After she decided as a child actor that she wanted to become an actress, she not only succeeded in winning one of the most important awards in gaming through her work. She is also part of the most famous streaming group for Dungeons & Dragons and excites fans worldwide.
Who is this actress? We are talking about actress and voice actress Laura Bailey, who, together with her husband Travis Willingham and her friends, consisting of Matt Mercer and other famous voice actors, forms the streaming group Critical Role.
While the group has been streaming their campaigns on Twitch and other platforms for 10 years, they have built an enormous fanbase. For this, they go on a worldwide arena tour to perform their campaigns live in front of an audience – even for the first time in Germany in July 2026.
Laura Bailey is a member of Critical Role, known not only for her D&D characters like Vex’ahlia or Jester. She is also recognized for many other roles in gaming and series, such as Jaina from World of Warcraft, Gwen Stacy from the Marvel’s Spider-Man series, or anime like Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Soul Eater.
Through her role as Abby in The Last of Us 2, the actress not only received a BAFTA, but also won the award for “Best Performance” at the Game Awards 2020.
But all of this only started because she was able to identify with the experience of another actress during her school years, which made her realize that she wanted to turn her love for theater and acting into her profession.
Here you can see the trailer for The Mighty Nein on Amazon Prime, in which Laura Bailey once again takes on the role of the blue tiefling named Jester:
An inspiration turned a student’s dream into a goal
In an interview between Laura Bailey and Critical Role colleague Matt Mercer on YouTube, she talks about the reason she wanted to become an actress at all. She recounts that she was quite shy as a child, but still auditioned and acted in plays during her school years. Back then, she saw an interview with Katie Holmes, who was around the same age as young Laura and also started acting during her school years.
This was the first conscious moment for Laura when she realized that someone like her could succeed – and why shouldn’t she give it a try?
During a college performance a few years later, Laura was discovered by the voice actor Kent Williams, who voiced characters in various anime, including Dragon Ball. He invited her to an audition while the studio was working on Dragon Ball Z, landing her first role as the young Trunks.
For a while, Laura tried to continue her studies while working at her new job, but eventually dropped out on the advice of her professor, as she had already made her entry into the industry. From that point on, she should focus entirely on her work as a voice actress.
Even a big award is not more important than the famous “Thursday night”
In 2020, the sequel to the blockbuster “The Last of Us” by Naughty Dog was released, in which Laura Bailey played the antagonist and also protagonist Abby alongside her Critical Role colleague Ashley Johnson as Ellie. Due to the controversial actions of her character in the game and a wave of angry hate messages from “hurt” and angry “fans,” the actress had a difficult time.
Nevertheless, her acting performance was seen and recognized, which is why she was not only nominated for a Game Award but also awarded for “Best Performance.”
I fell in love with Joel and Ellie, so it doesn’t surprise me that Abby’s role in this story caused such intense reactions. But the fact that I got to play such a fantastically challenging character, one that allows the player to find forgiveness and empathy through her story, is something I will be forever grateful for.
– Laura Bailey in her acceptance speech at the Game Awards 2020 (Source: YouTube)
What many regular viewers of the Game Awards at the time did not notice: During the awards show, there was none other than her beloved blue tiefling in her mind, since the Game Awards took place on the very day of the week that is usually reserved for something entirely different. The famous Thursday night is always a Critical Role night … and she wouldn’t let an event like the Game Awards take that away from her and promptly made her way to the studio right after her speech.
In this video on YouTube, you can see how Laura Bailey chooses her priorities:
Even 5 years later, Thursday night is still the sacred date for many Critters, where Critical Role broadcasts their current campaign live. Laura Bailey can be seen in the current fourth campaign alongside familiar faces as well as new ones, as Pixie Thimble.
Currently, the second campaign of Critical Role is also running as an animated series on Amazon Prime. In “The Mighty Nein,” Laura Bailey plays the aforementioned tiefling Jester, a cleric who could be described as the heart of the group. If you want to learn more about Jester and the other members of the Mighty Nein, you can do so here on MeinMMO: The new series of Critical Role starts today on Amazon – Here are the Mighty Nein
