Dragon Age: The Veilguard actor is "both terrified and thrilled" to voice the protagonist, and says the RPG's diversity "means the world to me"

Dragon Age: The Veilguard reveal trailer screenshot showing a close-up of an elf's stern face, a blade held up beside his cheek
(Image credit: BioWare)

As BioWare gears up for its fall release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, one of the cast's voice actors for playable protagonist Rook says they're "terrified and thrilled" to be taking on the role.

Erika Ishii, the iconic voice behind characters like Apex Legend's Valkyrie and Destiny 2's Anastasia Bray, reveals that they've spent "over four years" now recording lines for the new Dragon Age game. Introducing themselves as "one of the voices of Rook," Ishii explains in a video filmed prior to the strike for protection against AI that "this is the first time that I have taken on the role of a protagonist in a big AAA game."

As a "longtime fan" of BioWare's RPG series, Ishii admits that they're "both terrified and thrilled" to act as one of Rook's four possible voices - and also grateful for how diverse and inclusive of players' identities The Veilguard is. "As someone who identifies as genderfluid, it means the world to me to have the option to play as a trans or non-binary main character in a Dragon Age game," says the actor.

"I can look the way that I want and I can speak with my voice in a world that sees me for who I am - Rook," Ishii continues. "I've been working on this game for over four years and as a fan of the series, being even a small part of this game is an honor but a challenge and I did my best to make a game that I would want to play." The actor concludes, sharing that they hope players will "enjoy my Rook in Dragon Age: The Veilguard."

As a longtime stan of BioWare's fantasy series myself, I'm now even more excited for The Veilguard than I thought was possible - Rook customization seems like it'll stand as part of the best character creator the studio's ever put in an RPG, inclusive of all flavors of player. Between that and the talented cast of voice actors, including Ishii and Baldur's Gate 3's sex noise specialist, the upcoming Dragon Age is shaping up to be my GOTY.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard took "so long" as BioWare "wanted to make sure we got this one right" - that, and "it takes a long time to record 700 characters" and 140,000 lines

Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

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.

Read more
Dragon Age Inquisition
Dragon Age actor says the last time he played Inquisition, he upheld the RPG tradition led by Baldur's Gate 3 actors and romanced his own character: "Which is the best — the best"
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing Lae'zel, a Githyanki woman with olive green skin and tied-back red hair, smirking
Baldur's Gate 3 Lae'zel actor was "paranoid" about making the githyanki girlfriend’s voice "lower and lower" through Act 3 until she realized "it really works with her character development"
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 dialogue
Working on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was "one of the most amazing and unusual acting challenges" for its lead character
Clair Obscure Expedition 33
Turn-based RPG Clair Obscur dev says all-star voice actor lineup includes people like Andy Serkis and Baldur’s Gate 3 alumni by accident: "He was like, 'Isn't that Clive from Final Fantasy?'"
Zenless Zone Zero screenshot of Soldier 11 eating crackers
Actors supporting AI protections didn't know they were being replaced in Zenless Zone Zero update 1.6: "I found out the role was recast today alongside all of you"
Tides of Annihilation protagonist Gwendolyn, a woman with long brown hair and glowing blue eyes, looks to the camera.
Baldur's Gate 3's Shadowheart actor and her real-life partner "are finally playing opposite each other" in this gorgeous fantasy action game set in "shattered" London
Latest in Dragon Age
Dragon Age: The Veilguard screenshot showing the RPG's companions standing as a united group, the main protagonist at front wielding a sword
Weeks after EA said Dragon Age: The Veilguard "did not resonate with a broad enough audience," BioWare's RPG is coming to PlayStation Plus as a free monthly game
Dragon Age: The Veilguard screenshot of Solas
Dragon Age and Anthem producer says stop harassing developers "because you don't know the circumstances that resulted in the thing that you're mad at"
BioWare's Sonic The Hedgehog RPG "actually uses Dragon Age: Origins dialogue system heavily streamlined to fit on the Nintendo DS"
Dragon Age: The Veilguard screenshot showing Solas, a pale bald Elven mage, wielding lightning-like powers while grimacing
As EA hints The Veilguard's low sales could be due to a lack of live service elements, former Dragon Age lead calls out "silly" demands to "fundamentally change the DNA of what people loved"
Dragon Age: The Veilguard reveal trailer screenshot showing Lace Harding, a dwarven woman with long red hair and a freckled face
Legendary Dragon Age writer looks to Baldur's Gate 3 devs while giving EA advice after The Veilguard: "Follow Larian's lead and double down on that"
Dragon Age 2
Dragon Age 2 director acknowledges "really fast rush" behind the RPG's development as the team tried to "jump on the grenade that was being placed in front of BioWare"
Latest in News
Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1
Meet the Venomouse, an all new Eddie Brock, and more in Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot of a boss turned to gold surrounded by blood
5,000 gold, 2,500 hours, and one priceless scroll: Baldur's Gate 3 player cooks up a "Midas run" by turning the RPG's bosses into solid gold trophies, because "why not"
Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield in Stranger Things 4
Stranger Things star Sadie Sink joins Spider-Man 4 and fans are already theorizing she might be X-Men’s Jean Grey
The Witcher 3
Resident Evil and Witcher 3 mocap director says video game industry layoffs have made it so "nothing is guaranteed," but AI won’t be replacing real actors "anytime soon"
Rift Apart
Retiring Insomniac boss says developers should still tackle new genres, but it's much riskier these days due to time and money
Atomfall screenshot
Atomfall dev doesn’t understand how massive development teams manage to keep organised: "How do you organize a game that has 2,000 people working on it?"