Anya Chalotra talks playing Haroona in Unknown 9 Awakening, mocap, what makes her character special, and more (Exclusive)

Unknown 9 Awakening’s lead actress, Anya Chalotra is not a name that people are unfamiliar with. Perhaps best known to gamers as the actress behind Yennefer of Vengerberg in The Witcher on Netflix, she’s bringing her incredible talent to the role of Haroona, in Bandai Namco’s upcoming action-adventure title. While certainly not new to video games, or video game roles, it is her first time being the lead actress of one. As the game’s release date looms on the horizon, we had a chance to sit down with Anya, to talk to her about her experience.

We spoke about a variety of topics in our brief chat, such as what makes Haroona special, and what she hopes players take away from this emotional title from Bandai Namco and Reflector Entertainment. Unknown 9 Awakening looks to be a very fascinating game, and we were thrilled to talk to Anya Chalotra about it.

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Anya Chalotra discusses Unknown 9 Awakening, Haroona as the lead protagonist, and more

Q. First, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! For those who may not be familiar, could you please introduce yourself to our audience?

Anya Chalotra: I am Anya Chalotra and I play Haroona in Unknown 9 Awakening.

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Q. What I find interesting about this is that though this is your first video game role (that I could find), you’re well-known for playing Yennefer in The Witcher. How did you find yourself jumping into the world of video game voice acting?

Anya Chalotra: I've done a lot of voice work in my career up till now. And I have always loved working with my voice. I've always known that I've wanted to do motion capture. So in some way, I must have been manifesting that, you know, this job. But this opportunity was offered and I jumped at the chance because, yeah, it's such an incredible character and medium to explore.

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Q. One thing that’s becoming more common is voice actors doing their own mocap. Did you do any mocap for Unknown 9, or did you just provide the voice of Haroona?

Anya Chalotra: Oh, I mean, the challenge was that I'd never done it before. And not only was I approaching a new character, which I was nervous about anyway, and stepping into those shoes. But also, what is my process as an actor in this world? Luckily, I had very clever people around me to learn from and be inspired by.

Luckily, I had a bit of theatre training. So I knew what “playing in the round” meant. And although you're not playing to an audience, like you're in, what they call it, the volume. And it's this square space. And it's just because there's nothing in the space. And there's no set.

And there's no objects. There's nothing. You really have to imagine absolutely every detail and go back to being a child again. And that presents certain challenges when you've got a camera on your head. And you're in a onesie. And you've got dots all over you.

You don't feel like the empowered character. But you have all the freedom to find it. And it's the most free I've ever felt to find the weight of this character in the truth.

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Q. What kind of direction do you receive while doing mocap?

Anya Chalotra: It's the same direction as I would get with any other director on set or in theatre. You know, we're still interrogating the truth of each moment. And I mean, I'm very tactile. I love, like, touch and energy-based - so playing with energies in this space.

So, you know, sometimes I would get Damien saying, like, you've got to be careful when you hug whichever character or like go near them because my head's like clashing with the next camera or there's things like that, which I had to get around.

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Q. Unlike The Witcher, which has a wealth of source material to pull from, Unknown 9: Awakening is a new IP. What went into getting into character, or gathering inspiration for voicing your character?

Anya Chalotra: I think I just trusted that I had been - this is a really important role. And the people who work on the game who wanted me to play this role, clearly saw something in Haroona that I had. And that is, that was me settling into the role.

I felt like I was already settled into the role and that I could trust my instincts. And if they weren't the right instincts, I'd be guided to another place. And it was a very collaborative experience.

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Q. Each role, each character is unique, and brings something fascinating or interesting to the table, in terms of what makes them shine. What makes Haroona special to you, as the actress playing her?

Anya Chalotra: Ah, so many things. Her supernatural ability, you know, her Umbric powers, her sense of self, the respect she has for the world she's in, her loyalties to that world, to Rekka, to this power inside of her, her curiosity, the need for her to find out the truth, her resilience, her empathy. And yeah, I could go on. There's a lot. Haroona is a lot.

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Q. As the primary protagonist, what do you hope people take away from this story, after experiencing it?

Anya Chalotra: I hope they feel empowered playing Haroona. She's so clever. And I hope they give, you know, it gives the player a bit of courage and allows whoever to feel as great as she is. I hope the players feel like this world is different to any world I've ever been in.

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Q. I don’t know if you’ll be able to answer this but - have you had a chance to get hands-on with Unknown 9 yet? If so, how do you feel about how it’s coming together?

Anya Chalotra: No, I'm going to play when it comes out. I haven't played Unknown 9 Awakening. I've played The Witcher and I played games as a kid, but this is my, yeah. I'm so excited to play Haruna. It's going to be very confusing for me.

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Unknown 9 Awakening releases on October 17, 2024, from Bandai Namco, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.