ABOUT JACK AYRES

Jack Ayres is a British actor and voice actor who has become a notable figure in the video game industry in recent years thanks to his expressive voice and versatility. He was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales, and from an early age showed a strong interest in acting, particularly in theatre and improvisation. This passion led him to pursue professional training: he studied acting at East 15 Acting School, one of the UK’s well-known drama schools, where he developed a solid foundation in both classical and contemporary performance techniques.

After completing his training, Jack began his career as a stage actor and performer in improvisational projects, which helped him develop flexibility, quick thinking, and the ability to create compelling characters on the spot. Over time, he shifted his focus toward voice acting and performance capture (including motion capture), where his skills proved especially valuable. Thanks to his wide vocal range and ability to convey a variety of emotions - from comedic to dramatic - he quickly began landing roles in video games and animated projects.

Throughout his career, Jack has contributed to over a hundred projects, including major and popular titles. Among them are Baldur’s Gate III, where he voiced multiple characters, Diablo Immortal, Dragon Quest, Black Myth: Wukong, and others. In these projects, he has worked not only as a voice actor but also frequently participated in motion capture, which requires combining physical performance with vocal delivery, making the work closer to full on-screen acting.

In recent years, he has continued to expand his portfolio with new roles. Notably, he voiced Sirius, 100th brawler in the popular mobile game Brawl Stars, where his performance became an essential part of the character’s identity. He also portrayed Draynor, known as the “Vibe Vampire”, in the project mo.co, bringing a distinctive sense of charisma and atmosphere to the role. These performances highlight his ability to adapt to different styles - from bright, energetic, and slightly comedic characters to darker, more stylized personas.

Despite his active work in the industry, Jack remains an actor who continuously develops his craft and experiments with new approaches to character creation. He combines classical acting training with modern gaming technologies, making him a highly in-demand talent in the field of voice acting. Today, Jack continues to take part in new projects and strengthen his reputation as one of the most versatile and talented voices in the world of video games.

INTERVIEW

Q: Jack, you have voiced many characters in games! What do you like most about being a voice actor?

Jack: I love the freedom that is affords me as a performer. I am able to play and embody such a wide variety of roles that would never be open to me if it was a visual medium.

Q: How do you prepare for a new role? Do you have a special process before recording?

Jack: I wouldn’t say that I have a special process, but it’s always important to get a sense of the world that your character inhabits and their place in it, and also to make solid decisions about your character to fill in any gaps left by the script.

Q: How important is motion capture to you compared to purely voice work?

Jack: I would say that 90% of my work is voice work rather than Performance Capture or Motion Capture. I’ve done Performance and Facial Capture on a few projects such as Baldurs Gate 3 and Karma: The Dark World however most of the time when it comes to specifically a Motion Capture perspective, the work has been dealt with by incredibly talented physical actors.

Q: Is it difficult to switch between completely different characters in a short period of time?

Jack: It can be, which is why it’s sort of important to fully have a hold of any character that you intend on playing especially when it comes to accents and vocal tone etc. On some sessions I’ve had to pinball between 20–30 characters across 5–6 accents, so you need to be confident enough in those that you can freely switch without getting lost in the various sounds.

Q: Which role in your career has been the biggest professional challenge for you?

Jack: I would say that probably voicing the English version of Zhu Bajie in Black Myth Wukong was probably the biggest challenge. For me it felt like a big step forward in my career that came with a lot of responsibility and huge shoes to fill. It was a lot of recording hours and some very vocally intense combat and dubbing, but I was proud of how fully I felt like I found that character and still hold him very close to my heart.

Q: You recently had the honour of voicing the 100th brawler in the game, Sirius! How did you find out about his role in Brawl Stars and how did you feel when you got it?

Jack: I did! I found out through an audition from my agent, it wasn’t the first time I’d auditioned for a Brawl Stars, and I’d wanted to be involved for a long time. They’re such fun and characterful individuals and so I really wanted to take a swing at bringing him off the page. When I found out I got it I was delighted and I’m incredibly grateful to Soundcuts and the team at Supercell for bringing me on board.

Q: How do you see Sirius as a character? How would you describe his personality in your own words?

Jack: I would say that Sirius is a showman at heart, he’s never more at home than when on the stage and entertaining people. So when he loses the biggest part of himself to Brawling and the Gems, he’s forced to find that attention and thrill elsewhere. I think Sirius craves the spotlight, and if he can’t have it through being loved, he might as well have through being hated.

