Masumi on playing Naoe from Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Singer-songwriter, actor, and now video game voice actor Masumi is not new to playing a Japanese assassin grieving the loss of her father. She starred as a yakuza heir in 2021’s Yakuza Princess — her “breakout movie,” as she calls it. Then, she booked a new challenge: Naoe, the shinobi assassin protagonist in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the newest entry in Ubisoft’s AAA franchise, which was released Thursday.

Masumi’s performance as Naoe is the heartbeat of the game, alongside that of Tongayi Chirisa, who voices the other protagonist, based on the historical figure Yasuke. In the opening hours of the game, it’s Naoe’s voice that guides you around as you get your footing in feudal Japan. Polygon chatted with Masumi over the phone on Tuesday, just a few hours after reviews of the game were published here and elsewhere online. We talked about Naoe’s story, voice performing, and the challenges of mocap.

[Ed. note: This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.]

Polygon: Do you connect with the character of Naoe, or did you have to enter a different space for this character?

Masumi: Yeah, honestly, everything about Naoe really drew me in immediately when I got the audition. She’s such a powerful and layered character. She’s fierce and determined, and I mean, she’s carrying the weight of the world and the past that she has, and she’s also fighting for her future. So when I first got the story and learned about her journey, I felt pretty connected to her. And she’s not just a warrior, but she’s someone who has to navigate this really complex world of loyalty, revenge, and then also finding herself — like, personal growth. So there was a lot of points for me to really resonate with her.

Something I’m really enjoying about her is that she’s so small, which sounds like such a natural choice for an assassin character, but actually is not necessarily the case for Assassin’s Creed protagonists in the past. What is it like to play an assassin?

This is not the first time I got to play a female assassin character. I got to play [one in] Yakuza Princess, and she’s also an assassin, and that was kind of my breakout movie. So I feel like from the beginning, I’ve always [gotten] to play these really strong female characters that are complex, and they all go through this really emotional journey. So when I got Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and Naoe was even more of an excitement, because she’s not just somebody who’s complex and strong, but she gets to go through it in Japan in this most tumultuous time. So I feel really empowered that I got to play her, and I hope players also come away feeling empowered going through Naoe’s journey.

I know this is your first video game. How was that experience different from your other acting experiences?

The motion capture was a completely new experience, and it’s such a unique challenge because you’re acting in a huge empty space with no sets, no costumes. So you really have to tap into your imagination and kind of trust your body to bring the character to life. And also trusting your partners, too, to always be present with you, because we have all of these sort of limitations. And so that was an interesting challenge to have.

I also remember we have little Jiro, in our world, and he was an amazing child actor, and for him it was really difficult to get used to the headsets […] because it kind of compresses your head a little bit. And so he was getting a little bit nauseous, and so we had to navigate that. I would get nauseous, too, in the beginning, and I had to get used to that. And so we would have to take breaks for him to be able to calm down with the nausea, and then go back into it. You don’t know these challenges until you actually do it.

The voice-over was also a whole different challenge, because with mocap, at least you can express with your entire body, but in VO, it’s just your voice. So you have to convey everything with your tone and breath and energy. And I didn’t realize that I would have to do, like, a hundred different breaths, and I never had to pay attention so much on what breathing patterns they are. So that was really interesting. But honestly, all the challenges was really rewarding. I got to learn so much.

This is kind of odd to tell you, but in the version I’m playing, the breaths come through the controller, so it’s really immersive because it’s right there, closer to your ears than the rest of the soundtrack. So, rest assured those are being put to good use.

Do you have much experience with games?

I have never really played video games, but my husband plays. So yeah, during COVID especially, we were doing couple-y games. I don’t know if you know the video game Don’t Starve Together.

OK, thank you. [laughing] I’m glad you know this. That was the game that I was playing a lot, because you don’t really need skills in that game. But anyway, my husband bought a PlayStation as soon as he found out that I got this job, so I have to play it. I mean, it doesn’t matter if I have skills or not. I’m wanting to see the world. I hear it’s really beautiful.

You absolutely should. It won’t be too hard, don’t worry. Though it’s probably a strange experience listening to your own voice. Do you typically watch your own performances?

Yes, because I started as a singer-songwriter. So I went to music school in LA, and then, before acting, I was doing music for a big chunk of my life. So in music, you kind of have to listen to your voice. That’s the only way you grow. So I’m used to listening to my singing voice, but this is not singing. This is literally talking and yelling. And sometimes I am outraged. A lot of times I’m outraged — let’s be honest. So I have never listened to my voice in that way.

Do you have a specific scene or plot point that you really resonated with when you were performing it?

It’s different between cinematic and VO, and I would say there was more VO sessions than cinematic. But in cinematics, it was always about the intensity of the scene. There was a lot of intense scenes. And so I can immediately think about a few. […] One of them will be the moment when Yasuke and I come through this — ’cause we start as out as enemies, and then there’s a thing that happens that is so heartbreaking, and we have to decide whether we want to come together or part as enemies. And that story, that was one of the toughest stories I’ve ever had to immerse myself in, to really understand the emotion of what Naoe was going through. And if you see that scene, then I think it’s just difficult for anybody to emotionally imagine themselves in [it].

And then in the VO booth, the more difficult ones was — [gasps] I was about to spoil, honey! I was so about to spoil. [laughs] […] Well, there was a scene with my family member, and those were really tough because I have to balance: How much emotion would I give it as Masumi, or how much emotion do I need to give it as Naoe, who has already become an assassin and has seen so many sufferings through her journey already? So that balancing was really tough. There’s some moments that I really would love to talk about it, but I can’t. But yeah, it’s around my family. That’s how I would leave it.