After imprinting herself in the global conscience as the elf sorceress, Yennefer of Vengerberg, in The Witcher on Netflix, Anya Chalotra goes a step further in the videogame, Unknown 9: Awakening where she plays the lead, Haroona. “I was presented with the opportunity and took it because I’ve always wanted to do motion capture,” says a chatty Anya over a video call from London.
Haroona is determined, passionate and fiercely loyal, the British actor says. “She has incredible supernatural abilities. She starts the game knowing, spiritually and internally, she possesses something, but doesn’t know how to access that power. She ends the game being able to channel her powers, knowing what she’s capable of, and what her powers can do.”
Not having any control over Haroona’s look, the 28-year-old says, “my input is the fact that she’s based on my likeness. It has always been a collaboration. I didn’t have any say over what she was wearing, or what was in her hair, or her back story. Haroona’s story and the whole universe behind her was already there and gives a solid foundation to the video game.”
A day in the life
A day in the life of playing a videogame character, Anya says starts with putting on a onesie. “I then have dots stuck all over me and my hair tied up in a cap that matches the colour of my outfit. I have these Velcro strips all over me that stick to everything. I have a camera on my head (laughs), and I step into the ‘volume’, which is the space where all the magic happens.”
It is like doing theatre, Anya explains. “You are directed to find the best version of the truth in a scene. You do a number of takes with everyone else in the volume to get there.”
Sensitive space
The volume, Anya says, is a sensitive space. “There are cameras everywhere, picking up on all the dots on you. Sometimes we’d have to stop to adjust the camera because we’re slightly off, and that would take ages because it’s so sensitive.”
While Anya speaks the lines in the volume, and that is picked up on sound as it is being filmed, she has also done additional recording in a booth. Describing herself as a gamer, Anya refuses to pick a favourite game. “Oh, no! I can’t answer that question! It’s got to be Unknown 9!”
Changing lanes
Anya Chalotra as Haroona in ‘Unknown 9: Awakening’
After playing Yennefer, a character from a video game, in a series, Anya has switched sides by playing a video game character. “The roles are entirely different. The only thing that is similar is the fact that both are iconic characters. I hope Haroona will become an iconic character,” Anya says in an aside.
Yennefer and Haroona are entirely different people, Anya says. “Yennefer doesn’t necessarily have the weight behind her that Haroona has. The family that has rooted Haroona isn’t there in Yennefer. I’d love to see them in a match. I’d love to see them come together and fight. I wonder who’d win. I’d love to see that as I’d be playing myself!
Insisting she does not get to choose her roles, Anya modestly says, “I’m not there yet.” She qualifies that with, “I do choose my roles especially since playing Yennefer and becoming so known around the world for playing this character. It has been important which jobs I do in between The Witcher seasons, because I have, without being a method actor, been getting into Yennefer’s mindset. It’s important that my soul is challenged, otherwise I will not be able to grow.”
Path ahead
The Witcher has been in the news forever, with Liam Hemsworth taking over the role of Geralt of Rivia from Henry Cavill. “I’m filming Season Four right now, and it is going to be a never-ending learning experience for Yennefer. She’s testing herself constantly. She’s figuring out, how to become the best leader and mother, taking the good and the bad of what Tissaia (Yennefer’s mentor played by MyAnna Buring ) has given.”
Anya did three rounds of auditions for the role of Yennefer. “They offered me the part and trusted me to play this character.” The script was the first port of call to research the role. “The words that these incredible writers have written are my guide, and then I trust my instinct. I ask loads of questions. I don’t answer questions because it takes everyone else in the scene to figure that out with me. You’ve got to explore the many angles of why a scene is written the way it is, which you can only know when you’re with the people who are doing it.”
Laugh out loud
After making her debut on stage with Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe, and on telly with an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, Anya says she would like to try her hand at horror and comedy. “I think I’m quite funny, she says with a grin. “I’ve always been the fool of the family. I take myself far too seriously, probably because I’ve always been a fool of the family. So maybe when I’m a little bit more secure in myself, I will do a bit comedy (laughs).”
Having done theatre, shows, a video game and a podcast, Anya says the stage remains her greatest love. “In theatre, you enter a space and find the best way to tell the story. You are with actors in the space with no makeup, no nothing. Everyone’s equal, with nothing to hide behind. You have to meet the text and explore it. And that’s everything.”
Bollywood calling
Anya Chalotra as Haroona in ‘Unknown 9: Awakening’
Having watched a lot of Hindi films growing up, Anya says, “I’ve got so many favorites. They’ve probably all got Shah Rukh Khan (laughs). You can’t beat Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. It is a classic and I have danced to every song in Main Hoon Na, I love Kal Ho Na Ho, Veer-Zaara… I know all of the films of that time and danced to every song in my bedroom.”
Open to working in Bollywood, Anya says she would be honored to act in a Hindi film adding, “But then you do know, when you’re taking me, you’re taking 35 of my cousins as well(laughs). If Bollywood takes me, then the family is coming!”
Bollywood cinema sparks nostalgia in Anya. “It’s how I was raised. It’s who I am. Well, if I really think about it, there is a lot in the films that’s problematic. I haven’t watched Bollywood movies in a long time now and I wonder how it has shifted. Back when I was a kid, it was the dancing, it was what the women wore and the colours. The films connected me to my buas (aunts). I’m half-Indian, my mum’s white, so Bollywood was a way into my dad’s family. Just the soundtrack of those films makes me feel so many things!”
A fan of saris, Anya says, “You can’t beat the elegance of a sari. I always used to look up at my buas and my mom in a sari, and they looked gorgeous. I used to think ‘maybe one day I could wear a sari’ and my dad said, ‘you can’t wear a sari until you get married.’ The first time I wore a sari was at my sister’s wedding.”
Anya is excited about a visit to India in November with her father and brother. “I can’t wait. I love Indian food, especially chole-batura. I told the family I want to have chole for breakfast, lunch and dinner! (laughs).
Unknown 9: Awakening will release on October 18.
Published - October 15, 2024 01:25 pm IST
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