Graha Voice Actor Change?

[CosmosNovaRose]

Voice acting for a one-off game? Yeah, it's possible to see a 2 year contract - you'd expect Ben Starr might have had a longer contract for FF16 because they knew the scope was going to run into the hundreds of hours.

But for something like this, the contract will be for the exact amount of studio time. So they'll know it's roughly 4 sessions of 4hrs for that character in X Expansion, for example, and they'll make a contract for that for the, say, one week those four sessions will take place. There'd usually be some stipulation for additional time, with a per hour rate, but we're talking a single extra session or running over by an hour or something. If they need the actor again, they'll set up a new contract when it's time.

A rolling contract would be considered too restrictive if it was challenged in court, because it would prevent the actor from taking other work (non-compete clauses are largely meaningless here, as are overly restrictive contracts that could prevent someone working) - being tied in to some maybe-date in 18 months' time for a single VO session preventing them from taking a six-month gig filming for TV or being in a play, for example.

Anyway that's probably far more detail than anybody needs, I just either know nothing about a subject or everything

This is super insightful! Do you believe that it could have been a missed contract deadline for 7.4? Would this also mean that (assuming it's not Bailey) whoever voiced G'raha in 7.4 is going to voice him in 7.55? And would it be possible for Bailey to return for 8.0? Would it be possible for Bailey to send in re-recordings for 7.4 assuming they want to keep him and not the (hypothetical) new actor? Or is it the new actor's gig now?

[Tatiana]

I think it had something to do with the actors strike which ended up conflicting with production and they ultimately decided to recast the role. Some game studios (like Blizzard) respected the strike and just released the content without the voice overs they hadn't already completed, which they're having to play catch-up with now that the strike is over. Others just recast roles, this would also explain why he won't comment on anything to do with FFXIV. His career has exploded since Bridgerton and now Wicked, he can't afford to go against strikes and dropping FFXIV if they wouldn't wait would be the unfortunate but most reasonable decision.

[shoebilldreams]

This is super insightful! Do you believe that it could have been a missed contract deadline for 7.4? Would this also mean that (assuming it's not Bailey) whoever voiced G'raha in 7.4 is going to voice him in 7.55? And would it be possible for Bailey to return for 8.0? Would it be possible for Bailey to send in re-recordings for 7.4 assuming they want to keep him and not the (hypothetical) new actor? Or is it the new actor's gig now?

Honestly, if I had to speculate? I'd say recording for the x4-x5 block probably just clashed with him being the busiest man on the planet in the lead up to the Wicked release, so they got someone else to do it. They had all 3 other G'rahas available, so they wouldn't want to write him out - easier to swap the English voice out for the last block of 7.x. I see no reason why he couldn't come back for 8.0 if his schedule allows, assuming this was all just a scheduling issue. I explained in one of my other replies why it's unlikely he's just priced himself out of being in the game or something like that.

As for re-recording, it's possible - they re-recorded some Wuk Lamat lines, and even went back and re-recorded some 3.3 Asahi lines when they had the actor in for the 5.4-5.55 block! So they've got a history of going back to tidy lines up, but I suppose it depends how much he ends up saying in this block.

[shoebilldreams]

I think it had something to do with the actors strike which ended up conflicting with production and they ultimately decided to recast the role. Some game studios (like Blizzard) respected the strike and just released the content without the voice overs they hadn't already completed, which they're having to play catch-up with now that the strike is over. Others just recast roles, this would also explain why he won't comment on anything to do with FFXIV. His career has exploded since Bridgerton and now Wicked, he can't afford to go against strikes and dropping FFXIV if they wouldn't wait would be the unfortunate but most reasonable decision.

British actors aren't legally allowed to strike in solidarity with US strikes - and those were US strikes. Plus, Wuk Lamat appeared, and Sena is very active with US union stuff and would never have crossed the picket line herself. So I don't think it was during the strike.

[peachsyder]

If it does end up that G'raha got a temporary replacement for the 7.4-7.55 cycle, I hope to god they clarify things before the moment we see the credits roll. If the blowout of things with this single patch has been like this, I truly don't think SE is going to like the probable fan reaction if all the communication we get is a new name on the credits with no guarantee that Bailey returns for 8.0.

I'm not sure if Bailey returning as soon as 7.5 is possible, and if they might redo the 7.4 lines once they're able to have him available to record, but it would be such a huge relief if that were the case.

In any case, it would be so nice to hear something from official sources, wouldn't it? Imagine that...

