"Valorant! Their characters are so interesting" - Final Fantasy XVI's Nina Yndis on roles she'd like to play, working with Square Enix, and more

Nina Yndis, the voice of Benedikta Harman in Final Fantasy XVI, is certainly no stranger to voice acting in JRPGs. She’s been a part of several critically acclaimed titles, and it was announced that she would be voicing a character in the next mainline entry of the Final Fantasy series.

Sportskeeda Esports' Jason Parker recently had a chance to speak with Nina Yndis about her career, voice acting, and her past work. Over the years, she has been a part of numerous films, games, and TV series, including Peaky Blinders, Final Fantasy XIV, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Bravely Default II.

An incredibly talented voice actress, her resume speaks for itself. Final Fantasy XVI promises to have a darker story than fans of the series are familiar with.

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Final Fantasy XVI's Nina Yndis on who she will play in the upcoming JRPG

Q. Nina, first off, thanks for taking the time to chat with us! For those who aren't aware, what role do you have in the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI title?

Nina Yndis: Thank you Jason for getting in touch and for being interested in my work. I play Benedikta Harman – Dominant of the Eikon Garuda in the new Final Fantasy XVI.

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Q. Although you have quite a few acting credits to your name, your role in Peaky Blinders might be the most memorable to many. Were there any difficulties in transitioning from that form of acting to your voice-over credit here, and in Final Fantasy XIV?

Nina Yndis: I started doing voiceover work very soon after I graduated with my BA from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. During my time at RCS, we did a lot of voice training and accent training with various teachers to strengthen our vocal cords and breathing techniques and to become experts at how to handle our voice and use it as an instrument.

This has come in very useful, especially when voicing characters that have a lot of fighting scenes (which I seem to be typecast for). My voice is now very robust, and I can scream for hours without losing my voice, so I have my teachers and training to thank for that. Of course, my first time recording in the booth for a video game many years ago was quite strange, as you’re often recording on your own, and sometimes, your opponent hasn’t been recorded yet, so you’re acting against nothing, really.

Depending on the director, they will sometimes read the lines of my scene partners so that I have something to react to, but other times, I just have to use my imagination. I later adapted my own voiceover technique when recording alone in the booth (which is most of the time for video games), and I usually give the director and the developers a couple of different takes on a particular line so that they can choose which one suits the dialog best when they start editing the scenes together with all the other voices.

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Q. When participating in the development of Final Fantasy XVI, what information were you given about your character, Benedikta Harman?

Nina Yndis: Square Enix has always been very good at keeping information confidential and making sure that all actors sign NDAs, so I was given very little information prior to recording.

They’d send me a character sheet that had some information about Benedikta’s personality traits and vocal traits, but apart from that, most of what I learned about Benedikta was during our recording sessions with the directors and developers in the room with me.

The scripts were often handed to me just the day before or on the same day as we recorded my scenes, so when walking into this job, I learned I had to be very open to new information and happy to try out different things in the room and experiment.

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Q. I understand that you probably can't discuss too much about your role, but is there anything that drew you to Benedikta, that made her an interesting character to voice?

Nina Yndis: You’re right about that. I can’t share too much, but I can say that I absolutely loved the audition materials that I was given, which is probably why I got the role in the end. I had such a blast during the audition process, where I really felt like I could interpret her in my own way, and I felt like I really connected with her. The audition material that I was given was so well-written and interesting that I genuinely just had fun and played around with it without any boundaries.

I was also lucky that the developers were really open to seeing different interpretations of Benedikta, which made me feel free to take some risks in the audition room. And luckily, it paid off. I also believe that if you truly enjoy portraying a character, then others who are watching/listening will also love your performance of it.

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Q. This isn't your first time voice acting for an important character in a video game, either. Back in 2021, you were Edna in Bravely Default II. What was your experience like voicing Edna, compared to this starkly different character in Benedikta?

Nina Yndis: Again, this was a role where I had to throw away any inhibitions that I had and just go for it. Edna is a very interesting, versatile, and unpredictable character, so when entering the booth to voice her, I just had to forget about any blockages/inhibitions or things holding me back and take the risk of making silly and bad choices as an actor.

I think a part of my ego always wants to impress and deliver amazing voice material, but sometimes, one has to just try out loads of bad choices to then finally find your character and their voice. Luckily, I’ve always been able to have a little play around during my sessions, and the people I’ve worked with have been amazing and made me feel very safe. I found that the similarity between Edna and Benedikta was to let go of my fear of failure, however, the big difference was mostly the style of acting.

In my head, Edna is a far more heightened character than Benedikta. Even though both characters are inspired by myself in a more heightened way, I feel like I’ve drawn upon different experiences and personality traits for them both. I also remember that my recordings of Edna were during a much shorter period of time, and very close together, so I spent less time exploring her world.

In comparison, I lived with the role of Benedikta for a couple of years and had time to truly get to know her on a much deeper level.

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Q. What was the cast of Final Fantasy XVI like to work with? Any memorable moments during recording sessions?

