For over ten years Doug Cockle has been the voice of Geralt of Rivia in the Witcher video game series by CD Projekt RED. It was on happenstance that he even landed the role in the first game, and almost didn’t even get to audition for Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Now, there is no way that we can imagine any other voice for our favorite monster hunter. What some fail to realize is the amount of work that goes into voicing these iconic characters. Other than reading dialogue lines, these amazing artists also have to voice the other sounds real people make in any situation, including those on the more intimate side.

Any fan of Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will undoubtedly know that there are many opportunities throughout the game to get busy with other characters. There are the obvious options of Triss and Yennefer, but there is also a plethora of other characters to “interact” with. When recording, many actors are usually set up in a room alone. There is nobody there to interact with, making it a challenge at times to create the voice reel. Geralt and Yennefer may have had a wild ride on a certain stuffed unicorn, but Doug Cockle and the voice of Yen, Denise Gough, never met while the game was in production. Cockle had to create the realism of two people engaging in the most intimate of acts … alone. In a recent interview Cockle explained:

“It’s like the violence, the hit that the character takes, the damage that he or she takes. You have to do a reel of different intensities, different kinds of injuries, different kinds of screams, different kinds of dying – you have to die different ways. It’s the same for sex; you have to enjoy yourself in different ways. What is that other character doing to you? What noise does that make you make? It’s… interesting!”

It’s one thing if you’re doing a love scene, any kind of real intimacy, on stage or screen. It’s easier to do when you have someone there you can do it with. That’s natural, that makes sense. It gets awkward when you have to negotiate ‘tongues, no tongues?’ but there is a negotiation that happens silently or verbally. When you’re doing it in the booth there’s a different kind of awkwardness, because it is a bit like masturbation, you’re being caught masturbating. Do you know what I mean? That’s what it feels like. If you can imagine yourself having a good old wank and in walks your mum. It’s that kind of embarrassing feeling.”

That’s one of the many reasons that not just anybody can voice the characters we love. It’s a craft, and it’s not one that should be taken for granted. This is one of the reasons that the voice actor strike is taking place. Thank you to Doug Cockle, Jennifer Hale, Tara Strong, and the many other master craftsmen that not only provide the voices for these characters, but go through the tedious job of giving us realism, no matter the cost.

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