Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 has been on everyone's lips this year. Created by a new studio with a relatively small number of developers, the game won numerous accolades throughout the industry upon its release. It's fair to say that this is a favorite game, and at this year's The Game Awards Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 makes history by becoming the most awarded game of all time. It won a record nine awards, including the coveted Game of the Year.
One of the many reasons people loved Claire Obscurus: Expedition 33 was its characters. From Gustave to Mael and, of course, Eska, each character brings magnetism and warmth to the role, and even those with less noble goals are still endearing additions to the cast. But while each character is unique, many of them were brought to life by the same motion capture actors. One such actor is Maxence Cazorla, who performed the physical side of things in Claire Obscura's Gustave, Renoir and Verso. He also voiced Esky.
Cazorla grew up in southwest France and always knew he wanted to be an artist. Then, when he was 15, he saw “Blood Diamond” with Leonardo DiCaprio and “something switched” inside him. “I suddenly realized that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Cazorla tells me. “From there, I bought my first camera and started making short films, getting in front of the camera with friends and family. That's how it all started.”
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Cazorla first heard about Claire Obscure in the summer of 2023 through his friend and fellow actress Estelle Darnault. Like Cazorla, Darno also played several roles in Clair Obscur, including Leung, Ciel and Sophie, as well as several other female characters. “She sent me a link on Instagram to the Sandfall casting call. They were looking for English-speaking actors from Paris for a role-playing video game project called Project W,” Cazorla recalls. “What's funny is that Estelle and I applied without mentioning that we knew each other, so Sandfall had absolutely no idea that we were friends, and yet we both ended up being invited to do the project. It was also the very first time we had to work together.”
Cazorla was asked to send an audition tape where he auditioned for the roles of Gustave, Verso and Renoir. Shortly after his tape was received, he was invited to Sandfall studios in Paris, where he was again asked to audition for the same three roles. It was here that Cazorla first met Claire Obscura: director and creator of the 33rd Expedition, Guillaume Broche, as well as the entire Sandfall cinematic team.
“Right before the audition, we were shown an early trailer for the game. I immediately fell in love with the universe. Being a gamer myself, I immediately knew that this was a game I would play anyway, and suddenly the idea of embodying one of the characters seemed completely surreal to me,” recalls Cazorla. Three weeks later he learned that he had been cast as Gustave, little knowing how much his life would change.
Cazorla was originally slated to play only Gustave in Claire Obscure: Expedition 33, and he completed his part in “several” months. “I really thought my journey in the game was over. I remember being a little sad, knowing that Estelle and Charlotte would continue to work on the project,” the actor recalls. However, shortly after he finished working with Gustave, Cazorla received another call from the director of Claire Obscura asking if he would be interested in returning to play the role of Verso. Of course, Cazorla said yes, and that’s when “the real physical work began.”
“I needed to clearly distinguish the characters not only emotionally, but also physically, their posture, gait, the way they moved and occupied space. Although the characters were later voiced by other actors, it was important that they were immediately distinct from each other,” Cazorla tells me. “From that moment on, everything changed. All my interactions with other characters have completely changed. The way they looked at me when Gustave disappeared and we had to rebuild everything from scratch. In the end, I spent most of my time on the project bringing Verso to life.”
Cazorla calls Verso a “very special” role for him, adding that he is “by far the hardest to crack” due to Verso's many complexities. “A lot of his acting is subtext, what he doesn't say,” the actor explains. “Guillaume and I spent a lot of time sitting together so he could give me all the context I needed to truly understand the character and bring the necessary nuance to convey all the layers in one glance.”
Eventually, Cazorla also completed the recording of Verso's performance, but little did he know that his work was still not completed. Clearly fascinated by the actor's performance thus far, the director of Claire Obscura soon asked him if he would consider directing a film for Renoir. “It was both exciting and a lot of pressure knowing that Andy Serkis would be voicing the character,” Kasrola admits. “However, I agreed without hesitation. It's not every day you get to capture a character voiced by one of the most influential figures in motion capture.”
Looking back on his three performances, Cazorla says he “gave everything” he had to each character and left a “little part” of himself in all of them.
“I am grateful to Guillaume Broche for the trust he placed in me throughout the adventure,” he says. “His vision and passion motivated us all to give everything we had, and I'm incredibly glad that players can feel that heart and passion today when they play the game.”
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2025 has obviously been an incredible year for everyone involved in bringing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to life. In addition to the awards already mentioned, the game has been selling circulation of more than 5 million copies worldwide in all formats as of October, but now that number is likely to be even higher. The success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was even publicly acknowledged French President Emmanuel Macronwho said winning the Game of the Year was a source of “great pride for Montpellier and France”.
Looking back on the past year, Cazorla admits he “never imagined” so much attention and admiration. In fact, he believes that everyone involved was “caught by surprise by the success” of Clair Oscura. “We never approached a project with success or rewards in mind,” he says. “Everyone just brought their skill to the story, and I believe the players truly felt that.”
I ask Cazorla if there is a particular moment during the filming of Claire Obscure that stands out to him. He tells me about his first day of filming. “Putting on a motion capture suit for the first time and discovering a whole new way of acting and storytelling was unforgettable,” he says. “It was the scene where Gustave wakes up next to the waterfall at the beginning of the first act. This moment is forever etched in me.
“I had no idea then that this adventure would change my life so profoundly.”
So what happens to Cazorla now? After what is undoubtedly a whirlwind year, which included flying to Los Angeles for The Game Awards earlier this month, will he be taking a break? “For the first time in my career, I find myself at a crossroads where I actually have a choice about what happens next,” he smiles. “I have upcoming projects that I can’t talk about yet due to non-disclosure agreements, but after 18 years of not being able to fully live off my craft, I am deeply aware of how lucky I am to finally be able to look into the future.
“Whether the future takes me back to video games or movies, we'll see. At the moment, nothing surprises me anymore. As long as I play, I'll be happy.”
Our time is coming to an end, but before we go, Cazorla wants to thank everyone who played Claire Obscurus. “The love, support, messages and stories they share with us mean everything. More than ever, I realize that without them none of this would be possible, and even speaking to you today is partly thanks to them,” he says.
“By watching and sharing the behind-the-scenes videos I posted on social media, they allowed me to reach a wider audience and continue to live my dream,” the Clair Obscur actor tells me, before warmly concluding:
“For that I will always be grateful.”
