly. And then Josh would be like, well, do what you do if you're on the stage. And suddenly it's like, oh, okay. And pretending I think there was a time where Luis has the scepter and I couldn't get the line right. And then Josh was like, imagine you've got a scepter in your hand. And then suddenly the line came out and it was, yeah, it's just that physical truth. Yeah. Was there a default line that you had to get into his headspace? Your fool of a king is dead. That one. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I think because he's so similar, he's so similar to the timbre of his voice is so similar to mine. I just, like I said earlier, I found physically embodying that upright presence and having like an upright nuts to him really, really helped. And also smiling, smiling lots that really helped with Luis, which is kind of weird really, because I don't think he smiles at all in the game. Really. Occasionally you see a cut scene and he may be smirks, but smiling really helped. Yeah. It was, it's funny, really that, that kind of, it just adds a, a likeness to, to the voice. Yeah. It was cool. Yeah. Did you find yourself going through a dark headspace with playing him ever? Yeah, I think, I think there were, you know, he, the character, he doesn't go on like a massive arc, but you can see that he's very damaged from his past. And, and, and really we didn't really know much about backstory to the characters until, you know, you come in for a session and they'd be like, right, today we're doing this. And this links back to Luis's history as, as, as what happened and three, two, one go. And so there's not, there wasn't much time to, to, to, to try and, to think about that and, and, and ruminate on it before a session. And that, that, that's a testament to the writing as well. The writing is so good in this game that everyone was able to bring incredible emotion into a, into a session, maybe without much time to, to kind of, to, to sit with it. And it, it's a testament to the direction of the, of the game as well. But yeah, I think there were, there were, there were, there were times later on in the game that were so, so emotional for, for me to kind of like talking about his past and why he feels the way he does about the world and how he's radicalized. Of course he's a, he's a monster. But yeah, I, as an actor, you, you have to, you have to believe it. You have to sort of find the truth in it and believe it yourself in some way, obviously. Obviously I'm not a fascist, but it's, yeah, you've got to, you've got to believe it in, in, in a way. Yeah. Was it easy for you to relate to anything about him? I, I like to play villains. I play a lot of villains in, in voiceover. And I think he, he's not, he's not like a paint by numbers villain, but I love the way that he, he was, he direct. I love how direct he is. I love how matter of fact he is as well. And I'm not, I'm quite an anxious, quiet man. And being able to play this bombastic, fantastical sorcerer really was so much fun. I think, I think cause of the, the fancy element as well. I, I, I love, I love fancy and high fancy. And, and I, I kind of went in with this idea that he was like this young Saruman from Lord of the Rings, kind of young, kind of growing up and slowly being radicalized. And yeah, that was, it was, it was just so much, it was just so much fun to play. Yeah. Yeah. Was there any point where you thought that you would, you would have wanted him to win? Oh, I mean, you've got to, you've got to want them to win. You've got to want him to win. Obviously outside of the game, of course, his views and his morals are very questionable, but in the game, yeah, of course I wanted him to win. I just, I, I just loved his confidence. I was like, yeah, of course, of course he's going to win. And every time, you know, with the, with what happens towards, you know, the end of the game, every time that, you know, he, there was a small win for him, like, yes, I was hit back. And every, every time I went into the studio, I was like, oh, and Louis is back. So yeah, it was, yeah, it was great, great fun. Of course, yeah, of course I wanted to win. It's cool that, like the first time that you fight him, it's kind of a twist where he makes you think that he's dead, but then obviously not. Goes on for a lot longer then. Yeah, yeah, it does go on. And that was cool as well. I think, sort of the, the different levels of, of Louis and his, his journey. And that was very exciting to, to portray. I don't want to say too much just in case thing, you know, just in case someone hasn't played the game who's watching this or listening. But yeah, yeah, it's great to, to, to explore something like that as a voice actor, because yeah, it's just, it's just so, it's just so cool to play one of those types of characters. I was a massive fan of Dragon Ball Z. I'm still quite a big fan of Dragon Ball