Fallout 4 Voice Actor Discusses Emotional VO Sessions
By John Jacques 26 December 2015
Fallout 4 voice actor Courtenay Taylor answers questions about her experience recording the voice of the main protagonist, including the emotional toll some of the scenes took on her.
Fallout 4 introduced a voiced protagonist to the series for the first time ever in an effort to provide more emotional depth to scenes. In a plot where a parent is on the hunt for their missing child, it’s a move that made sense, and Fallout 4 eventually went gold with over 13,000 lines of dialogue recorded for the main character.
Courtenay Jackson provides the voice for the female Sole Survivor in Fallout 4, and recently did a Reddit Ask Me Anything thread where fans could ask her, well, anything. Courtenay is a veteran voice actor with over 13 years of videogame industry experience, and fans had plenty of questions to ask her on the subject of her experience with Fallout 4.
Bethesda’s latest entry to the Fallout franchise is known to have many saddening quests and events in the game, and providing the voice for those kind of sad situations evidently took their toll on Courtenay, who revealed that she had broken down in the recording studio on more than one occasion:
In Fallout 4 there were a couple sessions I cried so hard in the booth we had to take a break. Not pretty. I actually asked them to let me have one take of the final monologue where I could just be a snot-filled teary emotional wreck. Let’s hope that one never makes it out there!
When asked by fans why her vocal tones didn’t always match her male counterpart voiced by Brian Delaney, Courtenay revealed that she did several takes of each line, and actually had no input on which version was selected – this is fairly normal in the voice recording process for videogames, as higher-ups from the development studio would know best which type of line delivery would best fit the overall narrative.
Unsurprisingly, Courtenay also said she loved delivering the sarcastic lines, which is one of the most common dialogue options given to the player. Of note, she commented on the infamous ‘Will You Comply’ conversation that takes place with a military Mr. Gutsy in the game, which we agree was one of the most memorable funny moments from the entire game:
It also sounds like Courtenay is a friend of the Railroad faction, as she believes synths should have rights. That limits at least two of the potential endings she would get in a playthrough, but we’re certain she would enjoy watching herself succeed in the wasteland anyway. Courtenay revealed she enjoys it when fans send her images of their customized female protagonist, and stated that if she were actually put into the game her character would have high charisma, perception, and luck.
What did you think of Courtenay’s voice acting in Fallout 4, Ranters?
Fallout 4 is available now for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
Header image by KattAnira (@kattanira on Twitter/ kattanira.tumblr.com)
Source: Reddit