[KiraRavens]

I just don't really find myself able to reason Bailey himself choosing to step away now of all times. I've said this multiple times, but if he were to go, there were much busier times of his career that could reasonably justify why. And if he had to go, I think he would be willing to negotiate a more apt time with SE for his departure.[/I]

Just one thing I wanna throw in here re the "why now":
While JB had done very popular things before, him being all over the internet, widely known and loved, and offered leading roles in blockbusters like JP (and probably also quite a few other projects for him to pick from no one even knows about yet) only really started in 2024 with his being cast and announced as Fiyero, and I would suppose that SE set up contracts for an entire expansion, meaning from x.4 to x.3, not just single patches.

6.4 was released in May 2023, so they would probably have recorded that (and renewed his contract) in early 2023 when his situation was still quite different. Yes, Bridgerton S2 had been a success, but he could not have known yet that he was going to be as busy and in demand as he's been the past year, and that contract (if I'm right about the duration) would have ended with 7.3, so him leaving right now would actually make perfect sense.

His interview with BAFTA in 2024 was before most of the hype, too, and while I fully believe he meant what he said in that about not wanting to step away from the role, the success of Fellow Travellers, Wicked, JP, the impact those had on his career, and now his People Magazin award could very well have made him reconsider his priorities for simple time reasons. Also, he now knows that recording voice linces while being otherwise engaged is, in fact, not the healthiest thing to do. Would he choose that again? Not sure.

I do hope what he said about Bridgerton and always wanting to make time for it/projects he was involved in before also applies to FFXIV, but if he decided to step away before now - any time between early 2023 and now, in fact -, there's a good chance he was still bound to stay until now anyway because of an existing contract.

And lastly, considering again I am right about the contract duration, signing up for 7.4-8.3 is a very long-term (we're looking at 2.5+ years here) commitment he might not be quite comfortable to make just now when he has no idea where his career will still be going. This might also be the reason for the 7.4 step-in if it was one... he might still be planning his next engagements and pushing the decision because of it. Or he might be pushing for a shorter contract duration. This is all just wild speculation again obviously, but founded on reasonable assumptions nonetheless.

[KiraRavens]

My experience from the voice project (in the comment right above this one unless someone got a reply in) is that they record/plan in blocks. x.0 is a block, x.1 to x.3 is a block, and x.4 to x.55 is a block. It was a tremendous help in identifying "random Ishgardian soldier with one line" sort of characters when I could rule out a bunch of lads who otherwise weren't present in that block!

Who's to say if they've done exactly that in DT patches - Metem for example may have been recorded all at once in the 7.0 block - but it's how they usually operate.

I wrote my reply before reading this, but interesting to know

[shoebilldreams]

And lastly, considering again I am right about the contract duration, signing up for 7.4-8.3 is a very long-term (we're looking at 2.5+ years here) commitment he might not be quite comfortable to make just now when he has no idea where his career will still be going. This might also be the reason for the 7.4 step-in if it was one... he might still be planning his next engagements and pushing the decision because of it. Or he might be pushing for a shorter contract duration. This is all just wild speculation again obviously, but founded on reasonable assumptions nonetheless.

I explained in a comment further up about how the contracts would likely work, based on how things generally work with voice acting contracts in the UK. They'd never be able to nail someone down to a contract that long, because it would stop them taking other work that might interfere with the as-yet-unscheduled handful of days they might be needed for in two years' time. UK employment law frowns on that sort of thing.

[KiraRavens]

I explained in a comment further up about how the contracts would likely work, based on how things generally work with voice acting contracts in the UK. They'd never be able to nail someone down to a contract that long, because it would stop them taking other work that might interfere with the as-yet-unscheduled handful of days they might be needed for in two years' time. UK employment laws frowns on that sort of thing.

yeah, I read that after I posted.
Super interesting

[ChrisCryst0l10]

I’ve read a lot what people have been saying. It’s all be really insightful.

I had posted a small post earlier in the thread about my worry for the recast after finding out about it online. After finally playing the new msq I still have my worries and opinions. Jonathan Bailey should be graha tia. He is a fan favorite, he’s my personal favorite and it’s a lot to do with baileys performance. It’s extremely important to remain integrity with a game like this. And I agree if it was ABSOLUTELY nessesary to recast him, I’ll accept that but there should be some transparency.

It was also very insightful to see how contracts work and the possibility’s moving forward. While playing the patch I honestly felt like it could still have been Bailey. If they were gonna toy with a recast I feel like they would have also tried to re-record some battle lines. But they didn’t. It was still clearly Bailey’s. But who knows maybe that’s just because hoping and still not understanding.

Point being. People want Jonathan Bailey as graha tia. So I think it’s in their best interest to work to keep him on the game.