Graha Voice Actor Change?

[DaynGaleaz]

I'm requesting the Localization team for an announcement on this matter too. Starting with the obvious omission of G'raha's line in the patch trailer, I was already afraid of him being recast, and as I played MSQ I just couldn't hear Jonathan Bailey most of the time (there are a few lines where it does sound like him, but to me they were too few).
Agreeing with what other's have said already, it feels unfair that for an EN audience we don't receive the same attentiveness that we all know the JP playerbase will get if this happened with the Japanese voice cast, and I'm honestly really hurt and worried about this possible change and the lack of official acknowledgement. I don't know who's decision was to replace G'raha's line in the trailer, but it was a terrible one and leaves a sour impression in that the company would deceive one huge sector of their audience for whatever reason (fear of retaliation, lack of care?).

The more I've been thinking about this, and with all the due respect to the VA who might've replaced him this time, I've come to realize that Jonathan Bailey's voice does make G'raha Tia work for me. He seemed to really care and enjoy giving his voice to this character so I'm positive that there's interest in his part, and I urge the team at Square to consider what many fans are writing here and work to keep him in this role; with what the fans have already gathered, it doesn't seem to be scheduling or even a workload issue, and for a, honestly at this point, main character is the very minimum to put in the effort to get to an agreement.

[ZephyrMenodora]

I'm requesting the Localization team for an announcement on this matter too. Starting with the obvious omission of G'raha's line in the patch trailer, I was already afraid of him being recast, and as I played MSQ I just couldn't hear Jonathan Bailey most of the time (there are a few lines where it does sound like him, but to me they were too few).
Agreeing with what other's have said already, it feels unfair that for an EN audience we don't receive the same attentiveness that we all know the JP playerbase will get if this happened with the Japanese voice cast, and I'm honestly really hurt and worried about this possible change and the lack of official acknowledgement. I don't know who's decision was to replace G'raha's line in the trailer, but it was a terrible one and leaves a sour impression in that the company would deceive one huge sector of their audience for whatever reason (fear of retaliation, lack of care?).

The more I've been thinking about this, and with all the due respect to the VA who might've replaced him this time, I've come to realize that Jonathan Bailey's voice does make G'raha Tia work for me. He seemed to really care and enjoy giving his voice to this character so I'm positive that there's interest in his part, and I urge the team at Square to consider what many fans are writing here and work to keep him in this role; with what the fans have already gathered, it doesn't seem to be scheduling or even a workload issue, and for a, honestly at this point, main character is the very minimum to put in the effort to get to an agreement.

Unfortunately I didn't hear JB at all. I kept hearing how it got better later in the patch, but for me it still never sounded like him. True, it was better than his first line, which made me do a double take as to how bad it sounded. Followed by a scene where everyone else speaks and then G'raha gives a thumbs up silently. But still not JB to me even at the end of the patch.

[peachsyder]

I love Jonathan Bailey, but at his new level of stardom it's not just about money. SE can pay as much money as they want but the limiting factor for him is probably time and prestige. He may really love the role (or just say that for PR sake) but it's not going to boost his profile. And I think it's unreasonable to expect SE to pay movie star rates for a voice actor for a video game.

I'm sorry, but what new level? I'm tired of people saying this like Bailey's rise to stardom is a 2025 occurrence. He's been in Bridgerton since 2020, his main season on it was in 2022. He's been cast in Wicked for years, the second movie just happened to come out recently. I don't get why everyone seems to think Fiyero is his breakout role and not Anthony?

If all Bailey cared about was prestige and whether a role would boost his profile he would never taken the role of G'raha in the first place. And if he were to let go of it, if prestige and money was the issue, he would surely have quit long before now. Like I said, his casting is Wicked is from years ago. Even filming, which was delayed due to the strike, wrapped up in Jan 2024. Jurassic Park finished filming in Sep 2024. He still came back for 7.0-7.3 despite that. And Bridgerton was when he well and truly blew up, and he's stayed in XIV long past. Dude, he voiced one of the bunnies in Endwalker. You think this guy has kept playing G'raha because it boosts his profile? Maybe Growingway was his true breakout role all along.

I just don't get what it is that makes people act like Bailey became a big star overnight. He has been huge for years now. A lot of people saying stuff like this haven't followed his career at all.

And seriously, can we stop acting like we know what his supposed VA rates are? Surely you don't think that the cost to get him in a booth for a few sessions is the same as his cache for two Wicked movies or something? Why are some so eager to act like it's unreasonable for SE to pay him enough to keep him reprising G'raha when it's hardly the first time they've had A-listers in their games? Or do you forget Mark Hamill (Kingdom Hearts) and Ralph Ineson (FF16) are on their payroll?

I'm just tired of this "Bailey is too big for XIV" debate like having such a big name among your cast is a detriment and not a boon SE ought to be clinging to. Imagine hitting a goldmine like this before his breakout and instead of trying to keep your treasure you hit yourself over the head with the pickaxe.

