Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Verso Actor Tells Players to Pick Maelle’s Ending — It’s Where He Earned His Award

Maelle’s actor is all-in on her ending: let her live her delulu fantasy life.

Actors picking sides in their own game endings is always fun, especially when the story asks you to wreck one reality to save another. Heads up: full spoilers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and both endings below.

Quick refresher: the big choice at the end

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is pretty straightforward story-wise until the finale, where it throws a massive fork in the road. You decide the ending by staging one last showdown between Maelle and Verso, and the loser takes the L for their worldview.

• Keep Maelle in the painted world: She gets the dream life surrounded by friends and family, but there is a catch — the longer she stays, the place corrodes her. It is bliss with a timer.
• Destroy the canvas: You wipe out the painted world and everyone you met in it, and Maelle reverts to her life as Alicia back in reality. It is brutal, but clean.

So which ending do the stars pick?

Despite Maelle and Verso being on opposite sides of that final choice, both performers behind them — Jennifer English (Maelle) and Ben Starr (Verso) — are on the same page. Both just won acting awards for Expedition 33 at the 2025 Golden Joystick Awards, and when GamesRadar+ asked them which ending they prefer, they did not hesitate.

'I mean, Maelle's my girl. I think let her live her delulu fantasy life.'

English doubled down on it being real enough, just a different kind of reality. And Starr? He went full actor-brain in the best way:

'Maelle's ending because I really like my acting in it... Please play Maelle's ending. I'm really proud of some of the stuff I do in there... I got this award because I was so good in that ending; choose the Maelle ending to see why I won this award!'

But it is not that simple (theme-wise)

Starr also made a point that cuts through the fan-argument of it all: both outcomes are really about Alicia — Maelle's life back in the real world — and how she processes grief. In other words, neither path is 'wrong'; they are two different ways of coping, and the game lets you pick the one that fits.

'I do think both endings are Alicia's ending... it's a moment where you think, what is best for grief? How are we dealing with it? And I think both are completely valid.'

One last note

For what it is worth, the interviewer admitted they chose Maelle and immediately wished they had gone Verso, which tells you how messy this choice feels even when you know the consequences. Also, English and Starr were not the only folks taking home trophies — the Golden Joystick Awards had a busy night all around.