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‘Expedition 33’ Stars Explain the Biggest Differences Between Their Fan-Favorite RPG Heroes [Exclusive]
After the massive year in gaming that was 2025, few actors are riding as high as Jennifer English and Ben Starr. The pair had already proven themselves as two of the most acclaimed voices in the industry just two years prior, when the former became synonymous with the fan-favorite Shadowheart from the Game of the Year-winning Baldur’s Gate 3 and the latter delivered a devastating tour de force as main character Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XVI. However, last year, they got the chance to join forces for a little RPG called Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the debut title from Sandfall Interactive. It quickly exploded into the breakout success of the year, also earning Game of the Year and thrusting the actors and friends into a heated Best Performance race that English ultimately won.
English and Starr were at the center of Expedition 33‘s story as Maelle and Verso, the former a member of the titular doomed group sent out to defeat the paintress and end the Gommage, and the latter a mysterious, ageless stranger from beyond Lumière whom the survivors meet following a fateful encounter with Renoir (Andy Serkis). After the death of Gustav (Charlie Cox), they become the de facto main characters of the story as the expedition travels across the land to achieve their ultimate goal. Their overall importance, however, becomes even greater than first indicated when the realities of their world are fully revealed, leading up to an ending with a harrowing choice to be made between them. For English and Starr, the characters have now become arguably their most recognizable and critically lauded, which is especially notable because of how different they are from their previous starring roles.
Over the weekend, the two Expedition 33 veterans swung by Fan Expo Canada for a Q&A moderated by Collider’s Maggie Lovitt, where one fan asked them to compare and contrast their respective characters. Specifically, Starr was asked to consider what Clive and Verso would love and hate about each other, while English was given the same question, but for Shadowheart and Maelle. Starr sees his duo at opposite extremes, both in how their games let players into their minds and in terms of their relationships, with one being a loner who slowly becomes a symbol of hope for the oppressed, the other being a manipulator, and both having major family issues. They’re a pair he’d like to see meet because they’re so different, yet also have so much to relate over, from their parents to their all-powerful siblings.
“The thing about Clive and Verso is that Clive doesn’t know how to ask for help. Verso uses people for help. I think they are extremes of that. Their relationships with other people are born from different things. One is completely isolated because he’s been abandoned by his family. The other does that because he’s been abandoned by his family. And it’s amazing how you can see those things. They could learn a lot from each other. You experience the game through Clive. You don’t experience the game through Verso. Verso doesn’t tell you things; Clive tells you everything. And I really love that dichotomy between those two people. I’d just love to sit down in a room and be like ‘Have a chat, boys. Talk about your favorite things. Fire.’”
Jennifer English Says Different Goals Separate Maelle and Shadowheart
As for lessons Clive and Verso could learn from each other, Starr suggests that the dominant of Ifrit could share a thing or two about avoiding being consumed by flames. “I suppose Verso could get taught how not to get set on fire,” he joked. English, meanwhile, believes it’s less the characters themselves, but different goals that separate Maelle and Shadowheart. “I think the key difference between Maelle and Shadowheart is, I suppose, that Maelle’s goal is to find her family,” she added. “To have this chosen family and find her place in the world. And I feel like Shadowheart is the opposite at the beginning of the game. She’s forced to have these companions and actively doesn’t want them.”
From the very start, Maelle embraces her found family under Gustav’s wing. While the Gommage in Expedition 33 only wipes away the people of the age that The Paintress brushes, she chooses to be part of the titular team despite being younger than everyone else departing Lumière. It’s largely about necessity for Shadowheart, though, as a fellow victim of the mindflayers with a tadpole in her head joining the party on a search for a cure that expands into a sprawling fantasy adventure. They do share a few peculiarities, though. “But of course, their similarities… I guess both of their hair turns white, and they have some memory issues,” English laughed. One thing that does unite all four, though, is that they all have problems that Starr believes could be resolved with a bit of group therapy with each other.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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M
- Developer(s)
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Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Larian Studios
- Franchise
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Baldur’s Gate
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