Courtenay Taylor: The Nerd Appropriate Interview

Courtenay Taylor has been making the games we love even better for quite some time.  With roles in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, and the upcoming Resident Evil: 6, there is a good chance you’ve heard Courtenay’s voice work before.  We here at Nerd Appropriate fell in love with Courtenay’s work after hearing her stellar portrayal of Jack in both Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.  It took a very special actor to pull off Jack’s prickly persona, and that actor was Courtenay Taylor.  The following interview with Courtenay was conducted at San Diego Comic-Con International at the Bioware base (which was set up to look like the Purgatory Bar!).  As always, our incredible intro theme was created for us by Mass Effect 2 composer Big Giant Circles.

AUDIO: Courtenay Taylor_NerdAppropriate_Interview

Ash: When you first saw the script, what did you think when you first read Jack?

Courtenay Taylor: I was excited because, I didn’t know (what she was about).  Her story kind of unfolded (before) me.  Every session was another (group) of new scenarios. I was alway finding out all this backstory on her. I think I was lucky. The character of Juhani in Knights of the Old Republic also had this pull of light and dark, good and evil, and I’m kind of drawn to those kinds of characters anyway.  I felt like I hit the Jackpot with Jack.  When I saw her picture, I was like “Ahh it’s so GREAT!”  She’s not the classic, big boobs, big hair, action figure… not that there is anything wrong with that.  It was so refreshing to see someone who looked different, had a different perspective on things, and had a different way of dealing with people (see: smashing them with biotics).  So, I was psyched.

Ash: That’s actually a segway into one of our community questions.  Justin Banks asks – Which version of Jack did you like better, the Mass Effect 2 Jack (who is essentially naked and covered up with duct tape), or the Mass Effect 3 Jack who is slightly more refined (and even has some hair)?

Courtenay Taylor: I think I liked the second incarnation of Jack in Mass Effect 2 (loyalty costume).  The first (costume) she had on very little clothing, and then they kind of redesigned her. I think she looked pretty cool and punk rock.  I liked Jack in Mass Effect 3 as well, I just thought the Mass Effect 2 version was very different from anything else that I had seen.  She’s still amazing looking in 3, and I do like that they picked a hairstyle for her that wasn’t too refined…  It was still punk rock.

And check out the Rated NA Podcast for more great interviews

For the entire audio interview please click the player arrow above.  If you’re on the go, you can download the Rated NA Podcast episode 67 on iTunes.  Episode 67 contains a whole slew of interviews we conducted at Comic-Con 2012.  While you’re there, subscribe, rate, and enjoy!