Z. And my sort of early, early era was like, Dynamic Saga and Freeza and I was like, well, kind of like Freeza. Yeah. And yeah, I love, I love, I love the fact that I play a character like that. Yeah. Wicked. I don't know if you would know the reference, but there's been a lot of comparisons with him to Griffith from Berserk. Yeah, I, I, I get messages saying that, like, did you base, did you base the character, your, your interpretation of Luis on Griffith? But I have no idea who that is. No, but, but I, I've seen pictures of him, of the character and I'm like, oh, they look so similar. And, but, but yeah, I, I didn't really, I didn't really base him on, I didn't have a specific, a specific thing that I was basing him on. It was more that, like I said, I'm a, I'm quite a physical performer. So it, for me, it was like, how can I embody this character rather than trying to take too much outside influence to, to, to create it. But I love that people are finding those links with these characters. I think there's another one from Castlevania that they say is, is similar to, to, to Luis as well, which I also haven't played, sadly, or watched, but maybe I should. Yeah. Yeah. Is there much memory or thought about Luis's relationship with Fidelio and Basilio, the character that Matthew, or well, I think they're yeah, Matthew and Matt play. Yeah. Yeah. I, I did a show with Matt, Matt White, when I was about 21 or 22. And it's so lovely to know that we are both in this game together because I've not seen him for a long time. And actually, no, that's a lie. I saw him one day when he was coming out and I was going in of, of the studio and, and we were like, you, you, I've not seen you in a long time. What are you doing? And, and it turned out that we were both doing the same thing. And he kept correcting me on how to pronounce Luis's name. Cause I kept saying Louis, which apparently is not the right pronunciation. But yeah, I, I love those characters, Basilio and Fidelio, because obviously it speaks volumes about how, how compelling an orator Luis is, that these two characters, these two people, brothers would be so convinced to follow him, even though he's obviously kind of, his morals and ethics are so at odds with how Basilio's character turns out. And yeah, I, obviously we didn't in during the recording process, we didn't really have any time to, to meet or, or, or record with any of the other actors. So we never actually got that, that, that, that time together, but seeing all the, you know, I've, I've looked at a couple of things on YouTube and, and seeing their, that relationship between those characters is really cool. Because at the time I was, I was quite, I dunno, I, I enjoyed, it's weird to say this because as, as a, you know, as, as Luis, I enjoyed acting against those characters, even though it was Josh who was the voice director doing lines, Basilio's lines for Matt, because Matt hadn't recorded. So yeah, it was really weird, but I loved those conversations. Yeah. Yeah. And I can't wait to sort of explore that a bit more once I played more of the game. Yeah. Well, I know that you got to be on that panel with other people from the cast back in October. Yeah. Yeah. That was great fun. I had a lovely time. I'd never been to a Comic-Con before, so it was, it was a bit overwhelming. And also I was, I did it, I decided to do it in a day because I live in Bristol and Comic-Con was in London. I was like, right, I'll get a bus and got a bus and I was exhausted, but it was amazing. I had so much fun. Everyone was so wonderful. And people were dressed as some of the characters. There was a guy dressed as Will, and I was like, wow, that's amazing already. And I think the game was only out for two weeks, so no, no one had finished it. So we weren't even really able to, to reveal anything. But it was so fun. And, you know, this, this game is, is probably the one of the highest, it's the highest profile thing that I've ever done. And to have a character in my roster that is so well-liked slash hated is, is amazing. You know, talking to people about Luis and his arc, and yeah, it's just, it was just, it was just so much fun. And it was lovely to meet the rest of the, well, some of the rest of the cast. Kristin and Emma, who I've also done shows with, were there as well. So it was like seeing them blast from the past. Yeah, it was, it was lovely. It was lovely. I definitely would love to do more Comic Cons. It was great fun to meet everyone and talk to everyone. People were asking me about Griffith there, and I'm like, who, what? What are you talking about? Yeah. I know that you've seen how it's kind of a collective opinion that one reason why people like Luis so much is because of your performance. That's lovely. Yeah. I've had such an outpouring of love from people I don't know who've played the game. And it's, it's genuinely been quite a