Neil Newbon’s Relationship with the Astarion Role is the Right One

There’s a version of this article in an alternate universe where an actor plays an iconic character and never quite escapes him. It happens all the time in the entertainment industry: one breakout role becomes “the” role, and everything else in an actor’s career starts to orbit around it. That’s an inherent risk with a performance as nuanced, beloved, and instantly recognizable as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3, portrayed by BAFTA-nominated actor Neil Newbon. Yet somehow, Newbon has managed to pull off an amazing balancing act: he’s embraced the character fully without letting it define the limits of his career.