Since I was a kid I’ve played video games. When I was shooting Mr. Sloane, for Sky, Peter Serafinowicz recommended the first Dark Souls game. We even played it together on a few lunch breaks. I personally racked up DAYS on this game.

So when a call came out of the blue to be in Dark Souls 3 , it was a dream (or nightmare) come true. The part of Orbeck of Vinheim, a sorcerer assassin, became larger as the recording sessions went on. The game always being tweaked for story.

If you don’t know the Dark Souls franchise by From Software, the games are hard, dark, intoxicating, at times HORRIBLE and the words “you died” plaster your screen every 2-3 minutes in blood red letters as your character screams. Oh, and at no point can you pause or save the game. It’s a BLAST.

Working with director (& artistic hero) Hidetaka Miyazaki was one of the most memorable moments I’ve ever had in a sound booth. Miyazaki doesn’t speak English, so, through an interpreter, he directs “by tune” - listening to the voices for the right FEEL of the character.

At one point, waving an imaginary staff around my head, I improvised some spell casting words and he liked it so much that they ended up in the Final Boss Fight. Here, in the last confrontation, my guy Orbeck will help you with CRYSTAL MAGIC. But only if you have followed his quest line for the last 40+ hours with NO MISTAKES. I did, obviously.

A special job in a favourite game. All the more that Orbeck was a sorcerer in Vinheim and I am a magician in London…