#actor: tim downie

[galedekarios]

i watched tim's interview a while ago, but i loved this part so much i had to share it:

question: "what do you want people to take away from gale?" tim: "there's a real joy about gale, and also longing, and sorrow, and hope, and there's so much. he yearns to go back to waterdeep. he yearns to be in his library with his tressym, and he wants all those things. he wants a simple existence at the end of the day. yes, he also kind of wants to be the greatest wizard of all time, but there's also those elements of homeliness, of just kind of wanting to be at ease and calm within your space in a world that's actually gone insane and crazy. so, actually, i think there's a bit of gale in everybody whether they want to admit it or not. it's that yearning for a better thing. he doesn't particularly want to fight, he doesn't particularly want to do this. he's thrust into it. this is just where we are. we have to do it. it has to be done. we have to do this.  but all he wants to do is, you know, have a sherry and read a book. lead a quiet life in waterdeep, probably eat some cheese, sit on the veranda."

[emahriel]

he's done it lads, tim downie made a gale playlist!!! (x)

[rosecoloredgirls]

he's so cute but when will tim guest star in the great british bake off? that's the real question i have. ( stolen from his twt / ig )

[jaebird88]

I tried sharing this just now, but every time I paste the link, it doesn't present as what you see. Turns out "x(dot)com" isn't a fucking thing that's recognizable. Good job, Muskrat 👍

[robotscarlet]

Redraw of this screenshot that's been going around of Tim Downie and Neil Newbon.

Any excuse to draw Astarion and an attempted first at Gale.

[yikessmicah]

met tim downie at liverpool comic con today and i just think i should share this clip of tim calling tara "[his] best girl" because the world deserves it. their friendship means everything to me 😭😭💥💥💥😭💥😭😭

[cynicaesura]

I'm sorry but I just cannot get over the fact that this this man we're all lusting over

This fucking wizard

This fucker right here

Is motherfucjing Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets

[you-get-me-closer-to-god]

THE TIM DOWNIE LIKED MY COMMENT ABOUT BUYING A GALE PLUSHIE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[algrenion]

me: maybe it’s okay if i don’t romance Gale. Maybe it’s fine if i go with one of the others. Everyone is equally as cute either way.

me, hours later, after googling Gale’s voice actor: oh my god oh my bkd ohh my gid oh nhy god oh mh god ohmu g

[anendtopursuit]

#theatrical vs operatic#thats exactly what it is!

@transparentkittenheart it may interest you to know (if you don't already, that is) that i got that directly from neil himself :D the direct quote:

yknow, i've always talked about astarion being very theatrical, so what if... astarion's- unascended, spawn is theatrical, and ascended astarion is operatic, and use that as a sort of launchpad? so that one is theatre, one is opera. so they're two of the same kind of things (...) i offered that up to the directors and they really liked it.

and about ascended astarion, and astarion's tendency to pretend:

with lord astarion, the facade - the cover - is now off completely. you see him at his most terrible, and it's completely honest, and he doesn't have to pretend anymore. so he loses- he loses a lot of the flamboyance and the fun of the theatricality, which is all a distraction anyway. that's all a distraction so you don't see how he's hurt and damaged and vulnerability. so lord astarion doesn't need that anymore.

from this stream clip (part 2 and 3)

generally just. i love seeing actors talk abt their roles and the thought behind them, and if you enjoy the performances in bg3 i highly recommend hunting down interviews and stream clips etc of all of them bc every single one of them has said something fascinating at some point

not to gush too much abt neil newbon's performance as astarion (and stephen rooney's writing for him) but like. he's discussed on streams before how conscious the decision to make him feel like he's constantly performing is (regardless of outcome; theatrical spawn astarion & operatic ascended astarion), and how stephen rooney leaned more into the whimsy and fun of the character based on things he saw in his portrayal (hence astarion progressively getting funnier and more charismatic through game development). but the thing that drives me absolutely mad tbh is the moments where all of it drops and he's suddenly so sincere, because it hits you like a truck to the face.

his voice going all soft and quiet and brittle when he describes cazador instructing his spawn to torture themselves. his mannerisms shifting from seductive and playful to a little more nervous. but the one that always gets me is in the graveyard romance scene, talking about what cazador has taken from him, how it was taken by force; "but he did take it," in this voice that's so full of sorrow that it almost sounds hollow, muffled by none of his usual pomp and theatricality, when even in cazador's palace his admissions of upset were sandwiched between attempts to brush it all off. dear god.

[galedekarios]

i'm reading a new interview tim downie gave about gale and it offers some of tim's own headcanons about gale, as well as tim's thoughts and insights on gale's character:

