Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon messaged the Fallout London team early on to say he wanted "to be involved," only to be left on read for nearly 2 years

Baldur's Gate 3 pale vampire elf Astarion, a man with curly white hair and red eyes

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Baldur's Gate 3 voice actor Neil Newbon hasn't only played the role of the ever-beloved pale elf Astarion, but he's also acted in one of the biggest Fallout 4 mods to date - although it took a while for the Fallout London team to onboard him, apparently.

Speaking in an upcoming interview with Ginx TV, Newbon looks back at how he joined the cast of Fallout London. "I just heard about it," he admits. "Astarion and Baldur's Gate 3 had just kicked off in a wonderful way. I'd heard about Fallout London for a while, and I'd already sent them a message like a year before. Maybe two years - it was a long time ago, saying 'Hey, this sounds great. I want to be involved.'"

Newbon says he wrote the mod devs introducing himself as "a fan of Fallout," explaining that it being a "free mod" wasn't an issue as he'd "love to offer myself up to help." The team didn't get back to him for quite some time, however: "They missed my message, for about that year and a half. Apparently one of the guys said [to the rest of the devs], 'Oh I got this message from him ages on Twitter, but I don't know who this guy is.'"

Eventually, the Fallout London creators got back to him, with Newbon stating they were "very sweet, very kind." As for the project itself, the actor describes how it being a volunteer role rather than a paid gig didn't matter to him - it all boiled down to passion and not financial gain for those on board in the end. "I also like the fact it was a free mod. So, none of us got paid. We just did it because we wanted to do it."

Newbon concludes with his thoughts on the value of indie work. "There's a danger I think when actors become successful that indie developers or AAs or whatever, they think they can't afford you, which is nonsense. So, you know, you see an actor win an award. It doesn't mean you can't afford them, because we are jobbing actors at the end of the day. It's just nice to remind people that actually, we're doing it for the craft."

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After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.