Samantha Béart Plays One in Fading Echo and Has High Praise for the Dev Team

Fading Echo is a stylish game where players take on the role of One, someone who can utilize water and other liquid forms to navigate a world of intrigue. Based on its trailer, it’s a very colorful and almost rhythmic game that should be a lot of fun when it releases. However, it also has an absolutely star-studded cast of actors including Samantha Béart (Karlach in BG3, Thomasina Bateman in The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow), Jasmine Bhullar (Coffin Run), Matt Mercer (Critical Role), and Laura Bailey (Critical Role).

Shortly after Fading Echo’s reveal at the Future Games Show, Game Rant spoke with Béart about playing One. She also spoke about their general experiences in the industry and, most notably, how Fading Echo‘s development team New Tales (which comprises former Blizzard devs) opened doors for her that are normally kept closed in this industry. Overall, this contributed to a deeper understanding of One that seems only helpful for the game’s eventual release.

Stepping into One

Béart’s calling card in the industry, so to speak, is the versatility of their craft. Thomasina Bateman, for example, is a prim and proper Victorian character, while Karlach could be described as anything but prim and proper. One is an entirely new character as well. On the surface, Fading Echo may seem relatively simplistic, but it’s actually a quite complex world. It’s a multiverse, which might be a little overplayed at this point in the industry, but it’s one that came from one of the most passionate places in the game industry: the table. Fading Echo started off as a tabletop roleplaying game and one they’re making into a video game, tapping into that dream of many TTRPG players to genuinely see their world come to life.

As such, New Tales rolled out the red carpet for Béart. She recalled how the CEO came to London to take Béart and their agent out to dinner:

“It felt like I was going to be in a movie or something. You don’t get that [in this industry]. They were really pitching, and you could see that they loved and knew this world…They didn’t even need to pitch me; I very much wanted to do it.”

For actors, every role in the game industry is different. Every casting process, every audition, and every performance carries with it different expectations, but it is very rare for an actor to be treated as part of the team. Not only did New Tales treat Béart like a part of the team, but the company never even asked her to sign an NDA. “I didn’t sign an NDA, and I somehow managed to keep their secrets without having to be threatened by legal action,” they said.

The damage of a leak cannot be understated in this industry, but the trust of its people shouldn’t be undermined either. New Tales should be applauded for making sure that Béart was also part of the team. Beyond the pageantry and the NDA (well, the lack thereof), the company brought her into its Discord:

“They’ve let me into their Discord. I can see what everyone’s doing. It kind of has that Lucasfilm vibe to it, those early days of Star Wars. You could see what everyone was doing, which is so wonderful for such a collaborative medium. They’ve given me a game key. It plays beautifully, smoothly. You’ve seen that fluidity and adapting to the environment, which I think is a really unique selling point for it.”

Cold reading can understandably be a challenge: when they are expected to perform on the spot, interpret the script, and become that character with minimal time to learn who they are playing, if any at all. It has certainly worked for several actors and characters, but it has certainly held many back as well. Logically speaking, it only makes sense that more preparation time and understanding improves a role. As Béart explained, “It saves a lot of time and money once you’re in the studio recording because I won’t be going where am I? Who am I? What’s happening? What do I want? You know? Because I know the answer to those questions already, and coming from that informed place is so much more helpful than trying to work it out in the studio.”

Having such access to the development of a game (and its character) is unprecedented for Béart, and while it’ll be some time before the full game releases, that speaks possible wonders for Fading Echo and One. New Tales ultimately brought them into their world, a beloved world that began at their table, and made sure she wasn’t just treated like part of the team. Béart was part of that team:

“I feel very much like part of the team rather than someone who is just plugged in at the end. They’ve invited me to parties and all sorts. They’ve been so very welcoming. We can all see each other, and that’s a first actually, I must say. I won’t know till it comes out, I suppose, and see how it’s received to be able to analyze if that made any difference in how I performed or how it was received. But it’s nice to feel like part of the team and to have such an open dialogue with them because no one does that. I’ve not experienced that before in this medium. I hope it catches on.”

Samantha Beart Gameography