beautiful sort of time in, in, in a bit of a tough time at the moment in my life. And just the outpouring of love and has been, yeah, just beautiful. Even though Luis is, he's like a maniac. But like, just, yeah, just the people sort of messaging me on Instagram and, and, and Twitter has just been, it's been great. And people sending me art of Luis and it's like, oh, this is amazing. And yeah, I do feel bad because at the moment I'm not really able to, I don't really have much time to interact with many people. So, but hopefully, hopefully that will come soon. But yeah, I'm so glad that Luis is so loved and so people enjoy his, all of his scenes and, and all of the cut scenes that he has. And yeah, I love the memes. Yeah. Yeah. It's been pretty amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Well, since, and since the game came out too, he even has his own Wikipedia page. Sorry, say that again, Chris? Oh, since the game has been out, Luis even has his own Wikipedia page. Yes. That's what I wanted. Yeah. That's, that's pretty good. I didn't know that. I have to go on it now. Right. Yeah. After this, after this is, is done, that's what I'm spending the rest of the night on. Luis's Wikipedia page. That's fantastic. How cool. Well, I know it's, it's also because too, that there's been so much reception that of people and game reviewers saying that he's like one of the most well-written characters in a JRPG ever now. Yeah. That's one thing that also, I mean, yeah, he is like, I, I love playing Luis and, you know, he, he has so much charisma and, and, and history to him that it was, it was, you know, it was a joy and I felt so privileged to be able to play a character like that. And I'm so glad that the writing is getting that recognition because it is fantastic. It's like an incredible it's an incredible story. I don't think I've ever played a game. Like it really was such a, a wide ranging story about so many different issues and, and yeah. But yeah, being able to play a character that people are saying is one of the best RPG, JRPG villains is, I mean, yeah, I mean, I'm amazed that I, I have the privilege to voice that character. Yeah. It's, it's quite overwhelming really when you think about it, because a lot of the, and you know, I've, I've done games, I've been in a few games and, but Luis is the biggest character I've ever done. And I would never have imagined after sending off that audition that, that this game would be getting such a massive reception because we didn't know what, I didn't know what it was. And it was so heavily under NDA even kind of up until the release. So even then we didn't really know how well it'd be received. And then to be nominated for six awards, winning three at the game awards, nominated for BAFTAs. It's amazing. I'm, I'm so, I'm so excited for, for the team and for everyone else involved. It's, yeah, it's been, it's been pretty incredible journey. Yeah. Is there, is there something that you would hope to see for his character? If you got to play him again? Oh, I forgot to play him again. Oh, I, I dunno. I, I'd love a little, maybe like a prequel. Yeah. How he was radicalized and, and what happened. And I'd love to, I'd love to see that. I'd love to kind of play that story or, or work on that story. That'd be amazing. But who knows, who knows what happened? Yeah. I'd love to, I'd love to find out more about all the characters. I want to find out more about Stroll, about Hulkenberg and yeah, all of that sort of, I think you could do prequels for all of them. Yeah. It's just such an amazing game. It's, it's such an amazingly well-written game with all these deep, deep characters that have massive backstories. And yeah, it's just, yeah, it's great. I'm gushing. I'm gushing for the game. People are gonna be like, Oh, shut up, Joe. Shut up. Bootlicker. Yeah. Did you get to see, uh, what his like final, final form looks like, like the final boss fight? Yeah, I, I, I have. And I'm, I mean, pretty cool. Right. I don't know how much I'm allowed to say, um, because I guess it's quite a heavy spoiler, but I didn't know, I didn't know it was going to look like that. And, uh, really during the, during the recording process, we only really got snippets of, of the cut scenes, um, and tiny bits of the character, uh, character art. And, uh, some, sometimes we only got storyboards for, for the anime cut scenes. Um, and we'd have to like time the mouth flaps to the, to sort of like just sketches, which is really hard. Um, but the end towards the end of, of Luis's story, I, they were just like, yeah, just scream a bit, just do loads of screaming. Um, I was like, right. So that, that must be, he must be, he must be like, I don't know, like a monster or something. Um, um, but yeah, it was great. It was, it was so fun. And then to see, to see that, um, how he, how he is towards the end of, uh, towards the end of