The following is a video transcript

Todd Kenreck: It can be really daunting and emotional to move on from a character that you've been playing for years with your best friends. And that's why I talked to Ashley Johnson about having to move on from Pike and now embracing Yasha on Critical Role's new set of characters. Now we did this all at a stream event for D&D called the Stream of Many Eyes, which explains her more fantastical makeup during this interview.

Todd Kenreck: We've never gotten to talk about your old character in Vox Machina. What was it like saying goodbye to her?

Ashley Johnson: Oh, man. It was hard. I mean, we had played just about two years in a home game. I think for all of us those characters in the first campaign, it meant a lot more to us because it's where we all started together. And it was hard to say goodbye, because I think you never really think about that when you're creating a character that oh, at some point we're going to move onto something else. And I could have just continued playing Pike and I think all of us could have just continued in those characters. Yeah, it was sad, but I'm really glad to start anew with the characters that we have now. And I think it's made it better that we're all palying together still, so it doesn't feel like something completely new where it's uncomfortable or you miss the old life that you had. I mean, it's ... But of course I have days where I definitely miss Pike. And it's hard to ... it's been hard to make the transition, because they are very different characters.

Todd Kenreck:  Did you add some aspects of your own personality?

Ashley Johnson: Pike?

Todd Kenreck: Yeah.

Ashley Johnson:  I would say so. I think when we started, because that was the first time that I'd ever played D&D and of course I'd heard about it. My brother played it. And I knew about it, but I didn't ... I'd never played in a game before. I think at first I didn't really know how much role play was involved with D&D. Maybe that was just our particular game. I know I've played in a bunch of different games now where that wasn't as involved, but in this particular game, there was a lot of role play. I was thrown in with this amazing group of people that just throw themselves into their characters and I think to start, I was just kind of playing me and figuring things out and figuring out what a Cleric is. I think Pike was a lot of me to begin with and then once the friendship with Grug and Pike were established and thinking, developing the character more over the years, she became a little bit, a little different than me.

Ashley Johnson: I'm somewhere in the split between Pike and Yasha. That's an interesting thing, because depending on the day, I'll be more caring, wanting to help people, and then other days I'm like meh, they can figure it out. It's been fun.

Todd Kenreck:  What were some of the challenges of making Yasha? Because no you ... there's this pressure you probably didn't necessarily feel before.

Ashley Johnson: Yeah.

Todd Kenreck: Because it's going to be scrutinized and also you have to spend some time-

Ashley Johnson: Good times.

Todd Kenreck: With this character for a very long time.

Ashley Johnson: Yeah, I definitely knew I wanted to play a barbarian. Just hands down that was something I wanted to do, because most of the time when I play any other games or video games, I like being in the fray. I like being a melee fighter. I had joined the group in I think the second game and so the cleric, Matt was like, "You can play a cleric." And I was like I don't know what that is, but I think initially I would've picked something different. I knew I wanted to play a barbarian, so I wanted to build the character around that. And of course there's pressure. It's ... In your home games or anything like that, you want it to be cool. You want something that you're going to have fun playing, but we definitely have that element, which is a weird thing to think about, of you also want this to be enjoyable for other people.

Ashley Johnson: That's all of us thinking more about back story, because it just makes it a little bit more interesting to watch for the viewers. Yeah, it's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of pressure that we didn't have in the first campaign, because they were already established. And those first games of playing as Yasha I think I ... I even talked to Travis about this. I think both of us were like, "Did we make the right decision? Is this ...?" It's so scary, because you ... But we just didn't know who they were yet. And jumping in, in the first campaign we'd already had just under two years of establishing these characters where we just knew them. Easy peasy, jump in, we know what to do in every situation.

Ashley Johnson: But this was just a whole new thing, which was great for the viewers to see that of hey, you know, we don't have it all together, not that we ever do. I was like, wait, we never have it together.

Todd Kenreck: What keeps you playing D&D? Obviously the show is really successful, but I get the sense that you'd be doing this anyways.

Ashley Johnson: Definitely.

Todd Kenreck: And you all have very busy careers. You have to go to New York for your show.

Ashley Johnson: Yeah.

Todd Kenreck: What keeps you coming back?

Ashley Johnson: I mean ... I guess I've been playing D&D for five years now or it may be a little bit more than that. I don't ... I can't remember all the exact dates, but I feel like ... This sounds so cheesy, but I honestly feel like it's sort of filled a void where I'm ... you're getting to play with friends, you're role playing, and it's in a fantasy world. And I think it just sort of ... it just made sense. And it also bummed me out that I hadn't played it sooner, that I finally was playing it and I was like oh man, I wish I would've done this when I was younger and I knew people that played this. And I tried playing with my brother and he's like, "No, you can't play in our group." I mean, he's six years older than I am, so it just ... he wasn't going to let me play with his friends.

Ashley Johnson: But yeah, I think ... I play in a home game in New York. I play in a home game with Brian. I play in a lot of different home games. It's kind of nice to also get the experience of a home game and then also have the streaming show. I love it. I would ... it's almost like I play D&D every day, but no, it's ... I still feel like I have so much to learn. I think that's what keeps me coming back is that it's a game that you are continually evolving in your character and learning how to play in that character. And it's just never ending in the best way.

Todd Kenreck: I know that in entertainment you don't always get to choose your roles.

Ashley Johnson: Yeah.

Todd Kenreck: Am I right?

Ashley Johnson: Yeah.

Todd Kenreck: You don't choose-

Ashley Johnson: Definitely.

Todd Kenreck: How you get cast, but you have such ... you have amassed a body of work at this point. You've got to be able to make some choices.

Ashley Johnson: Yeah.

Todd Kenreck: What gets you excited creativity now?

Ashley Johnson: In terms of D&D?

Todd Kenreck: No.

Ashley Johnson: Or just all across the board?

Todd Kenreck: Just in general. What gets you most excited about a role or a scene or yeah, principle role or anything like that?

Ashley Johnson: I think if you are in the entertainment industry or in anything like this, you have to be excited about just creating. And specifically for actors, just creating a character and taking on the challenge of playing somebody different than yourself. And pushing yourself to see how different you can be. And trying new voices. Or for me, my favorite thing is figuring out how a character walks and how they talk and what they wear. I just love creating something new. And I think that's also why I really like D&D, is because as an actor a lot of the time you don't get to decide the roles you play or what you say or the situations that you're in and so it is nice to feel a little bit more control in that. And I think yeah, I think those are probably my favorite parts about being in this industry.

Todd Kenreck: Thank you, Ashley Johnson for being such an amazing interview and for taking the time to sit down and talk. I am Todd Kenreck, your host. Thank you all for watching.