Graha Voice Actor Change?

[Elvirawynter]

I've completed the MSQ now and I'm so confused. At parts it sounds like him, but if anything a little off. Then it just goes out of whack randomly.

I'll echo others here, it would be nice if they could tell us already. I've not seen many people commenting about it directly on their posts, rather more on their own individual posts if anything.

[mildlymoonstruck]

Yeah. Every instance of him remarking how much he loved G'raha were from before his role as Fiero in Wicked, a role he gets to both be a main character that's also main love interest of both leads, but also sings several songs. And now he's got multiple other major movie roles.

The man's insanely busy and we have lots of recordings in game where Bailey is sick or strained because of overwork.


Also. Like. He's on break?? Has been since September, apparently. He planned to return next year after resting and working with his charity.

Sorry but I'd like to correct 2 points of misinformation here. The BAFTA interview where he speaks about his dedication to the role of G'raha was in March 2024, well after he was cast as Fiyero in 2022, and filming had already wrapped by then. Also, him taking a break from acting was a misquote about him stepping away from 2 potential film roles he could've taken on to focus on his charity instead; he clarified this in an Esquire interview in November. He wasn't talking about breaking current commitments.

[Wasselin]

We can't really take the BAFTA interview as gospel. Those events are PR-managed spaces, and as an actor, he’s not going to publicly say, 'I’m over this role' or 'I want out of this contract.' Not saying he actually feels that way, but we have to remember this is a career, not just a hobby.

Even when an actor genuinely loves a character, the business of being a human in a capitalist industry eventually kicks in. Jonathan’s profile has exploded recently, and things like scheduling conflicts, pay scales, or just the desire to pursue different creative heights come into play. It’s not what I want to see happen but even if he loves the role it doesn't always mean it's feasible for the schedule. Jonathan Bailey has to navigate the reality of a high-pressure industry.

[peachsyder]

Sorry but I'd like to correct 2 points of misinformation here. The BAFTA interview where he speaks about his dedication to the role of G'raha was in March 2024, well after he was cast as Fiyero in 2022, and filming had already wrapped by then. Also, him taking a break from acting was a misquote about him stepping away from 2 potential film roles he could've taken on to focus on his charity instead; he clarified this in an Esquire interview in November. He wasn't talking about breaking current commitments.

Love that people keep coming into this thread to reiterate an argument that has been talked to death already here: "umm haven't you dummies considered maybe JB just doesn't wanna do this anymore? Don't you know [misinformation] and [misinformation] and [more misinformation]?"

Exhausting, really. There are dozens of posts in this thread already discussing the timeline of his roles and casting vs the timeline of his participation in FFXIV and the BAFTA interview, as well as the argument of "well haven't you maybe thought this guy is just so famous now that he considers G'raha beneath him and is moving on to roles that give him prestige??"

Truly can't understand why some of you talk down to people here like everyone is an irrational, hysterical fan who can't entertain the thought that Bailey may have left or may one day leave out of his own free will. Obviously people are aware this is a possibility.

The point of voicing discontentment here is in the case the situation is Square Enix's fault. Because, again, we don't know the circumstances, since they won't speak about it. But we do know that they intentionally omitted G'raha's voice from the English trailer and the English trailer only—they're aware G'raha sounds off this patch, and they refuse to speak about it.

Bailey's performance as G'raha matters to people and they want to make clear that in the case he's willing to continue in the role they want SE to be doing everything in their power to keep him. And whatever may or may not have happened, we want transparency from the small indie company some seem so eager to defend.

[paradisea]

We can't really take the BAFTA interview as gospel. Those events are PR-managed spaces, and as an actor, he’s not going to publicly say, 'I’m over this role' or 'I want out of this contract.' Not saying he actually feels that way, but we have to remember this is a career, not just a hobby.

Even when an actor genuinely loves a character, the business of being a human in a capitalist industry eventually kicks in. Jonathan’s profile has exploded recently, and things like scheduling conflicts, pay scales, or just the desire to pursue different creative heights come into play. It’s not what I want to see happen but even if he loves the role it doesn't always mean it's feasible for the schedule. Jonathan Bailey has to navigate the reality of a high-pressure industry.

