Neil Newbon, the actor behind the infamous High Elf Rogue, Astarion, in Baldur’s Gate 3, has revealed the inspiration for his show-stealing character. Newbon talked about his influences during a recent interview with The Escapist.
Few gaming characters in recent memory have had the impact on pop-culture that the Baldur’s Gate 3 cast has. From the fiery Karlach to the fierce Lae’zel, Larian Studios’ turn-based Dungeons & Dragons RPG is packed with memorable faces that will stick with players for a long time to come. Astarion is one of the game’s more popular characters, and for good reason. Fans quickly fell in love with the Elf’s demeanor, and we have Newbon to thank for that.
Related: Becoming Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3: An Interview with Samantha Béart
When sharing more about how Astarion came to be, Newbon explained that he pulled from his background in commedia dell’arte, a form of theatre that is often simply referred to as Italian comedy. One area he took influence from in this regard involves an amoral harlequin jester character called Arlecchino. Other people who helped inspire Astarion’s mannerisms include the likes of Giles Foreman, Leendert Van Nimwegen, and Reuben Kaye, but he took some things from friends, too.
“I stole things from people I love dearly,” Newbon said.
Astarion is so much more than human, though, so it makes sense to hear that Newbon pulled from animals as well. As some Baldur’s Gate 3 fans might have guessed, Astarion cat-like attitude was actually generated from a real stray cat that hangs out around Newbon’s garden.
“He’s been around this area about 20 years apparently, or something crazy like that,” he said. “He’s a very cool cat, but it took me three years before he’d stopped ripping my arms to shreds and biting me. It took me three years of just being cool with the cat. He’s really old now, but yeah, he had this interesting vibe about him. I thought, ‘I wonder if I can steal things from this cat.’ The way the cat moves, or the way the cat looks at you. The way the cat will allow you to come closer and then rip your hand off when it’s bored ‘cause that’s enough. ‘That’s enough, now. No touching now, darling.’ You know, things like that.”
For more on Newbon’s time as Astarion, be sure to keep an eye out for our full interview when it goes live tomorrow morning.
