Peter Serafinowicz Explains the Serendipitous Path to His Elden Ring Role
You probably recognize Peter Serafinowicz from a bunch of genre-friendly roles, including Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, Pete in Shaun of the Dead, and Garthan Saal in Guardians of the Galaxy. What may be less familiar is that he’s a long-running fan of Dark Souls 2—and, after that, Elden Ring.
That devotion has now spilled into his real-world acting life. Earlier this year, he was announced as part of the cast for an upcoming Elden Ring movie in a role that wasn’t detailed at the time. On a new podcast, Serafinowicz finally explained how the “unlikely” chain of events got him there.
Peter Serafinowicz Shares The Story Of How His Elden Ring Role Happened
Serafinowicz has been a Souls player for years. He says he landed his recurring voice work as the male death and exertion sound effects for FromSoftware—along with the “Mild-Mannered Pete” persona in Dark Souls 2—by reaching out directly and pitching himself. He also notes that footage of him playing Dark Souls 2 has been floating around online since as far back as 2014.
With that background, an Elden Ring movie part feels like a natural fit. He describes the game as “just the most satisfying game,” and he’s hoping the film experience can match that energy.
Speaking on Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things podcast, Serafinowicz walked through the moment where a casual encounter with Alex Garland ultimately led to his casting.
How the friendship turned into a movie role
- Serafinowicz says he became friends with Alex Garland after a chance meeting connected to an audition.
- Garland asked if he liked video games, and Serafinowicz replied that he likes one game.
- Garland identified that single favorite as Dark Souls.
- Serafinowicz later says Garland was busy with another meeting, so he left his number with reception.
- Serafinowicz explains that, years later, Garland is directing the Elden Ring movie and he’s in it.
Serafinowicz recalls the setup like this: “I became friends with Alex Garland, the writer and director.” He adds that he had been heading to an audition and that Garland had some kind of meeting scheduled. He didn’t know him beforehand, but Garland walked over, introduced himself, and the conversation started from there.
During that chat, Garland brought it back to games with a direct question: “You like video games, don’t you?” Serafinowicz answered with a focused confession from the Shaun of the Dead star: “Well, I like one video game.” Garland immediately clocked what that meant, recognizing it as Dark Souls, and the two connected from there.
Then came the part that almost derailed everything. Garland had to sprint off to his next engagement, so Serafinowicz couldn’t lock anything in at the moment. Instead, he left his contact details with reception for the director.
“Fast-forward to now, and Alex is directing Elden Ring the movie, and I’m in it; I just can’t believe my luck,” Serafinowicz tells podcast host Howard.
Given how personal his interest in Elden Ring and FromSoftware games clearly is, it makes sense that he’d treat the role with care—whether it ends up being a big part or something smaller, the enthusiasm is plainly there.
