Whether you’ve heard her name or not, you’ve definitely heard Laura Bailey’s voice. No matter what genre of game or tv show you’re into, she’s done it. Today is Laura’s birthday, so let’s check out all the things she’s achieved with that superb voice.
Games For Days
The majority of my experience with Laura Bailey is through video games. Shooters, fantasy, RPGs, if you name it, she’s done it. One of her most notable roles (and the one I know her best for) is Jaina Proudmoore. Jaina is a key member of the Alliance and a major player in the World of Warcraft games and wider Warcraft universe. She also provided the voices for both Bianca Davri and Dagan in Dragon Age: Inquisition, another great RPG I’ve spent a lot of time playing. Personally, I’ve quite enjoyed the Dawnguard DLC for the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, where she voices Serana.
If you’re a fan of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, then you’ll recognise her as the voice of Andriel from LOTR: War in the North. More recently, she has worked on Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor as Ioreth and Middle Earth: Shadow of War as Eltariel and Ioreth.
Not your cup of tea? That’s fine, if you like shooters then you’ve probably heard Laura Bailey voicing Kait Diaz in Gears of War 4 and Gears 5. For other Xbox exclusives she’s appeared in Halo 4 as Rivera and Halo 5: Guardians as Olympia Vale. Alternatively, exclusive to Playstation, she has also provided voices for Resistance 3 (Jean Rose) and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Nadine Ross). She has also worked on a whole host of Silent Hill and Resident Evil games. She may even have provided the voice for your character if you played Saints Row: The Third or Saints Row IV as a female character.
Laura Bailey, Anime Queen
The list of Laura Bailey’s anime and animation voice roles is extensive, to say the very least. Don’t worry, I won’t start reeling them off like a Wikipedia article, it would take far too long. I will, however, talk about Dragonball Z because that show was a big part of childhood for myself and fellow writer Maria. We both have fond memories of watching the show as we were growing up and have re-watched it many times since. Laura Bailey was the voice behind Kid Trunks and Gotenks. She has also lent her voice to other characters in the Dragonball series’ and games.
Similar to her ‘birthday twin’ Liam O’Brien, Laura Bailey has also provided voices for Naruto for many years, as well as multiple Marvel series’, voicing characters such as Gwen Stacy and Black Widow. Both of those examples are voices she provides for the current Spider-Man (2017-2020) and Avengers Assemble (2013-2019) TV series. If you’re interested in finding out about her other roles, check out IMDB or Wikipedia; the list is nothing short of impressive.
Your Turn To Roll
Of course, it wouldn’t be right for me to write about Laura Bailey and not mention Critical Role. The show has become bigger than any of the cast could ever have imagined and is most likely the place you know her from. Unless, of course, you enjoy reading video game credits without looking for anything in particular. She plays alongside fellow voice actors Liam O’Brien, Travis Willingham, Taliesin Jaffe, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel and Ashley Johnson. They’re all guided through a series of wonderfully chaotic adventures by Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer. It’s full of emotion, laughter and general fantasy butt-kicking.
Critical Role was originally a show on the Geek & Sundry channel. Due to its incredible growth over the last few years, it has now become its own channel. It even has a multitude of spin-offs and surrounding shows.
Watching the show in its infancy during campaign 1 is a wonderful feeling. You know where it will end up but the cast have no idea. I still can’t help but feel joy when the group reach their next subscriber goal, starting in single thousands. This is only a fraction of their viewership nowadays. However, back then, they had no idea where the show would go. It was a huge milestone for them every time and their excitement is so genuine.
Merch, Merch, Merch
At the start of each episode Laura was responsible for updating the viewers on the current merch available for the show and despite it being just a simple merchandise pitch, she always made it interesting and funny. It quickly became something that the fans looked forward to each week, myself included.
Then we come to her characters. Vex’ahlia in campaign 1 and Jester in campaign 2. They both have such different personalities but Laura Bailey gives them both such a realistic sense of depth and emotion. On one hand, Vex’ahlia is brave and confident, supported loyally by Trinket her companion. FYI, Trinket is just absolutely adorable. In contrast, Jester is innocent and friendly but quieter and a bit more hesitant. Despite their differences, they are both played incredibly well and add to the group perfectly.
Have You Heard of the Traveller?
There you have it, the many, many voices of Laura Bailey. You’re probably familiar with some of the characters that I’ve mentioned above. I hope you’re interested in checking out more of Laura Bailey’s amazing voice work. Spread the word and let people know how awesome she is. Which reminds me, have you heard of the traveller?
Happy Birthday Laura Bailey! Thank you for everything you’ve given to the geeky community.
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