Mass Effect Actor Doesn’t Want You To Deny Jennifer Hale’s “Excellent” Commander Shepard Performance

Mass Effect remains one of the best science-fiction games, and BioWare’s flagship franchise is even creeping up on its 20th anniversary in 2027. Boasting a loyal fanbase, players are all too aware of the games’ replayability appeal, and a prolific actor from the series is keen to make sure his co-star’s performance as Commander Shepard, or FemShep, is experienced by all.

The Legendary Edition, which was released back in 2021, compiled the first Mass Effect game and its two sequels complete with visual enhancements and technical improvements. This remaster even featured upgraded combat mechanics, loading times, and more, but our own Jack Coleman wished this release contained the joys of Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer.

Mark Meer Advocates Jennifer Hale’s Mass Effect Performance As FemShep

In an interview with PC Gamer, actor Mark Meer, who voiced the male counterpart of protagonist Commander Shepard, discussed the game’s replayability factor, revealed the voice work he did for a slew of aliens after being hired by BioWare, and shared nothing but praise for fellow actor Jennifer Hale’s performance as the female Shepard.

Meer said that he occasionally gets told by people “‘Oh, I’ve never played female Commander Shepard. I only play you,'” which surprised the actor considering there was another stellar experience at players’ fingertips. Meer questioned, “Why are you denying yourself the excellent performance of Jennifer Hale?” and clearly had a lot of admiration for the actor and the experience created by FemShep.

Mass Effect’s story encourages players to run through the game several times, and since there are two performances of the same protagonist to experience, Meer believed the game’s replayability factor made it easy to enjoy both, saying “That’s the thing about Mass Effect, it has so much replayability.”

Meer added, “I certainly don’t mind though, if people are like, ‘No, I just play Jennifer as Commander Shepard,’ because I’m afraid you’ll be forced to encounter me as Niftu Cal and Blasto and any vorcha you run into and various other things in the game.” This revelation touched on the actor’s voice work for a host of Mass Effect aliens, so in jest, Meer preferred if gamers didn’t recognize his other performances.

Prior to becoming Shepard, Meer was asked to design the aliens’ soundsets for BioWare, which involved creating the asthmatic inhalations of the volus and included “that wheeze sort of sound”, playing almost all the hanar, and a few elcor and batarians.

Even if you play as Hale’s FemShep, Meer’s presence in Mass Effect will still be present from the aliens’ side.

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