Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Actor Defends Reforming Award Categories

In recent years, the industry has seen a significant rise in recognition for the work of actors in video games, and this shift is so prominent that “Best Performance” has become one of the most coveted and discussed categories at The Game Awards nowadays.

At the 2025 edition of the award ceremony, Jennifer English took home the award for her role in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game whose cast received widespread acclaim and multiple nominations, including Ben Starr and Charlie Cox.

However, Cox surprised many fans before the awards by stating that the credit for the protagonist, Gustave, should also be shared with French actor Maxence Cazorla, who was responsible for the character’s full-motion performance, while Cox provided the voice.

A Collaborative Approach to Character Creation

Now, following The Game Awards 2025, Cazorla has commented on the situation and detailed the process of bringing Gustave to life in a recent interview with Eurogamer.

For starters, the French actor expressed deep gratitude for the recognition from Charlie Cox, explaining that he views Gustave as the combination of two distinct performances.

“First of all, it was an incredible honor for me that Charlie spoke publicly and acknowledged my work. I was deeply moved by his humility and generosity”, Cazorla stated.

As for Gustave’s creation, he explained: “We started by doing the performance capture without any particular constraints, approaching it like a film, learning the lines, playing the scenes, and following Guillaume's direction. Once the shoot was done and the scenes were integrated into the game engine by the cinematic team, that's when the voice actors stepped in and recorded their performances.”

This means that Cazorla’s and Cox’s involvement with Gustave happened at different stages. Only when Cazorla’s physical performance was fully ready and good to go, Cox entered the studio to record lines for the final touch.

In fact, the French actor only saw the final result of their combined efforts months later within the game itself. “In the end, it's really the combination of these two performances, along with the incredible writing and development work, that gave birth to the character”, he explained.

When asked about his feelings regarding Charlie Cox receiving the nomination for Gustave, Cazorla acknowledged that it is a delicate subject since every game is developed differently.

However, Carzola also came up with a pretty interesting suggestion: that it might be fairer to celebrate characters as a whole, ensuring that motion capture artists and writers are recognized alongside voice and mo-cap actors. For that, a category for “Best Character” would be more fitting for being “more logical than isolating a single performer and potentially leaving others invisible.”

“In this case, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a game where many characters are created through collaboration between two actors. For example, Maelle with Charlotte Hoepffner and Jennifer English; Lune with Estelle Darnault and Kirsty Rider; and Verso with Ben Starr and myself,” Cazorla said. “The fairest way to celebrate performers is to celebrate the character.”

To conclude, the French actor pointed out that this approach is already utilized by other ceremonies, such as the DICE Awards. “I think it's a very intelligent approach. If you reward Gustave as a character and his impact on players, you acknowledge Charlie Cox for the voice, myself for the performance capture, but also the writers who shaped his personality, the character artists, and everyone who contributed to bringing him to life.”

In case you missed the Game Awards 2025’s ceremony, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 achieved an absolute sweep and secured 9 wins in major categories: Game of the Year, Best Debut Indie Game, Best RPG, Best Independent Game, Best Score & Music, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Performance, and Best Game Direction. By doing that, Sandfall Interactive's title became the game to have the highest number of awards received in a single edition of The Game Awards.

And in our review, we certainly saw this domination coming. We wrote: "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the frontrunner for Game of the Year. It's a bold statement, but one that is fitting of an equally bold game." You can read the full article right here.