Over the past month, Remedy and 505Games have begun uploading a new series of Behind The Scenes videos on their YouTube channel in celebration of Control's second anniversary. To kick off the event, we heard first from Sean Durry who plays Jesse's brother, Dylan.
The interview was recorded after meetings with Sam about the character, to help bring backstory and realism to Dylan. Although, the editing implies that by the time the conversation has been recorded, that Sean had also recorded several scenes as the character both in costume and in the facial recognition booth.
You can watch the full interview below and read the transcript underneath the video.Tell us a little bit about Sean Durrie.
A little bit more about Sean Durrie? Outside of working in Remedy games, I've worked in film and television and theatre. And I play in a music comedy duo that turns around the States and players at colleges, and we write silly songs about inappropriate things, and I also do magic!
How did you end up working on Control?
I got approached to work on Control by Sam [Lake] and I had already known Sam because of my involvement in Quantum Break. And so I was fortunate enough to be on the shortlist of actors that he calls and so, that's how I ended up in Finland.
How does it feel to be back at Remedy?
It feels great to be back at Remedy. I had such a good time working on projects prior to this and meeting the people, and the relationships that I've had here. And it means a lot that Remedy also believes in me and trusts in what I can do as far as the performances because Remedy is a great, great developer of games, especially the content in the games, not just running around and shooting things. And knowing that they trust me with one of their parts is an amazing feeling.
How have you found the recording process for Control?
The last couple of days back, jumping in headfirst into filming this has been fantastic. It's really is a moving train, there are a lot of things going on at once, and I know that I'm part of it just to help make it as good as possible. Everybody's job is important, I just happen to be in front of the camera. But there are so many people making this happen, that we're all working together in such a great way. It's amazing to be a part of it and see it all come to fruition.
Tell us a little bit about your character, Dylan Faden??
What do I think about Dylan? This is always interesting to get asked that question because as an actor, I can't judge him because if I judge him, I won't be able to play him. I just have to take whatever he wants and try to play his wants and his needs and his desires. So, I try not to look at my character because you can't play evil or play good, you just play the truth. And so, he is a very pivotal character in this work, and it's awesome to be able to play someone so manipulated by some sort of... thing... I don't know what I'm allowed to tell people or not.
What was it like working on the character and story of Dylan?
The process with Sam and Hannah and, kind of, briefing on Dylan was really cool because the character already exists from Sam, but he left enough open that I could bring in my ten cents, you know? I definitely felt like I was collaborating in making this because ultimately I have to embody him. So, Sam wanted to know what I thought of the different facets of Dylan and what happened to him in his life. And maybe what is it that we don't address in this particular segment or this story right now but what has already happened to him to make him the way he is. I got all of the input that I could ever want on that. Anything that I suggested they were really, really happy to hear and accept. And if it helped me get into the right frame of mind, then they were all about it.
How different is it making a video game to making a film?
Making a video game is so much different than TV and movies. For starters, there's no such thing as facial capture in any other medium that I know about, at least. So the booth where we sit in and we can't move, and they just film our face is... it is an excellent actor challenge, because how do all these emotions or particularly, how do you do all this physical acting without being at all physical. Where do you hold the tension to make it look, in your face, like you're running or you're throwing someone or in a fight, but you're not moving at all? You can't move your head more than two or three inches. And so that... that is a challenge that doesn't exist in any acting medium that I've been a part of. And that's just the tip of the iceberg with it, because in video games, that's just my face, and there's mo-cap as well involved, so that's where they get your body. And so there's almost two or three stages to make the one scene. Whereas in a film, they film you... hence the name, they film you and that's it! And in a play, you get on the stage and you act it out, and that's it. And in a voiceover booth, you read the lines, and you say them and that's the product. But with a video game, you do it in the mo-cap, you do it in the facial recognition, you may do it in another facility as well, depending on what the need is.
Can you show us some of the magic you mentioned earlier?
No one can see magic unless you believe in magic. For instance, out of nowhere you can just reach up and grab something out of the sky and that's magic. In fact, if you don't see it, then you'll never see it when it appears... And I took this off the camera, so it might fall apart at any minute.
How did you end up working on Control?
I got approached to work on Control by Sam [Lake] and I had already known Sam because of my involvement in Quantum Break. And so I was fortunate enough to be on the shortlist of actors that he calls and so, that's how I ended up in Finland.
How does it feel to be back at Remedy?
It feels great to be back at Remedy. I had such a good time working on projects prior to this and meeting the people, and the relationships that I've had here. And it means a lot that Remedy also believes in me and trusts in what I can do as far as the performances because Remedy is a great, great developer of games, especially the content in the games, not just running around and shooting things. And knowing that they trust me with one of their parts is an amazing feeling.
How have you found the recording process for Control?
The last couple of days back, jumping in headfirst into filming this has been fantastic. It's really is a moving train, there are a lot of things going on at once, and I know that I'm part of it just to help make it as good as possible. Everybody's job is important, I just happen to be in front of the camera. But there are so many people making this happen, that we're all working together in such a great way. It's amazing to be a part of it and see it all come to fruition.
Tell us a little bit about your character, Dylan Faden??
What do I think about Dylan? This is always interesting to get asked that question because as an actor, I can't judge him because if I judge him, I won't be able to play him. I just have to take whatever he wants and try to play his wants and his needs and his desires. So, I try not to look at my character because you can't play evil or play good, you just play the truth. And so, he is a very pivotal character in this work, and it's awesome to be able to play someone so manipulated by some sort of... thing... I don't know what I'm allowed to tell people or not.
What was it like working on the character and story of Dylan?
The process with Sam and Hannah and, kind of, briefing on Dylan was really cool because the character already exists from Sam, but he left enough open that I could bring in my ten cents, you know? I definitely felt like I was collaborating in making this because ultimately I have to embody him. So, Sam wanted to know what I thought of the different facets of Dylan and what happened to him in his life. And maybe what is it that we don't address in this particular segment or this story right now but what has already happened to him to make him the way he is. I got all of the input that I could ever want on that. Anything that I suggested they were really, really happy to hear and accept. And if it helped me get into the right frame of mind, then they were all about it.
How different is it making a video game to making a film?
Making a video game is so much different than TV and movies. For starters, there's no such thing as facial capture in any other medium that I know about, at least. So the booth where we sit in and we can't move, and they just film our face is... it is an excellent actor challenge, because how do all these emotions or particularly, how do you do all this physical acting without being at all physical. Where do you hold the tension to make it look, in your face, like you're running or you're throwing someone or in a fight, but you're not moving at all? You can't move your head more than two or three inches. And so that... that is a challenge that doesn't exist in any acting medium that I've been a part of. And that's just the tip of the iceberg with it, because in video games, that's just my face, and there's mo-cap as well involved, so that's where they get your body. And so there's almost two or three stages to make the one scene. Whereas in a film, they film you... hence the name, they film you and that's it! And in a play, you get on the stage and you act it out, and that's it. And in a voiceover booth, you read the lines, and you say them and that's the product. But with a video game, you do it in the mo-cap, you do it in the facial recognition, you may do it in another facility as well, depending on what the need is.
Can you show us some of the magic you mentioned earlier?
No one can see magic unless you believe in magic. For instance, out of nowhere you can just reach up and grab something out of the sky and that's magic. In fact, if you don't see it, then you'll never see it when it appears... And I took this off the camera, so it might fall apart at any minute.
