Bringing a video game character to life is not an easy task. With a good story and direction, you may have an interesting character on paper, but it’s the voice actors who do the real work of bringing them to life. They put their soul and dedicate hours to transforming these digital figures into memorable icons for us gamers. One of the renowned figures in voice acting is Frankie Kevich, who has brought to life many beloved characters in popular gaming franchises.
Starring in Arknights, Apex Legends, and very recently in Silent Hill f, she excels at diverse roles from both emotional baggage to free-flowing spirits. In this exclusive interview, we speak with Frankie Kevich about her road down the horror hill of Silent Hill f.
How Frankie Shaped Iconic Characters Like Conduit and Cantabile
Frankie Kevich has led a diverse career path in bringing many beloved characters to life. She started with short films and later shifted to voice acting during the pandemic. Her most prominent roles have included voicing Conduit in Apex Legends, Cantabile in Arknights, and, more recently, Rinko Nishida in Silent Hill f.
Featuring a diverse voice range, Frankie excels at bringing a range of opposite characters to life, from a depressed Cantabile, shifting to a larger-than-life Conduit, and then changing the pace again for the twisted personality of Rinko Nishida. Her diversity in acting roles really fascinated me, which is where my first question in the interview started.
Sanmay: How do you prepare for such diverse roles? What’s your prep routine for each character?
Well, the question made her eyes spark as she passionately delved into her usual prep routine for every character.
Frankie: Definitely, I love to go off references and, you know, even when you’re auditioning for the game, they usually give you some context, like, and some references of what the game is, or what other characters are like. I definitely take big inspiration just to live in the same world as other voice actors in the different games are doing.
As Frankie continues to speak on how she draws inspiration for different characters, her voice gets a bit somber. She then reveals that the biggest challenge she faces is playing characters that are very different from her personality. For emotional characters, or really bright and peppy characters, she tries to find more of herself in them and puts herself into that headspace, empathizing with their history and trauma, reacting off of that.
But when it comes to characters who are so detached from her personality, she has to put a lot more work and preparation to really dig into their history, while shutting off avenues of herself that wouldn’t be appropriate for that character.
Sanmay: What games shot up your fame and put you on the map?
Frankie: Yeah, I would say it’s so funny, there are a lot of characters that I really love that I just don’t have the same reach as others. That I was like, “Oh man, we put in a lot of work. I hope more people kind of, like, recognize her in the future.” But Conduit was definitely my big one. She was…it was, you know. One of the biggest games that I had been a part of.
Surprisingly, she became excited at the mention of Cantabile, as she burst into a big smile. She spoke about playing the Arknights girl and how it made her known in the other end of the gaming spectrum. She revealed that Arknights was one of the first big video game projects that she booked, and there were one too many moments where she was recognized for her role in Arknights over Apex Legends.
Other than her diverse voice acting roles in gaming, Frankie has also delved a fair amount into live-action. She started by acting in short films. Some of her best works were in the horror genre, like Sonant and Red Horror. While talking about her short films, we also learned that she has another live-action project coming out that’s in horror.
Frankie’s fans would love to hear that she is working on another horror project currently. Remember that you heard it here first! With that said, I was finally brimming with excitement to learn more about her work on the Silent Hill f.
Spoiler Warning:
Before we continue to the other questions, I need to warn you that we are starting to enter Spoiler territory. So, if you haven’t played Silent Hill f yet, you’d best avoid this part entirely. Do read my Silent Hill f review if you are still debating on whether to play the game.
Frankie’s Road to Madness and Horror in Silent Hill f
Frankie played the role of Rinko Nishida in Silent Hill f, who is one of Shimizu Hinako’s friends. Her character was really one of the more fascinating figures in the game, and Frankie brought her to life with utmost passion. What truly fascinated me about Rinko’s character was the duality of her behavior.
Sanmay: Let’s talk about Silent Hill f now, and your character Rinko Nishida. So, when did the recording for it start? And were you recording together with the other voice actors, or in separate booths?
Frankie: It was a while ago (2024), and pretty quick, too. We were able to get in and get out, which, you know, I’m sure was very different for Susie Young (VO for Shimizu Hinako), who had so much more content to do.
