Baldur’s Gate HBO show should cast Astarion’s voice actor, fans say

With news of a Baldur’s Gate HBO series confirmed, there’s a lot of talk in the Baldur’s Gate 3 community about casting. No casting announcements have been made, and it’s likely to stay that way for a while. The show is in its infancy; all we really know so far is that The Last of Us‘ Craig Mazin is attached as showrunner, and Larian Studios will not be involved. But when it comes to the cast of the show, players already know who they want to play fan-favorite vampire-rogue, Astarion.

Based on player votes on mycast.io — a “fan-casting” site where users can vote for which actors they think would best fit a television or film adaptation of their favorite game, book, or animated series — there’s only one person who should be stepping into the role of Astarion Ancunín. It seems the people want the voice actor who first brought the character to life: Neil Newbon.

Newbon, who won Best Performance for his portrayal of Astarion at 2023’s The Game Awards, is the only member of the Baldur’s Gate 3 voice cast who has been selected by mycast.io users to reprise their roles from the game. Newbon currently has 23 votes in his favor, with only 8 votes against him, putting him at 15 points. He currently leads second place choice Tom Blyth, who has 26 votes in his favor but 16 votes against, leaving a final score of 10 points. Other fan-preferred potential Astarion actors include Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Tom Felton (Harry Potter franchise), and Ewan Mitchell (House of the Dragon).

There are quite a few other Game of Thrones alumni featured on mycast.io’s Baldur’s Gate 3 page, including Sophie Turner as Mizora, Iwan Rheon as Lord Enver Gortash, Gwendoline Christie as Dame Aylin, and Nathalie Emmanuel as everyone’s favorite tiefling bard, Alfira. Fans of Dimension 20 will be happy to hear that Dungeon Master and Dropout funnyman Brennan Lee Mulligan is currently the top choice for Valeria, a Hollyphant who works as a detective in the city of Baldur’s Gate.

Of course, there’s no telling what direction showrunner Craig Mazin will take when it comes to casting Baldur’s Gate, and it’s worth noting that Astarion may not show up at all. Strictly speaking, the HBO series isn’t an adaptation of Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s meant to be a continuation of the story that will pick up where the game left off. But “where the game left off” varies wildly from player to player, and depending on the choices made, some of the game’s “bad” endings don’t see Astarion survive. We do know that the show will include both original characters created specifically for the HBO series and some familiar faces from Larian’s game, but there’s no word yet on which familiar faces we’ll be seeing.

Still, it’s hard to imagine a story that takes place right after Baldur’s Gate 3 not including Astarion — if there’s anything he loves more than blood, it’s attention. Newbon himself seems to agree with that assessment, and the actor recently confirmed he’d be open to reprising his role in a live-action Baldur’s Gate project.

“Astarion was one of those roles that I got to live for four and a half years,” he told GamingBible in late December. “He’s never really left me, and I’d love to keep playing him. Most of my characters I play once and then the story ends, and I can give a fond farewell. But for some reason, Astarion is still lingering. I get such a kick out of playing him, and I hope to see more.”