This past week, we had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Ms. Hannah Telle, voice actress of Max in Life is Strange. We talked for a while about the game and her experiences voicing Max. Everything from her personal involvement and attachment to Max to her debut as a voice actress, Ms. Telle was candid with her responses and extremely honest. The only unfortunate part of our conversation is that we had to end it as it's not every day you are able to speak to someone as down to earth and honest as Ms. Telle was. We'll be airing the entire audio version of our conversation on the show tonight, but also included the audio below.
Enjoy.
Michael Boccher (MB) - For those who may not have played Life is Strange yet, what can you tell them about it?
Hannah Telle (HT) - Life is Strange is about a girl who's in high school, she's in an art school. She's a bit shy and inconfident and discovers that she has this ability to rewind time. At the same time, she's just returning home from living in a diff. place for a while. So she's coming back to her home town and she encounters her old best friend in a situation where she's being attacked by another student. And that's where she discovers she has this ability to reverse time and it every time she reverses time, she has to deal with all of the consequences of this ripple effect from the repercussions of reversing time has. So it's a really wild story and you can make all these choices and see what the outcomes are. You can replay it many times it's very cool.
MB- As amazing as Life is Strange is, and we'll delve into that in a second, it's not your first role in a video game series. Last year you were the voice of Iris and Rose Campbell in Murdered Soul Suspect as well. How was your experience in that as I believe it was your first role in a game if we're not mistaken?
HT - Yes it was. I actually, it was motion capture so I didn't really have any experience doing voice over. We just recorded everything as we were doing the motion capture which was really incredible experience to do that and wear the suit to be in this totally imagined world. So playing Max, it was my first time ever just doing a voice over job. It was challenging (laughs) it was very challenging.
MB- It must be odd auditioning for a part when it's not quite clear what is expected of you as far as the part is concerned. . As far as your audition goes, did you get a chance to read or hear about Max and the background presented in Life is Strange or did you have to go in blind?
HT - You know, I don't think I did. I think I just came in. I didn't have any idea what it was about it had a codename, the project. I didn't have any idea who she was actually other than she was shy, softspoken and 18 years old. When I auditioned, it was just a quick little scene between Max and Warren, who is one of Max's love interests in the game who has a crush on Max. And there was one with Chloe. It was very short, very simple, I thought I bombed it. I honestly did. I was so upset on the drive home I was crying like "I blew it, it was terrible" So it was pretty surprising to find out I got the part I was so excited.
MB- Yeah I guess you didn't blow it I would imagine (laughs)
HT - Yeah I guess not (laughs)
MB- I'm sure there must be differences between voice acting and being on camera as far as preparation goes. What were some of the ways you prepared for your role as Max during recording as it's such an incredibly, emotional character?
HT - Oh my gosh. You know, when we first started recording I didn't even know what we were going to be doing until I got there, the day of. They would give me a script and I would just have to go with it. I would have to make it as real for me as I could as fast I could. But as we went along with recording they would send me the scripts in advance and I would just look at script, read through it. It was a good thing for me b/c I relate so much to Max. Her main struggle throughout the game is coming to terms with that she's an introvert or that she has to learn to speak up for herself or else deal with the circumstances of not speaking up which are terrible usually and that is something I have dealt with my entire life. The hardest things for me would be just learning how to be a voice actor. There are voices you make with your mouth you don't realize and it's hard to control. I'm very soft spoken, I'm much less soft spoken now that we've worked on the game so long. In the beginning I was so quiet and so scared that I couldn't even get my boice to come out hardly. In terms of preparation, I would struggle to get my voice to come out. The emotional stuff, I'm very dramatic emotional person in general but that came pretty easy to me. The aftermath of it, when you're feeling kind of emotional, the next day you feel exhausted it's pretty draining. So that was something I had to learn to cope with.