I'll be dead before you catch me defending a multimillion company's right to be stingy with the actors that bring their characters to life while they dump billions in AI slop.

[lievaordiea]

I'm requesting the Localization team for an announcement on this matter too. Starting with the obvious omission of G'raha's line in the patch trailer, I was already afraid of him being recast, and as I played MSQ I just couldn't hear Jonathan Bailey most of the time (there are a few lines where it does sound like him, but to me they were too few).

i was wondering if this was part of the 'reshuffle' thats occured in SE. weve heard a potential (mildly confirmed) new localisation leader plus lots of layoffs at SE within the localisation part. maybe someone messed up
it would have occured/started occuring around the times the VAs were acting so its possible?

[WillIrishclover]

Take it you guys saw the Kotaku article?

Surely Square should come out and end this speculation for everyones sake? How hard is it to just say "Yeah its JB he's still the VA", it would take like a single tweet for heavens sake

[ZephyrMenodora]

Take it you guys saw the Kotaku article?

Surely Square should come out and end this speculation for everyones sake? How hard is it to just say "Yeah its JB he's still the VA", it would take like a single tweet for heavens sake

The only reason they wouldn't is because it is not him and are avoiding backlash.

It's a simple, factual question they can answer with a Yes or No. So why aren't they?

[Dagny]

The only reason they wouldn't is because it is not him and are avoiding backlash.

It's a simple, factual question they can answer with a Yes or No. So why aren't they?

Devil's advocate (and I say this as someone that does think Bailey's been replaced), but SE has been known to have pretty strict NDAs. Might just be that even if he's still voicing the role.

I do think it would benefit SE to say something though. If Bailey was sick or had a bad setup, it's okay to admit that and maybe promise to rerecord the lines in the future when Bailey's schedule allows. If SE and Bailey had to part ways for whatever reason, then I think it's okay to admit that too...but SE does historically like ignoring these things unless YoshiP personally gets involved, lol. They knew the voice was off for whatever reason, or they wouldn't have swapped it out for a different one in the English trailer.

[bunnymoon]

The only reason they wouldn't is because it is not him and are avoiding backlash.

It's a simple, factual question they can answer with a Yes or No. So why aren't they?

BECAUSE NDAs EXIST.

And taking those into account suddenly makes this a lot more complicated. We're on patch 7.4, we know there's a Fanfest next year, so it should be a no brainer to understand that 8.0 is actively being worked on.

If NDAs are complicating matters, then no, it's not just a the simple matter of Square Enix telling us what's up. NDAs affect everyone involved with something, and breaking NDAs is a serious matter.

[ZephyrMenodora]

BECAUSE NDAs EXIST.

And taking those into account suddenly makes this a lot more complicated. We're on patch 7.4, we know there's a Fanfest next year, so it should be a no brainer to understand that 8.0 is actively being worked on.

If NDAs are complicating matters, then no, it's not just a the simple matter of Square Enix telling us what's up. NDAs affect everyone involved with something, and breaking NDAs is a serious matter.

Why would an NDA exist where Square Enix couldn't confirm who an actor is in a product that is already released that we pay for, when they have been in the role 7 years and also have a credits scene? That makes no sense.

The only way SE would not be able to speak is if Jonathan Bailey put an NDA on them that prevents them from disclosing he left the project, which I find incredibly unlikely.

[KiraRavens]

Why would an NDA exist where Square Enix couldn't confirm who an actor is in a product that is already released that we pay for, when they have been in the role 7 years and also have a credits scene? That makes no sense.

The only way SE would not be able to speak is if Jonathan Bailey put an NDA on them that prevents them from disclosing he left the project, which I find incredibly unlikely.

I've broken it down here, in case you missed that:

He'll have signed an NDA, which usually covers the time of your engagement as well as before and after, so if he was stepping away (for whatever reason), it would be up to SE to announce the change, not him.
He'd most likely not be allowed to comment on it before it became public knowledge via an official statement from SE.

On the other hand, if it's actually him after all (still don't think so at all) and the quality was just bad, he'd not want to / not be allowed to comment and let SE handle the "damage control", or comment on it themselves.

And if they're still in negoations of any kind, neither party would say anything at this point - not until there's a clear decision/contract.

So, there's honestly very few scenarios in which JB himself would have commented now instead of waiting for SE to make a statement first, so I'm not too concerned about this yet.
SE not commenting points towards things being undecided imo - or they're actually trying to just let this blow over in light of a definitive recast, but that would be a really weird move, even for them and their low-communication interaction style with the fanbase.

I've signed SE NDAs myself (as press though, not VA) and they are incredibly strict, even in comparison to the industry standard.
I wouldn't be surprised if his NDA basically said "do not deny or confirm anything at all unless we've already spoken on it"