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There's quite a lot of humor in Baldur's Gate 3, despite all the doom of gloom of the main quest, and it turns out one of the funnier moments was totally improvised. Jennifer English, the actor behind Shadowheart, took it upon herself to provide a punchline to an otherwise inconspicuous moment, and even she was surprised to see it made the final cut.
The scene in question involves the Night Orchids, and some sagely advice from our favorite Half-Elf. "One of my favorite moments in Baldur's Gate 3 was when Shadowheart says the line, talking about the Night Orchids, 'Huh, you didn't pick those by hand, did you? They're deadly poisonous,'" English recalls to Radio Times.
"Then I, as a joke when recording, went, 'Joking!' with finger-guns," she says, laughing. "Fully expecting that not to go in, and it ended up being in the game." As with a lot of great improv, you wouldn't think that line was totally off the cuff, very much seeming in character for who Shadowheart is.
There isn't often much room for such moments in voice acting and motion capture within game development. Time and budget restrictions necessitate sticking to the script, and getting it all done as quickly and as smoothly as possible. In many cases, the actors won't even get much time with the material beforehand.
Clearly, Larian Studios tries to be different, leaving room for these small inflections that elevate jokes and make the characters more nuanced, and give the performers some room to play around. Since being in Baldur's Gate 3, English played Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and she portrayed Joy in Marathon. If you keep a good ear out, I'm sure you might hear something that might be off-script in those releases, as well.
