A role almost lost to a late-night bed recording
Jennifer English, the voice behind Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has revealed that she nearly missed the audition that ended up helping define one of 2025’s biggest games. Speaking to Radio Times Gaming, English said her usual method for game auditions is, in her own words, a little chaotic.
"I'll just be recording it on my bed at two in the morning," she said. "Which is exactly what happened with Expedition 33, because I forgot to do it."
English added that she tends to handle auditions "last minute and late," often recording wherever she happens to be. "Don't be like me," she joked. Fortunately for Sandfall Interactive, she did get the tape in. Maelle went on to become one of the game’s most celebrated characters, and many players still consider her one of the strongest units in the RPG.
A breakout game with a very decorated cast
Released in April 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 quickly climbed into the upper tier of the year’s most praised releases. It collected multiple Game of the Year awards and set a new record at The Game Awards by winning nine trophies, the most ever for a single game. The title drew praise for its visuals, storytelling, and turn-based combat system with real-time elements, because apparently it was not content with being good at just one thing.
Its voice cast also drew attention. Charlie Cox played Gustave, Jennifer English played Maelle, Ben Starr voiced Verso, and Andy Serkis brought Renoir to life. Cox, English, and Starr were all nominated for Best Performance at The Game Awards 2025, with English taking home the award. Her performance also earned her a BAFTA nomination and a Best Lead Performer win at the Golden Joystick Awards.
English has a habit of ending up in the right games
Clair Obscur is not the only Game of the Year winner on English’s résumé. She also voiced Latenna in Elden Ring in 2022 and the fan-favorite Shadowheart in Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2023. In the same interview, she described how that role came together almost by accident, saying she had originally been asked to audition for NPCs before the team offered her Shadowheart instead. "The rest is history," she said.
English also said Baldur’s Gate 3 helped her reconnect with video games as a player, which is useful when your job involves showing up in some of the medium’s biggest releases.
Her other credits include Divinity: Original Sin 2, Wuthering Waves, Marathon, and the upcoming action game Tides of Annihilation, where she plays the protagonist Gwendolyn.
What’s happening with Clair Obscur now
Earlier in March, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 received an update aimed at fixing bugs and crashes nearly a year after launch. It did not add new playable content, but it did show that Sandfall Interactive is still tending to the game instead of tossing it into the industry’s ever-growing pile of abandoned ambitions.
The last major content update arrived in December 2025 with "Verso's Drafts," which added a new area and more bosses. Since then, no similarly large patch has been announced.
A sequel has not been confirmed, and Sandfall Interactive has been careful not to say much about the game’s future. The studio has, however, confirmed that it has started work on its next title, so Clair Obscur is not necessarily the immediate priority.
Even so, fans will have something new to look at in November 2026, when a limited Collector’s Edition artbook centered on the character Alicia is scheduled to arrive. Whether that leads to more announcements around the game’s first anniversary remains to be seen.
