For the last year, gamers have pestered Daredevil actor Charlie Cox about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Cox’s involvement in the celebrated game almost took on an almost mythical status for fans of the popular RPG. Much of that fervor was stoked by the knowledge that, despite all the accolades, Cox hadn’t actually played the game. At times, it seemed like he didn’t fully grasp why anyone was making such a big deal about his performance.
Cox is the voice behind Gustave, the character who players control in Expedition 33‘s early levels. Though Gustave isn’t present throughout the game, Cox’s earnest, tender performance made it easy for players to consider the actor the heart and soul of the game. And in a game as decorated as Expedition 33, that regard was high praise.
But Cox didn’t seem to know what to do with all the buzz. A couple of months after Expedition 33 released, Cox revealed that the situation made him feel like a “fraud.” Apparently, the actor kind of shrugged his way into the project and spent a total of four hours recording the performance. At one point, Cox encouraged fans to hype up Gustave’s motion-capture actor instead, saying his performance was more worthy of praise.
Above all, Cox continually told people that he wasn’t a gamer. When one fan asked for a signature on a copy of the game and mentioned that he had platinumed it, Cox replied that he had no idea what that meant. He told interviewers that he was intimidated by the prospect of playing a 50-hour game, and that he wasn’t familiar with the overall story. Cox’s attitude toward Expedition 33 became a running joke even among his castmates, who were also constantly prodded about when the actor might finally play the game.
A year later, and Cox has finally come through. In an interview with GamesRadar, the British actor revealed that, though he hadn’t completed it, he had finally played “a bit” of the game. Specifically, Cox said that he had experienced the part of RPG where the game introduced the Gommage concept, noting that he walked around a bit and “garnered the information.”
“I’m not very good, because obviously, it’s a skill set, but I’ve played it,” Cox said.
“It didn’t really feel like me… I didn’t really think of it as me, I thought of it as Gustave,” Cox added.
Will Cox ever return to Expedition 33 and get a full sense of what the fuss is about? Who knows. But at least now people are less likely to bother Cox about playing the game.