Nerds & Beyond: I like that you mentioned that the game is full of rounded characters because they are, they all have different aspects that make them feel real. I adore that Gale specifically is so serious and studious, but at the same time he has this really playful side — he often jokes about how he was a mischievous youth, he encourages other people like Arabella to do so, he understands when The Dark Urge first mentions their violent thoughts. There is a lot of nuance and depth there. But the quality that I love with Gale most is that obviously he is very ill when we first meet him – not that we know immediately – and he’s dealing with a lot of chronic pain. I find him incredibly selfless because he takes that day-to-day head on to help the party, which is an aspect I feel continues to show throughout the three acts. What’s your favorite quality of Gale’s, or what did you take away from him? Tim Downie: It’s so interesting hearing you say that, because I had so many different feedbacks about what people take from the character and sometimes things really surprise you. It’s interesting hearing that such and such has taken that particular aspect, because there are broad things like “He’s funny,” and that’s quite nice, that’s a nice trait, though not one you necessarily get to see that much. It’s so interesting hearing other people’s views about what they take from Gale.  The idea of dealing with chronic pain I found really interesting and an interesting subplot to play, and that was the great thing about doing something like this is that it is so unbelievably nuanced. You have so many layers that just keep going and going and going, as much as we all contain multitudes within ourselves. We all deal with these things, but only certain things pop up to the surface at any given point.  What did I take from Gale, though? I liked his studiousness. I would imagine that he was probably bullied as a kid for it, and he was probably a bit of a joker because he was bullied, and he uses that as a defense. But an even bigger defense for him is “I now know stuff that I didn’t before,” and that’s a power. It’s very similar to when you are being bullied and you’re the funny one – that’s your power, that’s your thing. “I may not be able to hurt you in a traditional sense, but I can say things that will make you feel pain,” which is a very different thing because you physically can’t go after them.  That’s the wonderful thing about acting and this character as well is being able to explore all these things that you might not have, that you might have gone, “I’m not gonna look at that again, I don’t want to deal with that,” and then it brings it up again and it’s like, “Oh, this is actually quite cathartic,” to re-explore these these moments of sorrow and loss and how you deal with grief and things like that and heartbreak and how you get over that.  It’s not all just tears, you do try and make a joke of it.

i really like that they are addressing the topic of gale's chronic pain. it's something that doesn't get addressed often, not even in the game itself.

i also found his answer as to why people might connect to gale very nice:

Nerds & Beyond: Gale is the most popular origin character to play as. What is it about him that you think allows so many different players to connect with him to the depths the fandom has? Tim Downie: I really don’t know. I think you’d have to ask the players that, ‘cause I don’t know, to be quite honest with you. He’s a wizard, and who wouldn’t want to be a wizard at the end of the day? I always say the difference between wizards and sorcerers is that sorcerers just pretend – they just assume they know what they’re doing, but a wizard has really learned this trade. And so there’s that kind of weight of knowledge and learning, which I would love to play as and be for a length of time.  I think it’s also the frailties. I like characters, and a lot of people do I’m assuming, that have flaws, otherwise you’ve made them completely unapproachable. To be completely superhuman or completely extraordinary at something then removes the humanity from it because it becomes like, “Well, that’s never gonna happen.” But when there’s a flaw, when there’s, “Oh, I’ve got that wrong, too,” or like, “My knees hurt” as you say, or “I’ve got a bit of a headache. I really don’t want to do this,” “You’re really annoying me, this is very annoying, could you please hurry up?” or “Stop licking the damn thing,” it’s always those moments that are fun because it shows what we’re all thinking at that point, it removes it from almost archetype and stereotype and it becomes human in a way.

gale is approachable and likeable, has flaws, but is genuinely nice. i think that very much sums up his character.

this bit here made me laugh:

Nerds & Beyond: When you’re talking about those different layers in the humanity building, I think one of the most important aspects in this game is the more “background” or passive dialogue, so dialogue that is prompted in the world and not in the cut scenes.  For instance — the first time I made Gale sneak he immediately complained about his knees, and it was such a real moment where he was just like, “Oh, don’t make me do this. This is not what I’m here for, I’ve got bad knees and I’m not made for this.” Did you have any of those background lines or moments that stick out as being particularly fun to craft?  Tim Downie: I remember the first time I ever had to do waiting, I found it infinitely interesting in so many ways. The idea that I did actually just have to wait and just actually, “Hmm…” Those little things I find really funny because they’re probably the closest to me that the character ever gets. His waiting mannerisms are kind of very English – slightly annoyed and I’m not going to show it to you though because we’re all being very nice, but I’ll do it with a huff and a slightly sarcastic, “Well, that’s great. Another 20 minutes. That’s great.” Those kinds of sentiments I found wonderful and incredibly fun, and funny, to do. 

if you want to read the whole interview for yourself, you can do so here!

[iicaru2]

one of my favorite behind the scenes details is that theo solomon (wyll's actor) loves wyll's romance scenes and considers them among his favorite scenes to do, while tim downie (gale's actor) was Flabbergasted to learn that not only is romance an option in the game, but he plays a romanceable character— the horror!— and fell ass backwards into The Boat Scene which had to be redone like six times, to his utter agony.

[bea-n-art]

So three months ago I uploaded a picture of a very silly ship called "Furcarpet". It is what you think it is. Furfur/Mr. Brown, and it's honestly usually quite funny and sweet.

Today the actor Tim Downie who plays Mr. Brown (And Gale from Bg3) liked, shared and commented on my Mr. Brown Furfur ship saying he love this ship, not only on Instagram but also on my Twitter!

....so that's a thing that happened.

He seems genuinely sweet and I am very flattered, but mostly I am amused that the actor of Mr.Brown loves the "Furcarpet" Furfur/Mr.Brown ship.

...I have been smiling all day.

[kirain]

So my best friend surprised me with a Cameo for my birthday. She got Tim Downie, Gale's actor, to send me the most passive-aggressive happy birthday I've ever received in my entire life. 🤣

Apparently she told him that Barcus Wroot is my favourite character in the game. 🤣

Thank you so much @cassafra5! I didn't even remotely expect something like this! 😭❤

[tsu-yume]

"To be a god among men..."

Gale - Baldur's Gate 3 (´• ω •`)

Drawn for Gale's actor - Tim Downie

[blackmosscupcakes]

I just watched his latest stream and it was so chaotic. 🤣 Just repeatedly ended up fighting the Grove and spent most of the episode unable to find his character's clothes.

For the Wyll fans--Theo Solomon has joined the ranks of cast members streaming a BG3 playthrough on twitch, and it's delightful.

I can't find episodes from before the current one on twitch any more, but they're all on YouTube.