Expedition 33’s Boss Fights to His Acting Career

When it comes to careers, there are few that are as challenging as acting. As it is one of the most competitive fields one can choose, attempting to become an actor when so many others have the same goal is already hard enough, but sustaining that career demands an even rarer mix of patience, discipline, and resilience. For many performers, the process becomes a constant cycle of auditions, rejection, and self-improvement, where success is never guaranteed and progress often comes down to inches rather than miles. Genshin Impact‘s Paul Castro Jr. is a voice actor in gaming who actually enjoys that challenge, however, whether it’s found in landing the right role or actually selling it once it’s booked.

Known primarily for his roles in NEO: The World Ends With You and Genshin Impact as protagonist Rindo Kanade and playable character Freminet, respectively, Paul Castro Jr. is as big a fan of gaming as he is acting. For him, though, the joy of his chosen career isn’t limited by his success but is instead primarily found in the challenging road it takes to get there. That perspective ultimately plays into how Castro approaches both sides of his creative life. The same mentality that pushes him to embrace rejection and long odds as an actor also drives how he approaches difficult games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, where persistence and patience often matter more than playing things the “right” way or waiting until the numbers are in his favor.

Genshin Impact’s Paul Castro Jr. Likens the Challenge of Acting to Overcoming Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Boss Fights

During a recent interview with Naomi Kyle on Game Rant’s Character Select, Paul Castro Jr., voice of Freminet in Genshin Impact, delved into his passion for acting, which is ultimately rooted in the challenge associated with it. In his eyes, the most fulfilling part about being an actor is not the success that can come with it, but the pursuit of that success. Ultimately, while Castro likely hopes that his journey will lead to prominence in the field, he seems to have a very balanced viewpoint on it that considers the real reward to be difficulty rather than victory.

“Don’t we all [like a challenge] to some degree?” Castro stated when asked about his apparent love for a good challenge. “Maybe some people don’t; they like easy street. But for me, I just find it so rewarding when something is hard, and whether you succeed at it or not, the pursuit of success is very gratifying.”

That philosophy carried over almost perfectly into a recent gaming session that ended up mirroring Castro’s outlook on acting in an unexpected way. While traveling, he found himself deep into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, facing boss encounters that were clearly designed to be tackled later. Rather than walking away or waiting until the game said he was ready, Castro treated the situation the same way he approaches an audition or a demanding role. He focused on mastery and repetition, trusting that skill and persistence could compensate for being underpowered, even if success wasn’t guaranteed.

“I was on the plane the other day, and I was playing Expedition 33,” Castro explained. “And there are these boss fights that they present you with where you’re definitely not strong enough to do them that early in the game. But I was like, ‘If I parry or dodge every single attack, I think I could beat this right now.’ And so I spent an 8-hour plane ride doing that. And I wound up being an early boss.”

Castro was right to approach Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s boss fights that way, as the game does allow players to tackle challenges they aren’t meant to overcome that early on. There are plenty of bosses in the game players might find by exploring off the beaten path, only to realize they are underequipped, underpowered, and all-around not ready for it. However, with enough patience, many of these battles can be won by simply parrying and dodging one’s way through them.

For Castro, that story neatly sums up how he views both acting and games. It’s not about waiting for perfect conditions or guaranteed victories but about showing up, taking the hit, learning the rhythm, and trying again. Whether he’s in a booth, an audition room, or locked in a losing fight on a plane, he finds satisfaction in the challenge itself and seeing what happens when effort is the only weapon he has to fight with