Over the past month, Remedy and 505Games have uploaded three new Control Behind The Scenes videos on their YouTube channel. In the first clip, we heard from Sean Durrie (Dylan Faden), and i n the second, we heard from Courtney Hope (Jesse Faden). In this final clip, it's Antonia Bernath's turn in the hot seat, as she talks about what it was like to build the character of Emily Pope with team.
Her interview specifically talks about who Emily is and how she worked with both Sam and Hannah to create Emily's personality and background. While there's talk about looking forward to step into the role immediately after the discussions, there's a vibe which implies that the recording was done before the majority of her voice and motion capture work.
You can watch the full interview below:
Can you tell us a little about Emily Pope?
I am Antonia Bernath and I am playing Emily Pope. Emily is a Research Assistant but she's... that's just a title. She's actually a scientist and researcher and she works for Doctor Darling, and when we first arrived we did a thing where we were, kind of, discussing the backstory and I had ideas and Sam told me stuff, and we discussed it and we decided she went to university and excelled but also did a lot of peripheral investigation research, and that brought her to the Bureau who spotted her. She'd been at the Bureau for five years and for the first three years, she was this prodigal project. She and Darling were working really closely and she was finding it really exciting, and then he's gotten distracted by something else and, kind of, abandoned her slightly. And everything's classified and she's feeling very frustrated. So she's been in the Bureau five years, but I'd say the last two of those has been frustrating years for her.
How was Emily Pope's character developed?
Well, I arrived here on Sunday and on Monday, when I got here- when I got to the studio, I was with Hannah and Sam; director and Sam. And we were talking about the story and Emily, and who she is, and fleshing out the character pre-when you meet her. It was really exciting, because you're talking to Sam, and so there were things that... they were, kind of, in the breakdown stage where- one thing was that she was quite frowny. Then when we started discussing and working on it, we decided that actually that kinda didn't quite work so much, and we discovered, when we were saying who she was, this passion for science and learning and academia and stuff and projects. And so it didn't feel right... it didn't feel like the right approach for her, and so it was really exciting to have that kind of collaborative discussion.
What was the creative process like?
I can say that it was really exciting working with Sam at the beginning, and the fact that it was so collaborative, and it wasn't just me sat there with him telling me who the character was and how he wanted me to play it. It was like "who do you think she is", "what do you think her background is", "what was her childhood like", "why is she here", "why is she the person that she is" and "what's happened to her to make her love science and love this world and why has left conventional science to try to find the bureau and investigate the paranormal" and all that kind of stuff. So it was very exciting. It made me really engaged and exciting and I couldn't wait to get in the studio and actually start recording after our session.
What's the relationship between Emily and Jesse like?
Jesse says that Emily is very different from the faceless bureau organisation that she hates and that she's spent her life trying to hunt down. And so, I think they have an instant bond, and Emily has felt frustrated in the Bureau, which she sees as old fashioned, and... not misogynistic but very run by men. And so, Jesse represents a young, female person who she can work with and gives her responsibility and she's excited by that, and capable of handling it.
