Nathalie Emmanuel is the latest star to join the voice cast of the immersive animated series “Ghosts of Ruin.”
The announcement that the “Game of Thrones” and “Fast and Furious” franchise costar would bring her voice talents to the new series was made during the “Ghosts of Ruin” Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday.
“Literally, I’m emailing the agents right now in this panel,” executive producer Michael Ramey quipped, underscoring just how “real time” the news had developed. (In an interview following the panel, Ramey and fellow EP Katie Stippec told PvNew that they were backstage hitting “refresh, refresh, refresh” to get the all-clear for the announcement.)
In May, PvNew exclusively revealed that Rosario Dawson and Tony Revolori had joined the cast of the animated series, which follows a group of gamers as they compete in the first-ever neural reality battle royale game, named “Ruin.” However, a malicious virus appears and transforms their utopia into hell.
Emmanuel will voice Dr. Angela Tucci, who Stippec teases is “a very monumental, pivotal character in the run of the show.”
“I’ve wanted her on the show from the very beginning, because I’m a big fan of hers,” said showrunner Michael Ryan. “She’s amazing, and I think the part she’s playing is so perfect. I can’t wait to record her.”
Ryan also offered a little more detail on who Emmanuel will voice. “She’s pretty much running the neural reality,” he teased. “Everything I’ve watched Nathalie in, her acting is so strong and her sense of presence and strength really comes through.”
Also starring in the show are K-Pop starAleXa, Karen Strassman (“Code Geass,” “The onania Club,” and “World of Warcraft”)andJohn Bentley (“Final Fantasy 7,” “Resident Evil: Extinction” and the voice of Nick Fury in several Marvel video games) — all of whom were present on the Hall H panel — as well as Josh Keaton, Justin Long, Cherise Boothe, Harron Atkins, Michael Longfellow and JB Blanc.
The Hall H venue made creator and executive producer P. J. Accetturro’s first trip to Comic-Con was even more memorable, with the experience of revealing Emmanuel’s addition live from the stage as the icing on the cake.
“Nathalie’s amazing. I can’t believe how good our cast is. It’s stacked,” Accetturro said. “Not only the talent, but what they bring to the table and the characters, because they have elevated all their takes to the next level.”
Marveling at his luck, he added: “It’s surreal. People dream of coming to Comic-Con as a fan; my first experience, I’m on stage. They say this isn’t normal, but I have no baseline for normal. I’m a nerd, don’t get me wrong but I didn’t know what Hall H was.”
AleXa, who makes her voice acting debut on the series, was a bit more prepared about what to expect.
“As someone who has been a fan of Comic-Con and watched so many videos of the different panels online, I knew going in Hall H is the biggest,” she said. “When I heard that we landed a spot, I was like ‘What?!’ We’re such a new, unknown thing, so I wasn’t expecting it to be so full. It’s a dream come true.”
about two weeks before the convention, the “Ghosts of Ruin” team learned that they were scheduled between Legendary Entertainment’s presentation (which was set to include a first look at “Dune 2” before the studio pulled out of the convention) and the “Star Trek” Universe celebration.
“It’s really funny. We were like, ‘Let’s ease into Comic-Con. Let’s get a small room on like a weekday at like 5pm.’ Then our publicist says ‘You’re in Hall H,’” Stippec recalled. “We’ve been pinching ourselves all day.”
Added Ramey: “I’m really excited that we’re able to be an indie group and have that stage. That’s something that, dare I say, goes back to the roots of what Comic-Con is — celebrating people who are doing their best to get something off the ground. We’re so fortunate, and we’re taking advantage of the opportunity.”
Moderated by Coy Jandreau, the conversation also featured Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Music’s Giovoni Rios, Hendric Buenck and Russell Emanuel and mirrored the project’s community-focused interactive nature, with attendees getting a chance to weigh in on what dialogue Dawson’s Prism — described as a standoffish pro gamer with one goal: to be the world’s undisputed champion — will deliver in an upcoming episode. Attendees watched three versions of her character’s quippy lines and overwhelmingly voted for option C, which landed the biggest burn against her ex-lover.
“Ghosts of Ruin” will debut this fall via the Gala Film website, the film and TV division of Web3 company Gala. Though no streaming service is attached to the project yet, Battle Island plans to shop the project to other platforms for a wider release.