Q: When you first saw his design and concept, did that influence how you made his voice?

Jack: So I actually conceived my take on his voice just based off a text description of him, and his backstory and the vibe I was able to get from his voicelines. It’s fun to be able to let your imagination run wild with these things.

Q: Were you given clear creative direction from the Supercell team, or did you have freedom in interpreting the character?

Jack: Supercell were incredibly generous in allowing me to put my own spin on the lines they’d written, and I think fortunately they had liked my audition enough to trust me to take it in the right direction. We also had Adele Cutting from Soundcuts on hand as director to steer the ship and make sure to keep me on track.

Q: How does Sirius’ voice differ from other characters you’ve voiced?

Jack: Well given the very animated nature of Brawl Stars, it often means you have a lot more freedom to go very big with your delivery which is always great fun. You can really embrace the theatricality of a Brawler like Sirius without having the limitations of a naturalistic style of speaking.

Q: Were there any moments of improvisation during the recording process?

Jack: There were the odd bits of improv, but honestly the script and voicelines Supercell had were so fun and clearly the writers had considered so much for them that you trust them to have nailed the best version of each line.

Q: What was the most difficult or unexpected thing about working on Sirius?

Jack: It can be tiring doing lots of takes of battle lines etc! You really have to be vocally fit and using your voice as safely as possible.

Q: Do you have a favourite line or moment associated with this character?

Jack: ‘Time to steal the spotlight, and some souls…’

Q: How do you feel about Sirius becoming the 100th brawler in the game?

Jack: It’s cool to get to be central to such a big landmark for the game, and see how many people have been engaged with the game for such a long time now.

Q: Do you follow players’ reactions to Sirius? What surprised you most about the fans’ response?

Jack: Yes! It’s been really gratifying to see how many people have enjoyed his launch and made fan art, animations and more. It was clear people really liked hearing some of the lore behind his origins and I hope I was able to bring some extra dimensions to those trailers and scenes.

Q: A year ago, you voiced Draynor, a vibe vampire in mo.co, another Supercell project! How did working on Draynor in mo.co differ from working on Sirius?

Jack: I mean they’re both villains (maybe I’m typecast?) but very different tonally. Sirius feels very much a villain in control, a master planner, whereas Draynor is impetuous and impulsive, what would happen if you gave a teenager in a strop inter-dimensional abilities. They also occupy very different registers in the voice, and it’s a thrill to get to take on such variety.

Q: Draynor is a vampire with a special vibe. How did you find the balance between the character’s charisma and “dark” atmosphere?

Jack: I think the main thing was to find the comedy in the darkness of it. At the heart of it all, Draynor is deeply lonely and craves company and companionship - I suppose maybe that’s at the heart of him, Sirius and all villains: they crave something they desire enough to burn the world in order to get it.

Q: Did Draynor have a more comedic or more serious tone compared to Sirius?

Jack: I think they’re both funny and dark in their own ways. Draynor has a pathetic nature which is inherently quite funny, but I also think those kind of weak willed characters can be the most scary and dangerous.

Q: What advice would you give to young people who dream of becoming voice actors?

Jack: Voice acting is acting! First and foremost before anything else, you need to be a good actor. Find your own path to training your abilities, find your skills and deficiencies and improve through experience and hard work.

The biggest advice I can give, is that there will never be a right time to start. And it will always feel embarrassing, or cringeworthy or lame to put yourself out there and try something or share your work.

Everything worth achieving lies on the other side of cringe.

Q: Finally, what are your future career plans? Do you have a dream project you would like to work on?

Jack: I wouldn’t say many creatives have the luxury of future career plans! I would be over the moon if I could continue to voice for games for the rest of my career. In terms of dream projects, I would KILL to get to voice on a Mass Effect game, Mass Effect 2 is probably my favourite game of all time.

Other than that, I feel like I would make a good Hobbit. If anyone has any Hobbit roles coming up then hit me up.

Jack Ayres’s social networks and links

If you’d like to see more from Jack, you can follow him on his official social medias:

Linktr.ee - (linktr.ee/jackayres71)

Official website - (www.jackayresvoice.com/)

IMDb - (www.imdb.com/name/nm10907178/)

X (Twitter) - (x.com/jackayres71)

Instagram - (www.instagram.com/jackayres71)