Interview: Overwatch 2’s Symmetra voice actor on “special” bond with castmates

We spoke to Overwatch 2 Symmetra voice actor Anjali Bhimani to learn more about the process of giving Symmetra her unique voice in Blizzard’s hero shooter.

Video games are arguably the most immersive form of storytelling. Because of this, the characters that inhabit this interactive world are of the utmost importance to the player and can make or break the immersive experience for them.

It’s the task of talented voice actors to fill these characters with life, personality, and emotion, truly embodying the role with a genuine and convincing performance.

Blizzard’s hero shooter Overwatch 2 is no exception to this rule, hosting masterful performances from voice actors to create a living breathing future Earth. We were fortunate enough to speak to voice actress of Symmetra, Anjali Bhimani, about her process behind voicing the character and more.

The audition process with Blizzard

Bhimani is no stranger to being on the go, throughout the interview she explained her plans to rush to leave off to London shortly afterward. This was the same case a few years prior when she was sending off her audition for a mysterious project then known as ‘Prometheus’.

“It was not the normal process that I have experienced because I was actually traveling,” she explained. Also in light of the global crisis at the time, more jobs were accepting remote applications. “Doing things remotely wasn’t always happening,” as Bhimani said.

The voice actor was actually in the middle of preparing to travel back to Los Angeles when she got the audition for the codenamed character Satya, now better known as Symmetra.

“I knew because I was on my way to sound check and there’s going to be a whole show and we’re going to probably have to stay up all night that I was going to need to record my audition after staying up all night, right before I went to the hotel at 7AM.

“So, came back into the hotel picked up my phone, recorded the audition, put it down, got my bags, and I was like, that’s it,” she recounted.

Of course, at the time, Bhimani hadn’t even seen Symmetra yet and was only given a few lines that may not have even made the final game.

She wasn’t hopeful about her chances given the situation, but was glad she at least gave it a shot. Before long, she received a call back from the casting agent, letting her know she was now officially onboard. A surprise for Bhimani after just one audition given “major parts like that” often require a few separate stages.

Finding Symmetra’s voice in Overwatch

Not much was known about Symmetra when Bhimani got the call back, the voice actor could only recall a few lines of dialogue and not much more. However, Bhimani did note that one paragraph stuck around with her and partially made it into the game.

“I don’t remember the exact lines, but it definitely feels like I remember those lines coming into the game.”

The phrases featured in the game are arguably some of her most iconic ones, speaking about her ability to create a sense of order from a chaotic battlefield.

“The paragraph was talking about how she, you know, ‘you see things this way, but I create order from chaos.’”

Symmetra was regarded as more of an oddball character on Overwatch’s release. Alongside Torbjorn, the defensive hero was often hailed as a troll pick by the community. Eventually, she would receive several reworks to her kit, leading up to the full set of abilities she has today in Overwatch 2.

Lore-wise, the hero has been featured in several comics and short stories but is sometimes considered to be more separate from the plot. Of course, with the introduction of Lifeweaver in Season 5 of Overwatch 2, the devs are looking to integrate her further into the game’s ever-growing narrative.

Playing as Symmetra, as Symmetra

With how busy Bhimani’s schedule is, it’s often hard for her to find time to jump into some Quick Play and soak up the world of Overwatch, however, she did recall one fond experience with the player base of late.

“I remember jumping into one game where I think the name of the group was, ‘Just Talking’ or something like that. So they were playing, but they were just kind of exploring and they were having this great conversation.

“I just jumped into the conversation and it was so lovely and then eventually they asked about me and I told them what I do, but it stayed exactly the same level of conversation. They were so cool with it,” the voice actor beamed.

They explained how they believe conversations like those are indicative of the positive side of the Overwatch community, one that is often overshadowed by the toxicity of its more competitive peers.

“It’s really indicative of a lot of the light and positive side of the Overwatch community is that I understand in gaming there is toxicity and that is a thing that we have to deal with.”

Bhimani believes that Overwatch 2’s world is often the avenue that allows for these more hopeful and aspirational conversations to occur.

“I think that the way the world is depicted in that game is so hopeful and so aspirational that it lends itself to people taking that on,” they explained.

Interacting with the Overwatch 2 cast

Overwatch is known for its colorful cast of characters in-game, though fans of the hero shooter have equally enjoyed watching them interact outside of the game as well.

When speaking about how the cast became friends, Bhimani explained how it naturally flowed on from their first encounter.

“We had never met as a group until the first BlizzCon in 2016. Overwatch had just come out and Blizzard had a little cast event where we came to the campus and got a tour. So that was the first time I met a lot of the cast members. It was a really special thing that I hadn’t experienced before.”

It was during this time when the well-known video was shot by Lucio voice actor Johnny Cruz, and their friendship “just kind of flowed from there.”

“I started inviting people over to hang out and have parties and Feo (Feodor Chin) has a pool and a grill. So he would invite people over and then Carolina and I became really, really dear friends as well.”

Of course, attending conventions like BlizzCon under the umbrella of Overwatch certainly helped in that regard. Bhimani was clearly thankful for the fantastic people she had met through Overwatch, and while the game brought them together, it was not what kept them together.

“It’s an extraordinary group of people that are really, really fun to hang out with. The game brought us together, but it’s not what keeps us together.”