Anjali Bhimani’s Favorite Video Game Role Isn’t Apex Legends Or Overwatch [EXCLUSIVE]

Summary Anjali Bhimani cites her role of Medusa in Stray Gods as a career favorite, allowing for creativity in character interpretation.

Players can influence the tone and plot of Stray Gods through song choices in interactive numbers, making it a unique experience.

Stray Gods boasts a superstar team including David Gaider, Austin Wintory, and Troy Baker that helped make it memorable.

Anjali Bhimani has helmed many iconic roles in her career, but in a recent interview with Screen Rant the actress revealed there's one recent part that really struck a chord with her. Bhimani has played characters in television, film, and video games, from Ms. Marvel's Aunt Ruby to Symmetra in the Overwatch series. Last year she also took on the role of Medusa in Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, an experimental narrative title from Dragon Age's David Gaider and critically-acclaimed composer Austin Wintory where players control in-game musical numbers with their choices.

The game takes major inspiration from mythology, following protagonist Grace as she seeks to prove her innocence to the Chorus of Idols - which consists of Apollo, Athena, Persephone, and Aphrodite - for a murder she didn't commit. In a Screen Rant interview about her new gaming podcast Character Select, which Bhimani hosts alongside casting director Julia Bianco, she spoke about her role in the title as Medusa, calling the character a career favorite. Check out the full quote below:

Screen Rant: Anjali, I know this is going to be a fairly daunting question, but I'm curious what some of your most memorable video game roles have been over the years, and also if there's any bucket list franchise that you would love to work on that you haven't gotten a chance to yet?

Anjali Bhimani: Oh, wow. You're right. It's a broad one. But I will say I think the one that has really stuck with me the most in recent years - I mean, obviously Symmetra and Rampart from Overwatch and Apex Legends are very well known and those are very dear to my heart. But Medusa in Stray Gods, which came out last year, is hands down one of my just favorite roles, period, that I've gotten to play - not just in games - for so many reasons. One is how wide open the creative team was to the interpretation of this character, which is such a testament to the artistry and the collaborative force that is Austin Wintory, David Gaider and Troy Baker, who was directing. And the fact that they were so wide open to have this conversation about, "What does she sound like? How do we manifest the different parts of her personality?" At the time, we did not have any music - well, we had the track that I listened to. My recording session for Medusa was the first session that they had. So really, there was no system yet, and the music track that we were working with was a dude sort of singing my part and plunking it out on the piano. And so knowing that there was kind of nothing and it was being built up from there was both freeing and scary, but ultimately we'll lean more towards freeing. And so their excitement when I offered up one of the options that I offered up - the whole game feels, to me, like a love letter to these characters and to these stories and to these myths. And every single person who worked on it is such a superstar, so it's just so dear to my heart. And I love that character, I just love her. I love that we get to see the duality of this supposed monster, depending on what choices you make in the game, whether you get to see them or not. I love that very, very much. And also, it combines three of my favorite things in the world: mythology, video games, and musical theater, so like, duh.

Related "We Almost Need A Sequel Now" - David Gaider Talks Stray Gods Dragon Age creator David Gaider discusses his latest project, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, which revolves around interactive songs.

Medusa's Scene Has Several Paths

Players Can Antagonize Or Sympathize

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After witnessing the death of a muse, Grace takes on her musical powers, allowing her to interrogate people about the murder through song. As players go through the game, they'll be able to make several choices during each number, with red, green, and blue paths - representing Kickass, Charming, and Clever responses respectively - that will influence the overall tone of the song. These choices can change both the song itself and the overall plot, shifting things into sad ballads or aggressive rock songs that sway characters in one way or another.

The scene takes place at a club called The Viper's Nest, where Grace has gone to interrogate Medusa. The song sung in it, "Look Into Me," is a duet between the two of them, performed as the gorgon attempts to hypnotize the protagonist. Players can either opt to sympathize with Medusa and attempt to befriend her, try to appeal to her sense of reason, or threaten her. Each of these paths reveals different things about the character, offering a window into how being turned into a monster by Athena has affected her and giving the character more depth than the typical mythology story.

Stray Gods Had A Superstar Team

The Game's Cast & Creatives Were A Surefire Hit

Since its release, Stray Gods has received critical praise for its music, narrative, and innovative interactive song mechanics. The game is the debut title from developer Summerfall Studios, and it was nearly impossible for the game to not succeed with the superstar team the studio assembled for the project. David Gaider and his long history working with branching stories, Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory, a star-studded cast of people like Troy Baker, and many other talented members made Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical truly special - it's no surprise it's a favorite of Bhimani's.

New episodes of Character Select are available each Monday on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Source: Pan/YouTube