his, his arc, cause yeah, it's quite, it's quite amazing. The art, I just love the art direction as well. It's, it's a pretty incredible game. There's nothing like it. Um, yeah. And that's why I think I'm Yeah. Yeah. Do you have a thought too about, um, like how he's supposed to represent the Lucifer? Yeah, I guess, I guess he has that sort of, um, if he's the, if, if the game is a metaphor, then he would be the metaphor for, for the devil. Right. Um, and how he hides things and manipulate from behind the scenes. Um, how he, yeah, he's, I guess there's, uh, an element of him being, uh, untruthful to, to the character. And then there's a, you know, there's, there's reveals and that kind of thing and twists and turns and yeah, definitely. I mean, the game is called metaphor for a reason, right? So yeah. Is there something that you want to say to the fandom for the game? Oh, just thank you from, uh, for playing and from the bottom of my heart that I'm so pleased that they all love Luis so much. Um, he was an absolute joy to play. Um, and I hope that, um, people just keep enjoying him and hating him. Um, yeah, yeah. Um, thanks for playing. Yeah. Um, I think, and I will try and finish the game at some point. What do you think, what do you think Luis would say to finding out about like a fan base for him? I think he would be indifferent. Um, no, I don't think he'd indifferent. He'd be like, well, that's interesting. I won't be, you know, he probably wouldn't want to talk to him or fraternize with them at all. Um, plebs plebs, you know, plebs, um, base people. Um, yeah, I think he, it's funny when, um, when I was sort of getting to know him a little bit and he seems like someone who is so, um, focused on his own agenda that he probably doesn't care about anything else or doesn't think about anyone or yeah, complete megalomaniac, complete sort of focused and tunnel vision. Um, um, but I'm sure he'd love some fan art. Um, maybe. I suppose that, um, there's like, as metaphor, like the most safest thing you can talk about that's upcoming that you're a part of. Yeah. Yeah. At the moment. Um, there's, yeah, there's a few things on the horizon. Um, but, um, metaphor is the biggest thing, um, that I've got going at the moment. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. Who, who knows? Maybe, maybe something, maybe something new soon. My final question is always asking, uh, what do you want your legacy to be? Oh, my legacy. Um, I think, I think I'd like to be known for someone who can tell a good story or, or is, is, is a good person to have, um, to tell a story. Um, I think over, over the pandemic, um, I didn't really realize how much I loved telling stories until we, that was all taken away. Um, how, how, you know, theaters closed and, uh, studios closed and that kind of thing. And, and I, I think up until that point, I didn't, I didn't really think a huge amount about, um, what it meant to be a performer or, um, I think it was, I was very focused on what, you know, how good I could be, or, or, you know, how, how many people could I make cry with my, my intense monologue on stage, but actually, um, being able to tell a story is so, um, it's so sort of, uh, is it wide reaching and it's more, it's more about how you're perceived as a, uh, as a performer. And, uh, it's more about the, the journey of the story and, and the, and what the story means and, and being a facilitator to that, being the voice actor who is able to portray Luis in a, in a, in a good way to make people hate him, um, in the way that the writer intended. Um, that's, yeah, that's really important to me as a performer and yeah, for some reason over, over lockdown and over, over the pandemic that really struck me as that, that really, uh, resonated with me as a performer. And I was like, that's what, that's what I want to go ahead and keep doing. Um, yeah, trying to, to make sure that I'm telling stories correctly and, well, not correctly, but in a, in a way that is, is useful. Um, yeah, yeah. Well, thank you. I'm glad that we got to do this. Yeah. Thanks Chris. Um, so sorry. It's taken ages. Um, but thankfully we've, we finally did it. Um, but yeah, thanks so much. It's been great. Yeah. I'll be sure to send this to you once I have it up too. Oh yes, please, please do. Um, I hope, um, all your other interviews go really well. Are you interviewing anyone else from the cast? Uh, yeah, I've done five other people so far and I'm doing, um, I'm doing Kristen next. Oh, great. Cool. Brilliant. Yeah. Um, good, good. That makes me happy. Me and Kristen did a show together 10 years ago, about 10 years ago. Um, and then saw each other for the first time since at Comic-Con, which was like, wow. Hello. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Brilliant. Cool. I hope you have a, hope you have a good rest of your night then. Thank you. You too. And, uh, yeah. Um, go well.