People have already addressed, directly to one of your posts even, the "Bailey's profile has exploded recently" thing (it isn't recent in the slightest). The same has been done to death regarding "taking the BAFTA interview as gospel as he may just be saying it for PR".
And since now we're even mentioning "pay scales" again, I recommend reading this very insightful post on pay rates in the British voice acting industry.

I'm so tired of discussing these same points over and over again and don't get the insistence on bringing it up. Even moreso when one side is basing their assumptions on things Bailey has actually said while the other is basing theirs on the assumption that "well, he said it, but maybe it was just PR", like assuming dishonesty (even PR-style, well meaning dishonesty) rather than sincerity on his part is somehow more rational and more charitable to him as a person. Or like it's just the BAFTA interview that shows his commitment to the role and not his actions, like continuing to voice G'raha when he was sick, through the busiest times of his career, and after being cast in major, extremely popular roles as far back as 2019 (Anthony in Bridgerton) and 2022 (Fiyero in Wicked). Like the post I linked said, there's more evidence that he's willing and happy to stay than the opposite, so I don't think it's unreasonable to just believe him when he says that he does want to instead of conspiring otherwise.

And yet again, not the point of any of this discussion. You guys don't need to keep coming back here to "remind" people of the realities of capitalism and the entertainment industry or the simple possibility that Bailey has changed his mind because no one here just hasn't considered it.

The point here is people want to make it heard that JB's performance as G'raha is important to them and that, as long as he's willing to stay, we want Square Enix to do what they can to make sure that he can. And if there was absolutely no choice but to part ways with him permanently and it has already happened, there should have been a proper announcement before 7.4 even dropped.

[mildlymoonstruck]

We can't really take the BAFTA interview as gospel. Those events are PR-managed spaces, and as an actor, he’s not going to publicly say, 'I’m over this role' or 'I want out of this contract.' Not saying he actually feels that way, but we have to remember this is a career, not just a hobby.

Even when an actor genuinely loves a character, the business of being a human in a capitalist industry eventually kicks in. Jonathan’s profile has exploded recently, and things like scheduling conflicts, pay scales, or just the desire to pursue different creative heights come into play. It’s not what I want to see happen but even if he loves the role it doesn't always mean it's feasible for the schedule. Jonathan Bailey has to navigate the reality of a high-pressure industry.

Thank you for loosely explaining the concepts of PR training and having a career in a capitalist society. Anyways, as I said, I was correcting two points of misinformation I've seen frequently repeated. There's enough speculation swirling about whatever happened without muddying the waters, especially since it takes us off course from the main issue at hand: Square Enix's lack of transparency.

[ZephyrMenodora]

I was going to say, this could just as easily be the VA's fault as Square-Enix's, and they can't very well force him to come and record for them if that's the case.

At this stage most of us are blaming SE because it is within their power to address their customers with a simple yes or no answer to this question.

If JB chose to leave the role, I'm sure most of us would understand and accept that. (I'm still not entirely over Gideon Emery being replaced as Urianger, but that's another story given that was SE's decision to recast everyone).

But as customers we pay SE, not JB, so we are hoping for just the tiniest bit of consideration from the company we give money to.

[Wasselin]

As others have stated though Square Enix's lack of transparency might be because of non-disclosure agreements or other legal reasons. In a way it might be a good sign since they could still be negotiating with Jonathan Bailey's team. If they both were ready to part ways they likely would announce it.

I'm so tired of discussing these same points over and over again and don't get the insistence on bringing it up. Even moreso when one side is basing their assumptions on things Bailey has actually said while the other is basing theirs on the assumption that "well, he said it, but maybe it was just PR", like assuming dishonesty (even PR-style, well meaning dishonesty) rather than sincerity on his part is somehow more rational and more charitable to him as a person. Or like it's just the BAFTA interview that shows his commitment to the role and not his actions, like continuing to voice G'raha when he was sick, through the busiest times of his career, and after being cast in major, extremely popular roles as far back as 2019 (Anthony in Bridgerton) and 2022 (Fiyero in Wicked). Like the post I linked said, there's more evidence that he's willing and happy to stay than the opposite, so I don't think it's unreasonable to just believe him when he says that he does want to instead of conspiring otherwise.

And yet again, not the point of any of this discussion. You guys don't need to keep coming back here to "remind" people of the realities of capitalism and the entertainment industry or the simple possibility that Bailey has changed his mind because no one here just hasn't considered it.

