Check out our review of The Elder Scrolls Online.
The Elder Scrolls series has played host in the past to a number of well-known acting talents for its voice cast, and it seems the The Elder Scrolls Online will be no different. Bethesda Softworks revealed a partial lineup of performers for the upcoming MMORPG, due to arrive on April 4 for Mac/PC and in June for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it’s filled with several names you know. There’s no easy way to run through this diverse assortment of talents in simple paragraph form, so we’re going to be leaning on our favorite crutch for imparting information: bullet points!
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The confirmed cast of Elder Scrolls Online includes:
- John Cleese – A veteran of the Monty Python comedy troupe, John Cleese has a lengthy filmography that couldn’t possibly be recounted in full here. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his writing on A Fish Call Wanda, he’s appeared in geek-friendly series’ like The Simpsons and Harry Potter, and he’s lent his voice to an assortment of video games, most recently Fable III. He appears in Elder Scrolls Online as Cadwell, “the cheerful and endearingly mad lost soul who is not afraid of anyone, even a Daedric Prince.”
- Bill Nighy – A professional actor since the early ’80s, Bill Nighy didn’t fully penetrate the geek culture consciousness until later in his career, with back-to-back performances in Underworld and Shaun of the Dead grabbing him some attention. He went on to take key roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter series’, but one of our favorites will always be his take on Slartibartfast in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In Elder Scrolls Online Nighy takes the role of High King Emeric, “a merchant prince whose luck and determination won him the throne.”
- Kate Beckinsdale – Beckinsale has appeared in everything from Shakespearean films to sci-fi franchises but this is her first video game. She’ll lend her voice to the role of Queen Ayrenn, leader of the Aldmeri Dominion and Queen of the High Elves “who is far more comfortable with a blade than her crown.”
- Alfred Molina – Doc Ock! Alfred Molina famously played Spidey’s arch-enemy in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, a role which helps us forget that he also appeared in 2010’s disastrous video game adaptation, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The actor actually got his start with a bit role in the first Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, as Indy’s guide-slash-betrayer-slash-human pincushion. He’ll voice Abnur Tharn, “a wily old wizard and politician who is the head of the Empire’s Elder Council, and the de facto power behind the Ruby Throne.”
- Lynda Carter – The one, true Wonder Woman (sorry, Gal Gadot) doesn’t act as much as she once did. She has been a longtime Bethesda collaborator, however, with voice roles in every Elder Scrolls game since Morrowind. She voiced female Nords in Morrowind and Oblivion (plus female Orcs in Oblivion), but it wasn’t until Skyrim that she took on some named characters: Gormlaith Golden-Hilt and Azura, the Daedric Princess of Dusk and Dawn. She’ll reprise the latter role for her Elder Scrolls Online appearance.
- Michael Gambon – Michael Gambon will forever be known as the guy who took over for the late, great Richard Harris in the role of Harry Potter’s Professor Dumbledore from the third movie onward. A veteran of stage, screen, and radio, with a list of credits too numerous to recount here, Gambon makes his second ever video game appearance – the first was 2003’s Ghosthunter. In The Elder Scrolls Online he appears as The Prophet, “a mysterious blind man who guides the player through their journey to retrieve their soul.”
- Malcolm McDowell – McDowell has appeared in a dizzying number of movies and TV series’, along with a not-inconsequential assortment of video games: Killzone 3, God of War 3, Fallout 3, and two different Wing Commander games. He may be best-known for his performance as Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange, and he’ll get to channel a bit of the old ultraviolence in his Elder Scrolls Online role of Molag Bal, “an evil Daedric god from another plane who schemes to enslave the mortal soul of Tamriel.”
- Peter Stormare – Remember that scene in Fargo when you got to see Steve Buscemi’s foot stuffed, ankle-first, into a wood-chipper? The terrifying, nearly mute nutball doing the stuffing was none other than Peter Stormare. He’s appeared in a number of video games, including both Mercenaries titles as Mattias Nilsson, one of the three selectable protagonists. He’ll play Jorunn the Skald King, “an unexpected monarch who led his people into an unlikely alliance” in The Elder Scrolls Online.
- Jim Ward – An accomplished voice actor who regularly appears in video games, Jim Ward may be best known among gamers as the voice behind Captain Qwark in the Ratchet & Clank series. In The Elder Scrolls Online he takes the role of Mannimarco, “a renegade High Elf wizard exiled from the realm for raising the dead and the world’s most powerful necromancer.” Longtime Elder Scrolls fans may recognize the character name from Oblivion, as he’s featured (sans Ward’s voice) in the final quest for the Mage’s Guild faction.
- Jennifer Hale – Often referred to as the “female Nolan North,” Jennifer Hale’s near-ubiquitous presence in video games has earned her many fans. She’s got a resume that extends as far back (in games) as 1993’s Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, and an equally diverse film/TV portfolio that includes roles in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Wreck-It Ralph. This will be her first appearance in an Elder Scrolls game, as Lyris Titanborn, “a Nord half-giant, who, along with the Prophet, aids the player on their journey.”
- Kevin Michael Richardson – Another established voice actor, Kevin Michael Richardson has lent his voice to a diverse lineup that includes Jabba the Hutt (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and the Predacon known as Rampage (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). He’s been a regular on a number of TV series’ (Teen Titans, American Dad, The Fairly Oddparents) and he’s been appearing in video games since Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! He joins the Elder Scrolls Online cast as Sai Sahan, “a noble martial artist and master swordsman.”
For more on The Elder Scrolls Online voice cast, check out the newly released trailer below:
