Jonathan Bailey, the actor who plays Fiyero in the Wicked movies and was People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2025, also voices a cat boy in Final Fantasy XIV named G’raha Tia. Bailey has really blown up in the years since he took on the role in Square Enix’s MMO, with featured roles in both Wicked: For Good and Jurassic World: Rebirth helping to make him the top-grossing actor of 2025. But even as Bailey has become a household name, G’raha Tia has remained a major character in FFXIV. Now, the MMO has released its 7.4 update, and based on the way Fiyero’s voice sounds, fans are unsure if Bailey is still hopping into the booth for Square Enix.
The theories about why G’raha sounds a little different this patch range from Bailey maybe being sick during his recording sessions, to him having used a subpar mic, to him having been recast due to scheduling issues as he’s busy promoting Wicked: For Good and Jurassic World. However, neither Square Enix nor Bailey has said anything about the actor dropping the role. If you listen to some of the comparisons between the new material and the character’s previously existing dialogue, the difference can sound subtle. Still, it’s enough that I can hear why someone who has been listening to this character for years might think he sounds different. We’ve reached out to Square Enix and Bailey for comment on the situation, and will update the story if we hear back.
So I did a quick little comparison between 7.0 and 7.4 G’raha Tia, it seems that he HAS NOT been recast, I just think he’s recording his lines from his phone or a subpar mic setup, the EQ is sorta way more treble-y, when his voice is usually bassy with the studio mics they use. pic.twitter.com/AYYZYadgWU
— Josefumi 🎙️ (@JosefumiVO) December 16, 2025
NO ONE TALK TO ME IM CURRENTLY IN MOURNING ROGHT NOW pic.twitter.com/feYKV6ssvr
— 🦦 (@gothgirlswag) December 16, 2025
Bailey has been pretty open about how much he enjoys the role. Here’s a clip of him talking about how he had to record his Final Fantasy XIV lines in between shows while he was performing in the revival of Company from 2018 to 2019.
If Bailey was recast for the patch, hopefully it’s just a temporary measure until he’s done promoting Wicked and Jurassic Park…and doing sexy photoshoots for the cover of People.