She then goes on to mention how the Konami team helped her get things done quickly. They all recorded separately and had not met each other until the BIS interviews. Frankie and other English voice actors had to go off the Japanese actors’ performances, as their scenes were played out as a reference.
Sanmay: Rinko’s character carried this fascinating duality from the very start. How did you tap into that contrast and bring both sides of her to life through your performance?
Frankie: I think for Rinko, I really tried to act like she doesn’t genuinely want to have so many negative emotions against Hinako; it’s just the jealousy and anger towards her that come from a place of insecurity that takes over her. I really saw Rinko as a petulant young girl who just couldn’t process her emotions well, but inside, there was a lot of vulnerability and a girl who just wanted to be loved, and that’s where it was all coming from. So if she isn’t provoked, you can see those shreds of desperation and yearning for affection, and when she feels any sort of rejection or being overlooked, she lashes out.
Sanmay: You mentioned before about the diversity of enemies in Silent Hill f. Do you personally have a favorite monster from the game? If yes, which one and why?
Frankie: Favorite is such a funny word to use about these monsters! I think my favorite monster would have to be the Kashimashi, since they represent so many themes of the games: beauty in terror, the toxicity around the idea of beauty and femininity, but it was also really interesting how fiercely and unexpectedly they moved. But the scariest monster that still haunts me is the pregnancy monster!
Next, we asked her about the lava scene in the Otherworld, where Rinko finally unleashes her anger at Hinako, lashing out before she ‘drops’ into the lava. When asked how she approached the scene, here is how she replied.
Frankie: Seeing her in the cage really showed Rinko’s total powerlessness — she could finally drop all her “masks.” Unlike her fight with Hinako, which came from anger and jealousy, this moment was pure vulnerability and obsession over Shu. The lava drop scene was intense — I’m very physical in the booth, so I got myself worked up with heavy breathing, crying, even pinching myself a bit to feel the pain. By the end, I was sweating!
Next, we had to ask Frankie about Rinko’s boss fight, where she saw herself transformed into this grotesque monster for the first time. When asked about how she prepared herself to deliver those intense voicelines, here is what she answered.
Frankie: Emotionally, I tried to just approach it like this was her breaking point. Up until this point, all these emotions were brewing underneath Rinko’s interactions with Hinako, and that animosity would slip out. But this scene it’s a full-on confrontation, no more niceties, it was almost a liberating experience as she no longer had to hold her tongue. As an actor who had to embody Rinko’s truth, it felt like opening the emotional floodgates.
Silent Hill f had so many amazing moments, with my favorite being Hinako’s interaction with her parents at the very end. So, I couldn’t hold myself back from asking about Frankie’s favorite scene as well, and she took no time to respond.
Sanmay: If you had to pick just one, which scene in Silent Hill f was your absolute favorite to bring to life?
Frankie: I know it’s such an enraging scene, but when Rinko calmly came down the stairs after Hinako fell and simply said, “you klutz”, I thought that was an insane moment! That whole scene was just so emotionally charged, so I think the choice to have Rinko be so nonchalant was really interesting and adds such a creepy layer to the whole dynamic between the three.
Although Rinko Nishida was not a very ‘likable’ character in Silent Hill f, she was definitely memorable. Frankie’s dedication to bringing Rinko to life is eye-opening and also shows the dedication from Konami’s team for creating this outstanding entry to their franchise.
Frankie had voiced so many gaming characters that it made me curious to know whether she also enjoyed playing games. So, I decided to ask her myself, and to my surprise, she does have a history of playing really good games. She enjoys playing RPG games, with old Tomb Raiders and Uncharted being among her favorites. She also enjoys playing Persona and Metaphor ReFantazio during her off time.
With the interview nearing its end, I had to ask about the next big plan or role for Frankie Kevich. She revealed that it’s her dream to be a Honkai or a Genshin character. But, she will lean more towards the more cinematic kind of games in the coming days, like the Silent Hill and the JRPG realm.
Have you played Silent Hill f yet, and if yes, what’s your take on Rinko Nishida’s character and voice acting? Tell us down in the comments.
