Voice, personality, and connection: An interview with the voice actors of Overwatch 2’s Symmetra, Venture, and Sombra

DreamHack Dallas 2024 features various activities for Overwatch 2 players and fans to enjoy. A few examples include the matches in the Overwatch Champion Series (OWCS) area, the game's cosplay meetup, and even a panel with voice actors. After the panel, esports.gg sat down with Anjali Bhimani, Valeria Rodriguez, and Carolina Ravassa for an exclusive interview. They are the voice actors for Symmetra, Venture, and Sombra.

Overwatch 2 features a diverse roster of heroes whose personalities are highlighted by their voice lines. During their interview with esports.gg, the voice actors shared their favorite lines and interactions. For starters, Bhimani's favorite ones for Symmetra include "Welcome to my reality" and "If I can think it, I can create it" because these lines show how the hero is in control of her own destiny.

There is a power and certainty to that. There's also an interaction between Symmetra and Echo that Bhimani is quite fond of. In it, Echo asks if being different is a negative thing. Symmetra's response is how she doesn't see that as a flaw at all.

"And the way those two characters can connect — I love that. I love that we can have that because we want people to understand that we're all a sum of our unique experiences and all of the things that make us. But we can connect across those things. We don't have to look exactly the same, we don't have to be exactly the same to connect — especially these two characters who don't connect the same way as most — whether neurotypicals or most humans do. I love the fact that they bond over that."

Ravassa then told esports.gg how one of her favorite character interactions involves Cassidy. The image of a giant cowboy slowly typing on a keyboard is quite amusing.

"The 'Cactus spines in butt' is one of my favorites. I say that all the time because I pretended that Cassidy can't type fast. So he's like, 'Oh, how do I do this computer thing?'" Ravassa said. "He doesn't go, "Got spines in butt how to get rid of that?' or even 'How do I get rid of it?' He's just so basic. I feel like Sombra makes fun of most characters in interactions and I really appreciate that."

Meanwhile, Rodriguez really enjoys the sibling rivalry type of relationship between Venture and Mauga. "I didn't expect it to be there, but it's so freaking fun," Rodriguez said. "Mauga says something like, 'Hey, do you think I can bench press Stonehenge?' And I'm like, 'What's wrong with you?!' because I love artifacts and ancient history so much!"

As for what lines the voice actors would like the game to have, they include "You're killing me, Smalls," "Oh, that's dope," and "Boy howdy!" They all agreed that Symmetra letting loose and saying "dope" would be hilarious.

Beyond the in-game interactions, Overwatch 2 champions LGBTQIA+ heroes. Venture uses they/them pronouns, and their arrival as the newest damage character adds to the game's roster of LGBTQIA+ heroes that include Tracer, Soldier: 76, Lifeweaver, Pharah, and Baptiste. To Rodriguez, this representation shows both players and fans that everyone is welcome.

"It's really special," Rodriguez said, adding how other games introduced more LGBTQIA+ characters over the years. For example, Bloodhound from Apex Legends is non-binary. "And that's super cool. But I love the way that Blizzard is doing it — where they're really making a big effort to emphasize that part of them. In today's day and age, it's really important.

"I hope that at some point, that being part of the character is just something we could toss away and be like, 'Oh, they have long hair and are also non-binary,' you know what I mean? But right now, it's really important because there are folks like you are I who don't see themselves as often in characters. Having a character like this in such a big franchise — I would have been over the moon as a kid and it might have made me feel more secure in my identity as well.

"Because that's kind of what representation is — you seeing really cool, badass characters doing cool stuff. Not just being non-binary, not just being Mexican. They're doing cool stuff and that's not the whole part of their personality. So it means the world. I'm so freaking honored that I'm getting to bring this character into the world along with the rest of the team."

In addition a roster that boasts personality and diversity, the franchise has cinematics, short animations, and more. In their interview with esports.gg, Bhimani, Rodriguez, and Ravassa talked about their favorite aspects of developing these memorable moments for Symmetra, Sombra, and Venture as well.

Bhimani, for example, recalled how she didn't know Symmetra's full background and appearance before recording her voice lines. However, once she saw the lines, she realized how they reminded her of her aunties. This made working with then-lead writer Michael Chu and voice director Andrea Toyias on the recordings all the more memorable.

"I really just brought the judgment of all my Indian aunties into that character because she's not intentionally shady or mean, but her lines are so direct that they can certainly be read that way," Bhimani said. "And I feel like every Indian auntie is that way."

As for Ravassa, she recalled those early sessions with Chu and Toyias as well. Her favorite part of voicing Sombra is how confident the character is compared to people in real life. That fantasy of not having any outward insecurities makes Sombra a fun character to play.

"I've added silly little things like, 'Ooh, this one has teeth,'" Ravassa continued, referring to one of Sombra's voice lines that has a growl at the start. "And then when it came out, I was like, 'Yes!'" Ravassa recalled taking fan-suggested voice lines as well. In one of Sombra's voice lines with Ana, for example, the former tells the support hero to take a seat.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez simply channeled their own enthusiasm into voicing Venture. There was no need to draw from real-life experience to related to the game's newest damage hero. "Once I realized it was for Overwatch, a lot of their lines were described as excitable or like excited to talk about archaeology or the moon or that kind of thing," Rodriguez said.

"I'm genuinely excited to be here. And a lot of that excitement just carried through or continues to carry through all of my sessions. I'd say the most fun part about creating the character was just creating someone who kind of is like me five years ago before I started paying taxes."

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news, interviews, and updates!