MB- Now, four of the game's five episodes have been released so far. Episode 4 was about 3 hours but the first three were all around the 2 hour range. Assuming ep.five remains the same length that's about 11 or 12 hours total of gametime. With so much emphasis on conveying emotion and line delivery in game, it must have taken a long time to record I'm guessing?
HT - Yes, well we've been working on it since last July. So in the beginning for the first episode they kind of sent me this whole package that explains what the game was, where it was going to go who the characters were so I had a general idea of what was happening. We would record Monday through Friday for maybe a week or two on the first couple episodes so it' s not as much as you would think. I go in about 7 or 8 times for each episode and each day is about 4 to 5 hours. But Max has so many lines that she's always commenting on every little thing so it's a lot of material to get through during every session so we have to move very fast to get through everything in an episode in a 7 or 8 session limit.
MB- I would imagine because based on the numbers you just said that's about 175 hours of recording, about 5 and a half weeks or so.
HT - Wow, you are very good at math. I can't believe you just figured that out on the spot (laughs)
MB- Yeah, math is one of my things
HT -That's cool
MB-. Each episode was released about six weeks apart, with ep 4coming 8 weeks after. Was it difficult to get back into character with the time off between recordings? Also, were part of the script withheld to prevent spoilers from leaking out like they do in some tv shows ?
HT- No, they didn't with hold anything. Like I said at the beginning they sent me this package that said everything about the game. I knew what was going to happen from the very beginning which was so cool. I didn't have any trouble getting back into the character of Max b/c that's the only job I've had since last July is Max. I had some trouble with some people in my family passed away and I had some emotional trouble so I just kind of took a break and just focused on this one role. It was always very close to me knowing I would have to go in once a month for about a week or so to do this part. i just stayed focused on that. I feel so close to Max in terms of our personalities and our struggles it was never an issue. It was, actually, it was the first role I've played where it just feels incredibly natural almost on a super natural level. It's really amazing.
MB- We've reviewed each episode so far and one thing that remains the same is us at the end saying "Well, the next episode can't get any more emotional". Then we play it and our reaction is simply "Well, we were obviously wrong".
HT - (Loud laughs)
MB-At the end of episode 4, I simply put down my controller, took my headset off and put my hands over my mouth and nose in that "I don't believe it" pose. As of now Life is Strange is my personal game of the year as it's such an emotional rollercoaster.
HT- Oooooh thank you.
MB- How was it recording such lines and did you find it difficult getting your voice to the point needed to convey the incredible emotion needed in the game?
HT- You know it's so funny. When we first started recording the story line that Max was experiencing felt so close to me. Because at the beginning it's not so emotional it' smore that she's just having to deal with those weird feelings of coming back to a place that she's left behind and having to deal with this incredible, insane experience of discovering that she has a power. That was kind of hard for me to grasp because I obviously don't have that power no one does. I just tried to imagine if I could, it sounds simple but, it was hard. As we went along and the game became more dramatic and emotionally driven, you see I come from a comedy background - and I've only done a little bit of real drama. But in my life I've struggled with a lot of anxiety and depression since I went through puberty so I've always been a very dramatic person but in terms of my career I mostly did comedy. So I really struggled with trying to convery all that emotion just through my voice. It's hard to get that, to get how you feel out without someone seeing your face do you know what I mean?
MB - Absolutely
HT - It was a struggle for me. But once we hit the fourth episode and everything happened with Chloe and Rachel. Ashly and I were working together, something just clicked and I realized that what Max was experiencing was so similar to how I feel right now in my life even though it' s not the same but a parallet thing. It just started coming. So this last episode has been really intense. I can't really say what's happening. But yeah, it's hard, it's every time I go in I think "Am I going to be able to pull this off am I going to be able to do this" (nervous laughs) And somehow you know it works out but it's scary. I have to record for the game tomorrow and I'm scared, I'm always scared.
MB- For episode 5 you're recording tomorrow?
