Stefanie Joosten is an extremely talented actor, director, model, and singer. She has starred in some huge franchises and collaborated with creative geniuses like Hideo Kojima and Giorgio Moroder. We got the chance to chat to Stefanie about her video game VO work, her new album, and a few upcoming projects. Below is the written transcription of the interview that we conducted with Stefanie.
The Origins of Stefanie Joosten’s Career
FandomWire: First of all, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to speak with FandomWire. In case the folks reading aren’t aware of your talents, would you mind starting off by telling us a bit about yourself and your career?
Stefanie Joosten: Thank you for reaching out! My name is Stefanie Joosten, and I’m an actor, singer, voice-over and motion capture performer and director. You may know me as Quiet from MGSV, Vivienne from Wanted: Dead, and as the voice of Briar and Lute in Soulstice. I also provided the vocals for several songs featured on the soundtracks of MGSV, Last Labyrinth, and Wanted: Dead.
FandomWire: Before we dive into your music, I’d like to know what your gaming background looks like. Have both of you always been a fan of the gaming medium and if so, what are some of your all-time favourite games?
Stefanie Joosten: I started playing video games probably when I was around 4 years old. The first console I played on was the NES, other consoles like the SNES, N64 and PlayStation followed as I grew up. So yes, I was always a fan. As a teenager I enjoyed playing RPG’s more and more. Final Fantasy VII is probably my all-time favorite.
FW: What about your acting background? Where did you train and who are your acting inspirations?
Stefanie Joosten: When it comes to my acting background, I took quite an unconventional path and started my training in Japan. After high school, I majored in Japanese Studies at Leiden University in The Netherlands, since it was my dream to move to Japan. When I moved to Tokyo in my early twenties, I wanted to pursue my ambitions of becoming an actor and auditioned to be part of a theatre troupe led by writer and director Takayuki Takuma.
After I was accepted into the troupe I toured all through Japan with the company and was able to gain a lot of acting experience very quickly. It was tough being away from home for prolonged periods of time, but working closely with Japanese veteran stage actors Rie Shibata and Nakamura Baijaku was an incredibly inspirational experience.
Stefanie’s Video Game Work
FW: You famously starred as Quiet in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Was that your first time working with motion capture? What was it like to be directed by an auteur like Hideo Kojima? Was there anyone else from the cast who you particularly enjoyed working with?
Stefanie Joosten: Working on Metal Gear Solid V was indeed my first experience working as a motion capture performer. It was an incredible journey, especially since I had always dreamed of working in the video game industry. I loved how extensive the process was. As actors, we were given a lot of room to prepare and rehearse for our roles, and even underwent a military training course.
To this day I’m incredibly grateful for how much I was able to learn about motion capture and game development in the years while I worked on the project. I have fond memories of working with Erik Brown, who was the motion capture performer for Big Boss. He’s a true gentleman and embodied the character so well.
FW: How did you first get involved with Wanted: Dead? Alongside starring in the game as Vivienne, you also served as cinematic director on that title. How was that experience?
Stefanie Joosten: At first I was approached to portray the character Vivienne Niemantsverdriet in Wanted: Dead, but after discussing the project and Vivienne’s backstory, I was asked if I would be interested in taking on a more extensive role in the game’s development. Of course I was more than happy to take on the opportunity.
I worked on directing the game’s cutscenes and was involved in the direction of motion capture and voice-over sessions. It was a great experience, although we also ran into some challenges and had to work around covid lockdowns. I think it encouraged everyone involved to be even more creative than before, so I was happy to have been part of it.
FW: Is directing something that you would like to do more of in the future?
Stefanie Joosten: I love having the experience of being on both sides of the creative process, so yes. As an actor, you tend to have many ideas about what parts of a story you would like to explore or what points you want to emphasize within the bounds of your character. When being directed, I always find it very interesting to dive into the vision a director has, and then navigating your way through the story while staying true to that vision.
When directing, you get to express your own creative vision across the scale of many characters and plot points, which is very liberating. It also brings the challenge to inspire and motivate the creative team and performers to move towards and understand what you envision. So in my view, both sides are very much intertwined.
FW: You also contributed songs to the Wanted: Dead soundtrack. Those tracks were taken from your Singing to the Sky album, which is great by the way! Do you have any plans to work on more game soundtracks in the future?
Stefanie Joosten: Thank you, it’s great to hear that you enjoyed the tracks! I’m indeed planning to work on more game soundtracks in the future. But in the meantime, more stand-alone music is in the works as well.
Stefanie’s Music
FW: Your follow up album to Singing to the Sky is called Intermission and is releasing very soon. What can you tell us about your experience making the new record?
Stefanie Joosten: Singing to the Sky was a blast to work on, and I loved the nostalgic themes the album had. For Intermission, I wanted to take this journey of exploration deeper, and make it more personal. The album allowed me to express myself in a new genre and setting, and I really felt free to experiment.
FW: How did you find it working with Giorgio Moroder on both of your albums? Would you like to collaborate with him again in the future?
Stefanie Joosten: When I first learnt that Giorgio Moroder came aboard as an executive producer on my previous album, I was absolutely starstruck. He truly is the “father of disco” and a legendary figure to me. I couldn’t be happier when he decided to work with me again for my second album, and even joined me on two tracks as a performer on the vocoder. Giorgio’s music is an endless and timeless motivation to me, so I would never pass on an opportunity to collaborate with him again.
FW: How did you decide that Tryouts For The Human Race should be the first single from the record?
Stefanie Joosten: Tryouts For The Human Race is a song that’s great fun, but also stood out to me as having a very contemporary and timeless theme. While other songs on the album have connected themes, I thought Tryouts For The Human Race would work well on its own too. On top of that, Giorgio’s additions to the song were so good, I felt like I couldn’t wait any longer to share this track with the world.
FW: Are you planning to take the album on tour? If so, which songs are you most excited to perform live?
Stefanie Joosten: I cannot go into specifics about touring yet, but I would definitely love to perform songs from this album live. Tracks I look forward to sharing with the audience are Life in Tokyo and Resist, which are songs that have a certain edge to them that I really like.
FW: What message do you hope that people take away from Intermission?
Stefanie Joosten: With the songs featured on Intermission, there is an overall theme of bittersweetness across the tracks. The songs are about bitter moments in life. They explore breakups and heartbreak, but focus on the beauty of those moments. I hope that the album will help people see the beauty in their hardships in life as well, and encourage them to feel empowered by how those experiences make them stronger in the end.
FW: Finally, can you tell us anything about any of your upcoming projects, whether they be acting or music related?
Stefanie Joosten: While I will continue working on music and exploring new themes within that field, I will remain active as an actor as well. I’m currently working on a game in the mech combat genre called Vengeance is Mine. I’m involved in the project as both a performer and creative director, and it has been an incredibly inspiring experience to me so far. I look forward to sharing more information about in the next few months.
Stefanie Joosten was a riveting person to chat to. She is clearly someone who loves what she does and is brimming with creativity. Hearing her reflect on her experiences working with mo-cap technology was particularly fascinating, and listening to her tease the her upcoming projects was exciting. Thanks again to Stefanie for taking the time to chat to us, and to George Roush of Revenge for arranging this interview.
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