Hideo Kojima says he should have rewritten Death Stranding 2 if Elle Fanning had turned down the project.
On his Spotify podcast, Brain Structure, the legendary video game director, writer and producer spoke with actress Fanning. During the podcast, he explained that he wanted to use “Elle’s talent and charm to create a character unlike any other.”
This led to the revelation that he even altered specific parts of the game’s script based on his off-camera moves. However, it seems Metal Gear Solid’s director was concerned that she would have to cut large parts of the game if she said no. “I should have deleted the scenes I had written, because she plays such an important role,” he explained.
Elaborating on the character of Fanning and his role in the sequel to 2019’s acclaimed title Death Stranding, Kojima said, “I can’t really share much, but he’s a very, very important character. And yeah, I I created the character with Elle. So I was afraid that she would refuse the offer.”
Despite the importance of Fanning’s character, the actor was omitted entirely from the first Death Stranding trailer dated December 2, 2022. The trailer confirmed Norman Reedus’ return as Sam Porter Bridges alongside Lea Seydoux as Fragile. However, Fanning was nowhere to be found.
During the podcast, Fanning recounted her time with Kojima and others working on Death Stranding 2. She recalled a specific motion capture sequence:
“After that day, you were able to spend more time with me. But after that day, you said, ‘I think I’m going to rewrite the script now, I have new ideas after meeting you. .’
Kojima replied, “I changed a lot of things, including adding new scenes. So we changed things in the performance captures, but I wanted actors like Elle to be part of the creative process.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, Fanning revealed that Death Stranding 2 takes motion capture technology to a new level, promising that the sequel “already looks amazing” even though it’s far from finished.
At the moment, Death Stranding 2 does not have a release date.