To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Alan Wake, we sat down with Matthew Porretta to talk about what it was like stepping into the recording booth for the first time and getting into the character of Alan Wake. That interview was recorded back in January, but as the project had been in motion for a while, the questions and topic were already nailed down a few years in advance for specifically an Alan Wake-focused interview. Below is not an in-depth conversation going into Matt's role as Dr Casper Darling (although I would love that opportunity as his answers in this part alone are amazing) but rather a couple of questions that we were dying to know, added onto the end of the Alan Wake interview.
This part of the interview takes place just before the final question about what he would like to see in a potential Alan Wake sequel. If you haven't read our Alan Wake interview yet, you can catch up, HERE!
[Warning: If you haven't finished Control yet, we talk about the final few levels and about Casper Darling's story arc in particular.]
Rachel: About Control... and I have to ask this. So, for a really long time, Sam wanted to include a musical element in Alan Wake, and while it didn't happen, it was included with Dyna-Mite in Control.
Matthew: Yeah!
How did you learn about that scene, and what was it like filming it? Because it was just so delightfully bizarre!
Oh, my God, Rachel. I found out that I was singing at [New York] Comic-Con.
Oh! Well, that's- *Laughs*
*Laughs* So literally when we were on the stage talking about the game, "and Matthew will be singing".
*Laughs* Oof.
I'm like, gulp, I am? Great. [Sam] had said something before we went on stage, but it was so funny. He's like "and so, you know, we want you to sing", [and] I'm like, "....okay, okay. Yeah, sure. Cool. Cool, cool, cool."
I hadn't sung in like, twenty years. I had not sung professionally. I just kind of stopped singing, and so that was a bit daunting, but yeah, it turned out okay. It was very fun! I mean, that was the scariest part of that for me, once I [had agreed I] was like, "oh my god". I had to REALLY commit to that one. I couldn't half that. I had to really go for it because it was like... dude, you have to go for this because if you don't go for it, it's gonna suck. *Laughs* You know? So it was just do-or-die on that one, but I loved it. It was really fun!
Oh yeah, that's one of my favourite bits in the game.
It is so weird, right? It comes out of nowhere. It's like, there I am this nerdy guy and then I'm having a nervous breakdown in my underwear. Oh, by the way, I got to choose my underwear. I went with boxers. *Laughs* Like, "what do you think of these?" I'm like, "nooooo, no."
*Laughs* Nice of them!
Yeah, so I'm doing all these [recordings], the last thing you see me it's like, "...okay, is he going into the ether? Where is this guy going...to the astral plane? He's gone." And then suddenly, I'm dancing around to this 70s glam rock tune. Yeah, it was great! It was fun. You're like playing it- and I think [it's] very difficult to get to that point anyway? There's a certain part... I remember my son, who's a pretty savvy gamer was having trouble getting to a certain point. And then once he got to that, he just sat back and laughed because it was such a relief. You're like, oh my god.
Oh yes. Yeah, I know exactly what part he got stuck on. I got stuck on the exact same moment.
[Quick Clarification: As this was recorded in January, Remedy has recently announced the Assist Upgrade for Control which will allow for player tailoring so that health regeneration and hit points can be personalised depending on your preference. They are also going to be including more checkpoints and soft saves on August 27th. Our discussion here was based on the release version of the game. The part we were talking about was the series of intense fights in the room with Hedron. During the fight, there's a series of towering platforms that will materialise to set the stage for the next fight. For me, it was possibly the hardest part of the game.]
It's the... I think it's like there's that big tower? Was that it?
Yep. Yeeeep.
I watched him and he was like "oh god...", you know? He's like, "these are supposed to be hard, but not impossible". "Okay, all right." *Laughs* "Alright, I get it."
Oof. Yeah, I... I was very brave myself during those moments and... I didn't have to keep going back and hide in the corner to try and get my health back at all. Yep. Very brave. *cough* Yeeeep.
Yeah, my kids are my translators for games because I'm not a gamer. I do know quite a bit about them now, only because I been voicing and making them, but also because I've had kids. Alan Wake, Control, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, I mean, they play- oh, and Fortnite, everything! So now, I'm more savvy, but they really are my translators. If I ever go, "okay, what's going on" they'll say, "oh, this is..." *Laughs* You know, they accuse me of being old and then they've been explaining it.
