Jennifer Hale On The Authentic Experience Of Voicing Commander Shepard And The Community She Inspired

For Jennifer Hale, the voice behind Commander Shepard, the impact of the Mass Effect series is deeply personal and extends far beyond the recording booth. She has witnessed firsthand how the game has become a meaningful part of people’s lives, recounting the story of a woman in her early thirties who, after a stroke, used the game as a tool in physical therapy to regain her fine motor skills. This connection is something Hale treasures, and she views the players not as fans, but as a community. She considers it an incredible privilege to interact with them, seeing them as the other essential half of the experience. Hale avoids the term "fans," feeling it creates a distance from the people who have integrated the game into their lives through playthroughs, art, and real-world gatherings.

Thanks to Polygon for detailing Hale’s perspective on the series' enduring impact. She described the consideration of inclusivity in the original games as "revolutionary" for its time, noting how the option for a same-sex relationship generated significant discussion, including the infamous Fox News' clip from 2008 that railed against the game. Hale's reaction at the time was pragmatic; she was happy for the publicity as long as they got the name right. The power of representation hit her with full force when she watched the trailer for the Legendary Edition and saw a comment that read:

"This is what representation looks like."

It made her aware of what it felt like to be put in "first class" after years of feeling like a second-class citizen, particularly as it took until the third game for her female version of the character to appear on the cover. Despite her central role, Hale has not played much of the series, an experience documented when she was "forced" to play the opening of Mass Effect 2 for a profile in The New Yorker. The community that formed around these experiences remains vibrant, with many still wondering if Shepard will return in the next installment.

Playing the game herself, Hale said, "drove me insane," partly because she was not skilled at it, but also because seeing the full context of the world gave her new perspective on her performance. She explained that voice actors often work "cold reading," seeing lines for the first time as they record them. Witnessing the game's environments and characters brought to life made her wish she could have added more nuance based on the context she was now seeing. However, she did have more of a briefing than usual for the Mass Effect series, which allowed her to understand the branching dialogue paths and overall story arc, a process she found cool and adventurous.

This understanding was crucial for navigating the Paragon and Renegade dialogue options. Hale would record a neutral take of a line and then slightly flavor it for the different moral paths. She found recording the Renegade lines more fun, joking that, "Paragon is who I wish I was, and Renegade is what I wish I could say." According to Hale, the team truly hit its stride during the recording of the second and third games, where the acting evolved to a place of pure authenticity.She recalled making the director "insanely uncomfortable" while recording Shepard's dramatic death scene at the start of Mass Effect 2, taking the director's squirming as a sign she was doing it well. The most emotional moments for her, however, were the goodbye scenes with Garrus, which she said "pretty much slaughtered me," forcing her to repeat "Shepard doesn't cry" to get through the take.

While Liara is the only original trilogy character confirmed for the next Mass Effect title, Hale has expressed that she would love to continue Shepard's story, but only if it was what best served the universe. For now, she has not worked on the upcoming game, leaving the community to continue their journeys through the Mass Effect Legendary Edition as they await the next chapter.