Supermassive Games basically changed the horror landscape in 2015. They didn't just make a "scary game"; they made a playable slasher movie that looked terrifyingly real for its time. A huge part of why that worked—and why the 2024 remake sparked so much conversation—comes down to the voice actors Until Dawn cast to bring these messy, trope-heavy teenagers to life.
You’ve got the jock, the mean girl, the nerd, and the final girl. It sounds like a bargain-bin horror script on paper. But when you put Academy Award winners and seasoned TV vets behind the motion capture suits, things get weirdly emotional. These actors weren't just standing in a booth reading lines. They were in full "mo-cap" gear, acting with their entire bodies to ensure every eye roll and terrified scream felt authentic.
The Heavy Hitters: Hayden Panettiere and Rami Malek
Before he was winning an Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody or haunting the screen in Mr. Robot, Rami Malek was Josh Washington. Honestly, Josh is the anchor of the whole story. Malek brings this twitchy, deeply uncomfortable energy to the role that makes you pity him and fear him at the same time. He’s the guy inviting everyone to the mountain, and his performance is a masterclass in subtlety. You can see the grief in his micro-expressions. It's not just "voice acting." It's a full-on digital performance.
Then there’s Hayden Panettiere. She plays Sam, the group’s moral compass and arguably the most likable person in the game.
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Panettiere was already a massive star because of Heroes and Nashville when this game dropped. She brings a grounded, sensible vibe to Sam. While everyone else is screaming or picking fights over high school drama, Sam is the one trying to keep it together. If you manage to keep her alive until the final sequence in the lodge, her performance becomes incredibly physical. The "Don’t Move" mechanic relies entirely on the tension she projects through the screen.
Breaking Down the Rest of the Blackwood Mountain Crew
Most people forget just how stacked this cast is. Let's look at the others.
Peter Stormare as Dr. Hill
Stormare is a legend. You know him from Fargo or John Wick: Chapter 2. In Until Dawn, he plays the psychiatrist who speaks directly to the player. It’s a meta-narrative role. He’s creepy, he’s judgmental, and he gets progressively more decayed as the game goes on. Stormare has this gravelly, Swedish-inflected voice that makes every question feel like a threat. He was the perfect choice to break the fourth wall.
Brett Dalton as Mike
Mike starts the game as the stereotypical "douchebag" jock. He’s cheating, he’s arrogant, and he’s kind of a tool. But Brett Dalton (who many know from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) does something incredible. He turns Mike into an action hero. By the time you’re navigating the sanatorium with a shotgun and a wolf companion, you’re actually rooting for him. Dalton’s voice work shifts from smug teen to hardened survivor seamlessly.
Jordan Fisher as Matt
Before he was a Broadway star and a Disney darling, Jordan Fisher was just trying to survive a Wendigo attack. Matt is often the character players accidentally kill off first because his pathing is tricky. Fisher plays him with a "nice guy" energy that makes his potential death feel genuinely tragic compared to the more abrasive characters.
Nichole Sakura as Emily
"Understand the palm of my hand, bitch!"
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That line is iconic. Nichole Sakura (credited as Nichole Bloom in the original) plays Emily, the character everyone loves to hate. Or just hates. But honestly? Emily is the smartest person in the game. Sakura delivers her lines with such sharp, biting sarcasm that you can’t help but respect the hustle, even if she’s being terrible to Matt. Her performance during the mines sequence is some of the best stunt-heavy mo-cap in the entire project.
Why the "Voice Actors" Label is Kinda Misleading
We call them voice actors, but that’s not really accurate for Until Dawn. This wasn't a dubbed project.
The developers used a process where the actors' facial movements, body language, and voices were recorded simultaneously. This is why the characters look exactly like their real-life counterparts. When you see Meaghan Martin (who plays Jess) screaming in the elevator shaft, that’s her actual facial geometry being manipulated by her real performance.
It’s why the game holds up.
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When actors are just in a booth, they sometimes lose the physical context of the scene. In Until Dawn, the cast had to interact with physical props and each other. If Mike and Jess are flirting in the snow, Brett Dalton and Meaghan Martin were actually in a room together playing out those beats. That chemistry is hard to fake in a traditional recording setup.
The Remake and the Legacy of the Original Cast
In 2024, a "rebuilt" version of the game hit PS5 and PC. Interestingly, the developers kept the original performances.
Why? Because you can’t replace them.
The voice actors Until Dawn cast are so synonymous with these roles that bringing in new people would have felt like a cheap knockoff. They upgraded the lighting, the textures, and the camera angles, but the voices remained the same. It proves that the 2015 performances were "lightning in a bottle." You can't just find someone else to replicate Rami Malek's specific brand of mania or Stormare's unsettling stares.
Noah Fleiss (Chris) and Galadriel Stineman (Ashley) also deserve a shout-out. Their "will they, won't they" subplot is the emotional core for a lot of players. The tension in the scene where Chris has to choose who to "save" with the saw blade depends entirely on the trembling in their voices. It's raw. It's uncomfortable. It works.
What You Should Do Next
If you’re a fan of these actors, it’s worth checking out where they went after Blackwood Mountain. Most of them have stayed very active in both Hollywood and the gaming world.
- Watch Mr. Robot: If you want to see Rami Malek take the "unstable genius" energy of Josh Washington to a whole new level.
- Play The Quarry: If you liked the vibe of Until Dawn, Supermassive's spiritual successor features another high-profile cast including Brenda Song and David Arquette.
- Check out Jordan Fisher on Broadway: Or in his various voice roles; his career exploded post-2015.
- Re-play the Remake: Pay close attention to the facial animations during the Dr. Hill segments. The new tech actually highlights the nuances in Peter Stormare’s performance that were slightly blurred in the original PS4 resolution.
The magic of this game isn't just the jump scares. It's the fact that these actors treated a "teen slasher" game with the same seriousness they'd bring to a prestige TV drama. That’s why we’re still talking about them over a decade later.
If you're looking for more behind-the-scenes info, there are several "Making Of" documentaries on YouTube that show the actors in their grey mo-cap suits. Seeing Rami Malek covered in tracking dots while delivering a monologue is a trip, but it shows just how much work went into those digital scares.
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