HT- Yes, yes. I think it' smy next to last day of recording so I'm super sad it's coming to an end. But I'm trying to stay focused to just "land the plane home" and, like I said earlier, It's very draining because you're in there for five hours and you're putting everything you have into it so your voice comes through just the right way. At the end of the day sometimes I have to just go sit in my car and just zone out before I can actually drive home. It takes a lot out of me.
MB- I could imagine because when we played episode, the way it released eastern time, we played till 3 in the morning. We had to sit down before we could actually go to sleep
HT - Woah (laughs) Sorry
MB- Yeah (laughs) but what we love most about Life is Strange is how it takes the stereotypical 18 year old girl who struggles to make decisions and move forward with her life and makes her completely relatable to everyone.
HT - Wow
MB- With what the writers Christian Divine and Jean-Luc Cano did with removing the focus from such a stereotypical portrayal and placing it on the in game decisions you make we found amazing. It's a rare game like Life is Strange that is really more of an experience than a game. I've said before that older people like myself, not that I'm old I'm 36, but older than Max play it and found myself reflecting upon decisions you made in your own life and whether or not they correct. Younger players around Max's age routinely haven't lived long enough to see those moments in their lives so it kind of prepares them for what's ahead.
HT - Um hmm
MB- It seems as if everyone who plays can tie in their own lives somehow. What was the hardest part for you personally in playing such an emotional role?
HT - Oh my gosh. Um.....Ok....Um.... Well, I struggle with how to articulate this the right way. But I never had any sort of confidence or self esteem. I know that's kind of a drastic thing to say but it's true. It was almost to the point where I didn't leave the house much. I was just no ok and not able to look people in the eye. It was very difficult to have any faith in myself or do anything because I was just operating from a place of total lack of self esteem. And getting this part, I mean I've been in L.A. for nine years now and I haven't really had much of a break through because went I visited an agent I would go into the meetings and come off as so debilatatingly shy they would think I was incompetent. It was hard for me to get anywhere because of my personality and then to get a part like Max and to have it happen when my life was in shambles - I was in the middle of an emotional breakdown when I got the part. Then to, I never expected this would happen with the character. Then to see it happen and see there was this fan base growing that the game is a cult hit or something. I see the success of the game and we're still not done recording. It's very rare to get to play the same part for so long unless you're on a tv series or something. So the fact that it's still going on and I see the outcome at the same time as I'm still trying to produce something. It's been really overwhelming and surreal. So, it almost feels like no I can't reverse time but I'm the voice of this person who can. And that, coming to terms that the game is coming to an end and that Max's story is coming to an end it's really sad and bittersweet. I don't even know how to put it into words. That's been the most emotional part for me. Plus the fact that I've grown so much while playing Max. I went from, it's like Max and I, it sounds crazy, but she went from so shy to so strong and it feels like I'm doing the same thing because I'm getting to play her if that makes any sense, but, it's been really....it's just been CRAZY. So that's been the most emotional thing seeing the transformation of her and also seeing the transformation that playing her has given me.
MB- Each person must relate to Life is Strange in their own way. What part of the game was the most relatable for you and why and What is your favorite part of Life is Strange?
HT - In terms of recording, the best is when we're doing a dual recording session. We mostly do this for scenes that are narrative driven and intense between two characters. So most of the scenes between Max and Chloe it will be Ashly and I recording at the same time. So we'll get to look at each other and actually act off of one another. Just building the relationships with the other characters. That also happens with the character Warren and Kate Marsh we did recordings like that. Also Mr. Jefferson and David Madsen was incredible because the people i was working with were just insanely talented and experienced I just really got to learn so much from them and play such intense versions of pretend with them. The best part of the story for me, well my favorite part is what's happening now but I can't really tell you...
MB- Oh tease
HT - I'm so sorry (laughs) My other favorite part was the relationship with Max and Kate. As someone who's struggled with depression it was really amazing to see what it's like to be on the outside trying to help someone who was in the midst of a suffering situation. It was really cool for me to see what that was like to try and convince someone that they're important and they have a place and although they may be in the middle of the worst part of their life that it's not a reason to end it and they need to keep going. So it was really amazing to see what that was like to try and convince someone to stick around even through a crazy storm.
