Performance direction is an underrated art in the world of video games. Behind the majority of dialogue you hear in video games, both big and small, is someone on the other end trying to get the best performance possible out of talented actors. For Beth Park, a member of this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough cohort, she has been one of the driving forces behind titles like Baldur’s Gate 3, Black Myth: Wukong, Space Marine 2, and Metaphor: ReFantazio.
“It’s been a really big two years for launches,” Park says. “I was on Baldur’s Gate 3 for four and a half years, so I was full-time, non-stop shooting that game basically for such a long time, and now everything has come out in the past 18 months. All this stuff that I have been sitting on for so long, and now I’m like, ‘Oh, now what do I do?’”
Baldur’s Gate 3 Was Four Years of Hard Work And Precious Memories
Park describes the past year as “overwhelming”. Many of the performances she helped shape behind the scenes not only launched, but have been subject to myriad award nominations and communities of players that have taken them to heart. The impact of Baldur’s Gate 3 especially took them by surprise, but unlike most of the big actors and developers, Park hasn’t found herself traveling the world in celebration.
“Life has kind of carried on for me, because, unlike the actors, I’ve still got to go to work every day and record other games, so it’s a bit of a weird one,” Park notes. “It was such a physical thing to make, we were physically there [together] talking to each other, coming up with ideas, playing, and then now, there’s nothing. For me, there’s nothing physical about its existence anymore. It’s out there in the world on people’s screens, but for me, it’s all my memories. My memories are digital in the game, because I can look and remember those moments. A part of that is there, but the physical side is gone.”
Despite working behind the scenes, Park has still found herself becoming a part of the community alongside many of the other actors, forming close relationships with Jennifer English, Devora Wilde, and Neil Newbon – the actors behind Shadowheart, Lae’zel, and Astarion. It’s fun to watch them have fun together over on TikTok or Instagram, forming a bedrock of inside jokes while offering further insight into all the work that goes into performance direction, acting, and bringing characters to life.
“My perspective on the fandom is quite novel for people,” Park admits. “They find it funny if someone like me is engaging with [fans], but the community is so amazing and something really unexpected because Baldur’s Gate 3 was one of the first games that I worked on that has been released, and my view from the outside was that people who play video games are just kind of angry.”
Few Games Have Communities Quite Like Baldur’s Gate 3
As Park has directed more video games, she has become more aware of the medium and the sort of games, communities, and discourse you tend to encounter. Once again, their perspective is unique: “I’ve worked on games where there’s been ‘commentary’ but whatever, you just shrug it off. But to actually find that there is this positive, joyful, funny, and creative community who are in it together has been such a nice surprise. When it came close to Baldur’s Gate 3 being released I was like, ‘oh my god, am I about to have four and a half years worth of work trashed in public?’ but then everyone really liked it!”
But through the BAFTA Breakthrough group, which also features English, Park is finally getting outside credit for her work, and especially mentions the excitement at sharing the spotlight with someone from Baldur’s Gate 3. “It’s lovely to have that recognition because I don’t think it’s something that a lot of people realise how much work goes into,” Park tells me. “To have an institution like BAFTA to be acknowledging that this is an artform in and of itself, and to be recognised after many years kind of behind the scenes and chipping away in the mines is pretty gratifying.”
With Baldur’s Gate 3 in the rearview mirror, and no word yet on whether Park will return to helm performance direction on Larian’s next project, I can’t help but ask how it feels to bid farewell to characters who took up almost half a decade of her life. It’s a big thing to move on from any project, let alone one where you are so instrumental in the tone and delivery of its cast and narrative.
“I had so much fun working on it, and that sense of relaxation and playfulness was kind of surprising,” Park admits. “Because I’ve always taken my work quite seriously, whatever I’ve done, and really tried to do my best, but sometimes, if you just try to relax and be playful in that sense, you’re allowing the actors that you’re working with to do the same, and then you’re getting the best performances. Then you can capture them, bottle them up, and put them in the game. Sometimes, if you’re working on these huge titles, the pressure can get to everyone involved. But as the director, you have to be the one who is setting the tone in the room, and how much fun we had making Baldur’s Gate 3 informed everything else.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.