Nina Yndis: I never recorded with any of the other cast members. All of my sessions were spent alone in the booth working with the directors and the development team either in the room or on Zoom. I later learned that a friend and colleague of mine who I’ve worked with on numerous occasions in various games and voiceover jobs voiced Barnabas Tharmr.

His name is David Menkin and he’s an incredibly talented actor and voiceover artist. But since we both had to keep quiet due to signed NDAs, we only found out about us being in the same game when they officially announced the English cast list just a few weeks/months ago.

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Q. If you had to pick a favorite character, based on personality or how they were written, who would you say is your favorite?

Nina Yndis: Obviously, Benedikta Harman, but I might be biased.

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Q. Now that you've acted in several shows and video games, do you feel like one calls to you more than the other?

Nina Yndis: I definitely have favorite characters that I’ve acted and voiced as. It really depends on the material and how strongly I connect one character to another. And also how I feel like my performance of those characters went. I’ve definitely been in situations where I’ve been super excited about portraying/reading for a part, but then, the execution of the character didn’t sit right with me.

I’m quite hard on myself, so I never truly feel like I've nailed a part. But I definitely tend to be drawn to the parts where I have more time to explore and get to know them. So, I do like a good rehearsal period for instance, or being able to take a bit of extra time to uncover the depths of a character in the room with the director. There’s also, of course, a difference if the character has been written well or not.

And how much space there is for my own interpretation within the already given circumstances of the character and their world. I like to lose myself in their world and figure things out as I go along, rather than be given a bible of who the character is in anyone else’s eyes and having to stick to that religiously, unless I’m actually portraying a living person that either existed or exists. In that case, the job is totally different, but it’s just as enjoyable and interesting.

I was cast to voice Shmi Skywalker in the Lego Star Wars game, and of course, since she’s a real character in the Star Wars movies, my job was to imitate her voice and sound as well as I could. I’ve had plenty of other roles where I’ve had to adapt to someone else's traits and characteristics, and I absolutely love it. But I do approach these kinds of jobs with a completely different technique than if I’m playing a fictional character that hasn’t been portrayed before.

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Q. What do you think led you to voice acting in the first place?

Nina Yndis: I’ve always loved using my voice as an instrument, but also as a way of healing. I’m very interested in accents, vocal energy, the connection between our voice and our emotions, and the different physical placements of the voice in my body, and how that affects me physically and emotionally. I was taught an amazing voiceover technique at RCS by Nadine George. She has her own technique on how to uncover your true voice, but also how to overcome blockages and deal with traumas that you’ve accumulated within yourself throughout your life.

So much of our emotional self lies in our voice and it affects the way that we use it and how we sound. The fact that I get to use my instrument in a way that allows me to explore my inner life in my work is a dream come true, really. I was also very self-conscious about my European-sounding accent when I had just graduated from drama school.

I was worried that I wouldn’t get any work in the UK, especially because of it, but it turns out that my accent is my USP and that's exactly why I’m getting work, especially within the voiceover industry, so it was a nice validation to start working within the voiceover industry to know that my voice and skills are needed in our industry.

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Q. You've taken part in some fantastic games - Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Bravely Default, FFXIV, among others. Is there a particular franchise that you'd like to lend your voice to in the future?

Nina Yndis: Valorant! Their characters are so interesting. I’m also very interested in working with EA Games and any games that they're developing. Both as a voiceover and motion capture.

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Q. Do you have any advice for gamers who are interested in getting into voice acting, to help them get started?

Nina Yndis: It’s important to know what you’d like to work on as a voiceover artist, where your passions lie, to know your skills, and where you might have unique talents that are valuable to the industry.

Everyone’s journey into voiceover is different, and you have to put yourself in situations where you might be discovered and cast. A good way to do so is to record some voice reels that represent you and your talent in the best way possible. Say you want to voice video games, then it’s useful to have video game reels that showcase your versatility as an actor.

Once you’ve got your reels, it’s good to gain some experience, build up a CV, and contact the appropriate people who might be able to give you a job. Having a voiceover agent is hugely valuable, but it’s also possible to get work without one. I started my voiceover career without a voiceover agent, and after gathering some credits, I was able to sign with multiple agents who have now massively furthered my career.

The way I got discovered was by going to auditions and being recommended by people, as well as having my online CV available for anyone to check out. I also contacted casting directors directly, and recording studios that I knew were developing the games I wanted to act in.

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Q. In your downtime, are you a fan of roleplaying games, or games in general? If so, what would you say are your favorites?

Nina Yndis: This will be a very disappointing answer, but I’m notoriously bad at playing video games, And I’ve just never managed to get into it. I think my calling is not to play them, but to be a part of creating them for others to enjoy.

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Q. Do you find yourself going back through the games you've taken part in, to see how it all came together?

Nina Yndis: Well, I do like to see how my work has turned out, and I do have friends and family who are big gamers. I would sometimes check in with them to see what their thoughts were on my performance, and sometimes, I’ll ask the studios if I could use some clips for my voice reels.

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Nina Yndis will be a member of the English dub of Final Fantasy XVI when it launches on the PlayStation 5. Final Fantasy XVI releases on June 22, 2023, and brings a mature, darker story to the franchise. You can find Nina Yndis on Twitter, Instagram, or her website.