Sorry for irritating you. The reason I keep coming back to this is because I don't agree that it's as simple as the big mean Square Enix wants to fire Jonathan Bailey and pull a fast one on all of us by saying nothing and hoping we don't notice the voice actor has changed. Just like you don't need to be reminded of the realities of capitalism, I doubt Square Enix needs to be reminded that fans would be upset if a voice actor is changed. Given the targeted harassment that other voice actors have faced, they might also feel saying nothing is best.

I’m not trying to say Bailey is being dishonest. It’s possible for him to be 100% sincere about the role and still have business or scheduling walls come up that he can’t climb. I'm just acknowledging that sometimes people get stuck in contracts or schedules they can’t control.

My point isn't that SE is right to stay silent either. It’s just that their silence might be a legal cage rather than a choice.

[paradisea]

The reason I keep coming back to this is because I don't agree that it's as simple as the big mean Square Enix wants to fire Jonathan Bailey and pull a fast one on all of us by saying nothing and hoping we don't notice the voice actor has changed.

I think that's an oversimplification of what many fear to be worst the case scenario—a shady, not entirely unlikely practice by a company that has a history of little regard for the English-speaking side of the community, hoping to get by on the reasonable doubt that the soundalike is close enough to Bailey that the change would just coast by. Something that has, so far, worked, seeing as a huge part of the community does believe it to still be Bailey, to the point of sending massive amounts of vitriol towards the people worried that it isn't and what that means for the future, instead of directing their frustration towards SE for not confirming it one way or another.

I'm not hoping to be right in assuming the worst possible (and frankly foolish on SE's part) course of action to be the case. But I don't believe we can disregard it as a possibility at this point.

Given the targeted harassment that other voice actors have faced, they might also feel saying nothing is best.

I would doubt this to be true personally, considering how little they've done to protect VAs in the past (I'm aware Yoshi-p apologized directly to Sena Bryer, but considering the sheer amount of vitriol she received, I frankly don't believe that to be enough on such a large company's part.) But that's just me and my personal, rather strong feelings on how horribly Bryer was treated.

Additionally and more importantly I think we can agree that if their intention is to protect any potential replacement to Bailey, the omission only puts the new VA in a worse position if the first we hear of him is when we see the credits roll as far as six to eight months from now (7.55 or 7.58). Moreover, like it's been said before, at that point any expression of sadness and frustration from fans will immediately be painted as harassment towards the new guy and sheer lunacy from "rabid fans", like losing a beloved voice actor after seven years with no announcement, no farewell, and only finding out through credits almost a year after the change is small potatoes.

I’m not trying to say Bailey is being dishonest. It’s possible for him to be 100% sincere about the role and still have business or scheduling walls come up that he can’t climb. I'm just acknowledging that sometimes people get stuck in contracts or schedules they can’t control.

We're all aware this is a possibility. But we can acknowledge it without assuming his words to be simple PR spiel and without making assumptions or spreading misinformation regarding his schedule, pay rates, and willingness to stay on the role. It's more productive and fair to Bailey himself as a professional to believe what he has shown through his words and actions rather than assign intent, unwillingness, or "believing himself to be too good for G'raha now" to an actor that has given the playerbase seven years of dedicated work.

Not claiming you're saying this, but the sentiment of "Bailey is just too big for small time FFXIV, it's obvious he's too busy and too high-profile now to continue playing G'raha" has been repeated to death in this thread, and like it's been said time and time again, is not just unfair to Bailey but simply untrue—the blowup of his career is not a recent development, even if some here only now personally heard of it, and he has been an incredibly booked and busy man from the very start of his run as G'raha.

My point isn't that SE is right to stay silent either. It’s just that their silence might be a legal cage rather than a choice.

We can only hope so. The fact remains that, in face of uncertainty, it is important that those who care about this make certain that SE hears that Bailey as G'raha matters to us, in case there is even the slightest chance they're under the misguided notion that people don't really care much whether or not he stays and may not be putting their full effort in working with him so that he can continue to reprise the role.

Unlikely? Maybe. But it's always better to be safe than sorry. And no matter what the situation is, I'm glad we agree they're wrong to just not say something so we don't have to be speculating and worrying over the future of G'raha's English dub. That's something I believe all of us that aren't staunch enjoyers of the taste of leather can agree on.

[Canadane]

You can edit a post to fit it all in one go rather than needing to indicate you want to keep going to a second post.