EA Sports F1 25 voice actors on Braking Point’s evolution
Braking Point, the story mode first introduced with EA Sports F1 2021, is going into its third chapter with the upcoming F1 25. When EA and Codemasters first announced its addition, fans speculated that it was going to try to capitalize on the popularity of the Netflix show “Drive to Survive,” mixing high-adrenaline racing with equally spicy backroom maneuvering, personal rivalries, and press engagements.
It’s a fusion product that appeals to all types of fans, but particularly to those who enjoy the human aspect of Formula 1 more than its technical one.
“I think that’s why things like ‘Drive to Survive’ were so successful in bringing in new fans to the sport, because you get to see all those characters and personalities behind the team and those drivers and I think the game is similar,” said voice actress Emer Kenny, who plays Callie Mayer in the game.
Although she isn’t actively following F1, she absorbs it through her husband’s fandom, and it’s the glimpses at “the inner workings of a team and the dynamics and the relationships” that resonate with her the most. Because she’s more interested in that side of the sport, she’s taken a liking to McLaren’s Lando Norris.
“He seems like a sweet guy, and he’s not a cold winning machine,” she said. “It feels like he’s dealing with all the pressures, which is a bit like what we play out in the game.”
Daniel Ben Zenou has been with Braking Point from the very beginning, playing Devon Butler — an iconic character in the series that was brought back and fleshed out for the story mode. In his view, that “original parallel” between the two pieces of media is still there three chapters in, but “it’s definitely evolved.”
“It’s really a portrayal of the drivers behind the drivers,” he said, “but it’s definitely expanded and this next version is going to be bigger and broader than we’ve seen it before.”
Devon and Callie are estranged siblings with a complicated dynamic. Devon made it into F1, but was forced into early retirement during Braking Point 2, which saw Callie move up following her historic victory in Formula 2. Adding to the family ties is their father, who bought their team and becomes a major presence in Braking Point 3. All the while, the team moved up the ranks, becoming capable of fighting for podiums, victories, and perhaps even championships.
“Callie is hitting her stride,” Kenny said. “There’s continuing struggles with dynamics and power and who she listens to within the team, but she’s getting her head down and racing and trying to do her best job — and then something massive happens within her family and the team, and her and Devon’s reactions are extremely different and they both look at each other and struggle with that.”
Devon, on the other hand, begins “with him dealing with his new reality” and needs to fill the big vacuum that suddenly appeared in his life.
“He’s gone through this big old transition of having to let go of his dreams, effectively,” Zenou said. For Braking Point 3, the actor looked to Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll and his father, Lawrence Stroll, for inspiration, as their relationship as driver and team owner on top of being family is somewhat similar to what’s portrayed in the game.
Braking Point 2’s introduction of Callie was a bit controversial among fans, as she somewhat stole the spotlight from series protagonist Aiden Jackson.
“I’m kind of happy that there was a mixed reaction to her,” Kenny said. In her mind, it’s a lot more difficult to play a straight-up hero, as these roles tend to give actors less to work with. “It’s nice to have some rough edges and some spikiness to play with.”
Kenny incorporated some of Zenou’s Devon into her performance of Callie to emphasize their sibling relationship, which helped position her character in opposition to Aiden.
“She’s not necessarily the villain like Devon was right at the beginning,” she said. “She’s there to do what she’s got to do. I mean, to be a woman in F1 you have to have that steeliness and ambition.”
Although Kenny didn’t model Callie on any particular driver, she said that she did a lot of research on female motorsport athletes to understand their mindsets and the challenges they face, giving her important context for why her character is like she is.
It’s not just the characters and themes who are developing, though. Braking Point has grown in scale quite significantly over the years.
“When we did the original, it was almost like a little tester to see if this story thing would work and we had maybe five to six people on the whole job when we were filming it and doing the [motion capture] in Pinewood Studios,” Zenou recalled. “This last one, we had a massive 120-page script — a movie script, basically — and it must have been 50, 60 people in the huge mocap aircraft hangar. Just in terms of logistics, it’s a totally different universe.”
Asked which actual Formula 1 team they’d slot their respective characters into, Zenou didn’t hesitate to put Devon Butler into Ferrari. “The heritage, the style — that’s his vibe,” he said. Kenny eventually opted for Red Bull, as Callie is “punchy and dynamic” enough to fit into that environment.
Would they jump into an actual F1 car, if given the chance? Zenou, who isn’t watching much F1 these days, but was a massive fan as a kid during the Senna, Schumacher, and Hill days, didn’t hesitate to say yes — and even had a target in mind: He’d want to drive the track in Las Vegas.
Kenny, too, would jump into the cockpit. “I would be conflicted, but I would do it,” she said. The practical experience might have made acting out their roles a bit easier, of course, but they both had a lot of fun recording their scenes anyways, even if much was left to their imagination.
“We all have to do some mad stuff and sometimes it comes really naturally and sometimes you have to work on it for a few takes, but it’s the most fun,” Kenny explained. “I love doing games, because you are even further from the character than in a film or a TV, where you physically have to be in that position. I love voicing anything where you get to use your imagination a bit more and have to lock in on how that character would think or feel. ou just sit there and imagine it and then you just go for it.”
On that note, the two actors provided their predictions for this season’s world championship. Zenou went for Max Verstappen, saying you could never count him out, while Kenny had Norris take the trophy.
As for who’ll triumph in F1 25, fans will be able to find out on May 30, 2025, when the game is released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Source: espn.com