Persona 5 Futaba actor Erica Lindbeck thought she was “completely miscast” when she was offered the role of the anxious tech genius in Atlus’s beloved JRPG, and she was “terrified” about it.
Lindbeck is a prolific actor in gaming – from Black Cat in the Marvel’s Spider-Man games (and Marvel Rivals), to Celica in the Fire Emblem series, and Jessie in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, chances are that you’ve heard her voice in something before. One of her most iconic roles, though, is in Persona 5, and in a new interview, we ask Lindbeck if she had any idea how well received the JRPG and Futaba herself were going to be when she took on the role, to which she tells us that she tries to “go into anything with low expectations,” despite in this case knowing “how large the IP was.”
She continues: “I also understood, as someone who loves character-driven stories, Persona is that manifest. They’re so character-driven. If you do not fall in love with the characters, you are DOA. There’s just nothing there, and so I knew that they were very careful when they cast the games.”
With that in mind, then, Lindbeck says that when she was offered the role of Futaba, she was “shocked.” She explains: “I thought I was completely miscast when I went in to voice her, because if anyone talks to me, they’re like, ‘You’re Futaba?’ She’s very different from me.
“I was terrified, to be quite honest with you. I’m not afraid or embarrassed to say that,” she continues. “I just knew… I knew this was a make-or-break moment for me, in the same way that I knew it was a make-or-break moment for me the day I stepped onto that mocap stage to do mocap for the first Spider-Man game.”
Even if she was hesitant about the role at first, though, Lindbeck recalls that Persona 5 talent director Valerie Arem (also an actor herself – amongst many other roles, she voices Naoto in the Persona 4 spin-off games) told her years later that she “literally cannot think of another another actor that could do Futaba,” a sentiment I’m sure many fans will agree with.
Now, almost 10 years on from Persona 5’s global release, Lindbeck says “voicing Futaba feels like slipping on an old pair of boots,” and “that project will always hold a special place in my heart.”