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Words with Kat: Sage Mears answers our questions concerning DmC's feisty feline protagonist

Steve

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It feels like only yesterday that we were picking the brain of Tim Phillipps, DmC: Devil May Cry’s Dante voice actor. Now, after having Sage Mears lined up in our sights for some time now, we’ve managed to secure some time to talk with the wonderfully talented motion capture and voice actress for DmC’s heroine, Kat, and find out just what makes Sage and her in-game avatar tick.

Once more, our ever-effervescent community had a tremendous number of questions lined up for the star to answer. We picked our favourite 15 gems, and here be the answers that we were treated to:

“Was there an audition process, and if so what was it like?” VIA LOOPY

Sage: Yes, there was an audition process. My audition was a bit abnormal in how fast it all occurred. I auditioned with a scene from I believe the show Everwood because the DmC script was so confidential. I was put on tape for Tameem and producers and found before the end of the day that I had booked the job. I then went to a table where there was an option to release me from my contract after the table. At the table read was the first time I met Tameem and actually read my character in the script. That was probably the most nerve-racking part, but obviously it all worked out.

“You posted a bunch of pics online of you rocking some pretty awesome Kat cosplay, was that during or after production? Some method actors really enjoy getting into character, was that some kind of method voice acting?” VIA DJANGO

Sage: Ha. In hindsight I probably should have done it before the shoot, but I actually didn’t really know what Kat looked like in entirety until after the DmC shoot. The photos came about because my friend David Freid, who is a genius photographer and I decided to have some fun with my character. It was all are concept and our doing. When I saw how great the shots turned out, I sent them to Capcom to use for publicity purposes. I really enjoyed getting to embody Kat in more of a physical sense though. Since during shooting we were simply in our mocap suits, which don’t help you to feel very sexy.

“How would you personally describe the character of Kat?” VIA 788MASRI

Sage: Kat is an introvert and has major trust issues. She has always been forced to rely on herself, so I think in a way that’s why she almost over trusts Vergil when they first form a relationship. Because Vergil is the first to ever be nice to her. She’s childlike in that way that she is still learning a lot about herself, her sexuality and how the world works. She definitely hasn’t had an easy life, but has remarkably not become jaded or sinister because her experiences. She has a ton of empathy and I think that’s what makes her character so endearing.

“Did you have any input on the story?” VIA NEROMAYCRY

Sage: No. The story was complete before I ever got involved. I had input to an extend with Kat. Tameem was great with all of us in regards to adding our quirks and our way of seeing the characters to his vision of them. He really worked with us and not against us.

“Do you feel that Kat is a good representation for a strong female character in a video game?” VIA ONECRAZYMONKEY1

Sage: This question is probably the hardest for me to answer. I think overall yes. While, I understand peoples viewpoints that I’ve read on forums or in articles about how Kat is damsel in distress, I think when you really evaluate her fully, you’ll see that she’s not. No, she doesn’t have weapons or kick ass at any point in the game, but she certainly doesn’t simply cry or constantly need saving. Yes, Dante saves her at the end, but she saved him first. Dante would have had a much harder time on his path without Kat by his side. And I like that she doesn’t use weapons, but instead uses her brain to invent spells and portals into limbo. I also like that she isn’t advertently sexual. She isn’t using being a girl to manipulate Dante or Vergil and Dante sees her as his equal not simply as a woman to conquer.

“How did you prepare for DmC Devil May Cry? [Going] from a TV actress to playing and acting as a video game character, was there any challenging aspects from changing roles?” VIA AWESOMEDMC

Sage: The biggest challenge I think for all of us actors was adjusting to the green screen aspect of things. When you act in TV and film, it’s easier in a lot of ways in that you’re given a real set. So if you’re scene takes place in a bedroom, there’s a bed, a tv, and some decorations; things that tend to help you as an actor to ground yourself in the scene and in the character. When doing Mocap none of that is there. A wooden platform is a bed and that’s it. No doors to open, no decorations to pull help give you a sense of your character. It is just you the other actor and hopefully your vivid imagination. I guess the other challenge was just in making made up things real. In the real world there is no limbo or demon creatures to annihilate, so when dialogue or scenes revolved around those things, you had to work a little harder to find parallel ideas for yourself to be able to act truthfully in the given circumstances. Hopefully all of that made some kind of sense :/

“What was Tameem like as a director? Did he encourage you to have your own interpretation of the character?” VIA FRAZZ

Sage: Tameem was great. Very open to suggestions about our characters and totally listened to suggestions or questions we may have had.

“What is your favourite thing about Kat and DmC?” VIA ZEROLOVE

Sage: Probably that she is a graffiti artist. I loved that aspect of her. Maybe because I’m a huge fan or street art myself and was already an avid Banksy follower/supporter before even becoming involved in the project, so I thought it was so cool that she creates these portals with her graffiti. I hope if there is a sequel I get some hands on graffiti lessons. Go to downtown LA and create some art on a wall. That would be pretty rad.


“If you had to choose between going on a date with Dante or Vergil and your life depended on it, who would you pick and why?” VIA ALITTLEACORN

Sage: I feel like this one is pretty obvious. Kat would go on a date with Dante. Why? Because he was much more invested in Kat’s survival than Vergil was.

“Have you been contacted for a sequel?” VIA JERRY WIREHAMMER

Sage: Fingers and toes are crossed.

“If you had to chose between Dante or Vergil who would you choose?” VIA DRAGONMASTER2010

Again, I’m going to assume this question is asking Kat who she would choose and therefor like the previous question. Kat would choose Dante, because he genuinely cares about her, while Vergil saw Kat more as a pawn in his master plan.

“Hi Sage, I’m curious; How does one extract squirrel semen?” VIA ZILLA

Sage: With a turkey baster, obviously ;).

“How would you explain Kat’s feelings about Dante at the end of DmC?” VIA VERGIL’SBITCH

Sage: My interpretation is that Kat loves Dante. Not romantically. I think it goes deeper than that. This is someone she would literally give her life for. She believes in him, more than I think even he believes in himself. They’re two lost souls who have found each other and will do anything for each other. So, I think Dante in the end doesn’t kill vergil, because Kat begs him not to. It’s like she’s telling him “you’re better than that.” And he wants to prove her right.

“Are you familiar with Devil May Cry? If not, did you do any research before or while playing as Kat?” VIA DANTE47

Sage: I was not familiar with Devil May Cry before becoming involved in the project. I obviously am more familiar now with the franchise. Because DmC was a reboot and they really wanted the game to have it’s own feel, we were actually encouraged to not play the previous games. I think Tameem really wanted our own organic take on our characters and not feeling like we needed to replicate what had previously been done.

“Would you ever want to return playing as Kat again in DmC2?” VIA RONIN

Sage: I would love to. I enjoyed every moment of getting to be a part of this game and franchise and would love an opportunity to continue bringing life to Kat in the future. I think her story has a lot to still be developed and revealed. I think the better question though, is do you guys want me to still be Kat in DmC 2? Cause, you guys are the most important part of this whole franchise. Your why there’s been 5 Devil May Cry’s and hopefully why there will be a sixth.

Thanks for taking the time to answer the community’s many questions, Ka– er… Sage! Hear’s to hoping we see much more of Kat and yourself in DmC: Devil May Cry 2!

Sage: Thanks for the interview! It rocked my socks! I love interacting with all of you, so feel free to comment or ask questions, some of you may already know that I’m pretty good about answering and commenting back. Also, if you guys want to ask me questions directly or get updates on other projects I am a part of. I have a Facebook page and my Twitter handle is WordswithSage.
 
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