MB- I believe what makes Life is Strange so intense is how it's basically a metaphor for life. Things like how what seems like a tiny, insignificant decision end up having huge implications could be the title of the book of life itself. Being as this is, there's no shortage of shocking scenes in the game. For us, it was with Chloe in episode 4 when she asked us to, without spoiling anything, either help her move on or not. Now I found this decision to be easy for me as I knew I was saying no instantly as I have no right to make a decision like that. What was surprising to us however is how DontNod and Square Enix integrated such a sensitive topic into a game in which every single person who plays the game can relate to it. What did you find the most shocking moment in the game for you to be?
HT - Oh my gosh
MB- I know that could probably any one of a 100 but...
HT- (laughs) It was, well when they sent me the outline of the game I didn't know. Just watching Ashly record that scene and watching how real it was for her. I mean she broke down while recording that. It was just so startling , it was verrrrrry sad. You know, I haven't been able to play the game yet. I don't want it to get it in my head how I sound so I'm waiting until I'm done to play it. So all of my shocking moments are from a recording standpoint and that was just....UGGHHHHH.....it was so......intense to see that happen and it felt so real it was really sad.
MB- Now I'm glad you mentioned that earlier because your colleagues, like Ashly Burch who voices Chloe also did Cassie Cage in MKX and Derek Phillips (Mr. Jefferson)who I no longer like.
HT - (laughs) Ooooh he's a really nice guy in real life
MB-(laughs) -Yeah well not in the game.
HT- Okay, not in the game.
MB- He worked on games as Dishonored, Hardline and with you on Murdered Soul Suspect so there is video game experience there which must have helped. Now with Episode 5 should be releasing soon, I believe they announced either the 28th or 29th was the date is that still correct??
HT- I don't even know. I don't ever get told I find out when you guys find out
MB- Now, without spoiling anything upcoming in episode 5, with Square Enix already saying they will make a Life is Strange 2 or season 2, what direction will the game be taking or have you guys had any discussions on that yet?
HT- There's been no serious discussions about it. They were in town for E3 in July so we all finally got to meet for the first time because normally I would just get to hear their voices over Skype while we were recording. They said they were thinking about it but they might do it in a True Detective sort of way where it would be a new storyline and new characters. So you know, I don't know. I mean it would be awesome, because I love playing Max that'll be cool but I don't know if it'll happen.
MB- As we said, we absolutely love Life is Strange and really thank you for joining us tonight as we look forward to the final episode 5 this month. Ms. Telle, I really appreciate your time but before we let you go, is there anything we may have missed or any story that you want people to know about Life is Strange?
HT - Well, I just want to say thank you to everyone for playing and being so incredibly supportive. Everyone online it's just truly the most phenomenal thing I've ever seen happen and definitely the coolest thing ever to happen to me so I'm glad that people love it. I'm so thankful it's been amazing, it's been really amazing.
MB- Well there you have it ladies and gentleman, Ms. Hannah Telle, voice of Max Caulfield in Square Enix / DontNod's LIfe is Strange. Thank you again for joining us tonight and have a great evening.
I want to thank Ms. Telle for taking the time to join us and explain just how personal it was for her to record Max. As you've been following, we've reviewed each episode so far and the fifth and final episode to come later this month most likely. Not too many games are able to maintain their integrity as a game while also being a hybrid life experience. Even if you are not into video games, Ms. Telle's portrayal of Max in Life is Strange is award worthy and makes your realize that every choice you make in life requires careful consideration as you never know where it can take you.
As a testament to how good the game and its experience is, not once in the 45 minutes that Ms. Telle and I spoke did we mention the impending storm that is approaching Arcadia Bay but focused more on the emotional involvement the game has on the player themselves. Once again, I'd like to thank Ms. Telle for her time and wish her the best of luck in the future after a brilliant experience as Life is Strange
