Troy Baker Reflects on His Role in Mass Effect 3

Voice actor Troy Baker admitted that his role as Kai Leng in Mass Effect 3 still makes him feel embarrassed.

Troy Baker still feels ashamed of his role as Kai Leng in Mass Effect 3 and asked to switch the video off quickly while watching old scenes.

The actor, known for playing Joel in The Last of Us and Higgs in Death Stranding, recalled his involvement in Mass Effect 3 on the Partychat channel. While viewing clips of his famous works, Baker spoke with nostalgia about Neil Druckmann and Hideo Kojima, but the appearance of Kai Leng made him grimace in shame.

When a scene appeared on screen where Shepard impales the villain with an omni-blade, the actor stated that the character “completely deserved it,” admitting there were many reasons not to take on the role.

Kai Leng has long frustrated Mass Effect fans. The game attempted to present the character as a dangerous opponent to Shepard, although his design featuring futuristic goggles and a samurai sword, alongside cinematic victories that contradicted actual gameplay events, turned him into an object of ridicule. Fans also criticized the mix of the character’s Chinese heritage with Japanese stereotypes.