Hideo Kojima altered certain Death Stranding 2 characters to better match their actors, which is why why Cliff and Fragile smoke and Higgs plays guitar

lea seydoux as fragile smoking a cigarette — (Image credit: Kojima Productions)

Thanks to the casting decisions of both Death Stranding and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Hideo Kojima is known as someone who likes to put his buddies and favorite actors into his games. With friends like his, who can blame him? But, did you know, Kojima changes the characters in his games based on the habits of the actors he works with?

During the recent Death Stranding world tour, which has given us fantastic insights into the making of the sequel like Kojima impersonating a koala, the developer revealed in Tokyo that once he's seen an actor work, he'll often redraft characters.

For example, Fragile only smokes because he saw Léa Seydoux puffing away in a movie and thought she looked great. She is French, after all.

Hideo Kojima shared the story of how he sometimes changes a character to match the personality of the person who is playing the role. He gave the example of Fragile, played by Léa Seydoux. Fragile doesn't smoke in the first game, but when he saw another movie she was in, he… pic.twitter.com/AO1Nd3aESvJune 28, 2025

He says he likes to include an actor's everyday appearance and habits to capture their charm, which is why Mads Mikkelsen's Cliff also smokes. Mikkelsen looked cool doing it, Kojima believed, so he made it a part of Cliff's character.

Genki also notes that Kojima previously said that the reason returning character Higgs plays a sick electric guitar in Death Stranding 2 is because he watched Troy Baker's YouTube channel during the pandemic and found out he likes to play the instrument himself.

DEATH STRANDING WORLD STRAND TOUR 2 in TOKYO - YouTube

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I like that each actor in Death Stranding is able to make a character their own. It blurs the lines between real and make believe that works for games as ridiculous as these. Next time you play, see if you can spot a habit you think may be from the actor's actual life

While you're here, be sure to check out our Death Stranding 2 review, as well as our guide to Death Stranding 2's ending explained if you've already rolled credits.

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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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