Through the world of Overwatch and the lands of Exandria, Supa-Star Anjali Bhimani fills us in on all of her wonderful adventures ahead of her visit to Perthnova this weekend!
WHY DO YOU THINK OVERWATCH HAS HAD SUCH A LASTING IMPACT?
I think there are several reasons. One, there’s something for everyone. All of the characters are so complex that players are able to feel ownership of the heroes and experience agency through the heroes.
Another thing I love about Overwatch is that when you connect with a hero, it’s easier to identify that hero within yourself and take that agency you experience through the character out into the world.
Two, it’s just a great game. It’s lots of fun, I love the mechanics (I am terrible at it, so I love watching other people be good at it). The people at Blizzard, the devs, did such a good job of creating a world that people really enjoy playing in.
WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST INTERESTING ABOUT SYMMETRA?
I’m very inspired by her ability to take challenges and turn them into reasons to do more good in the world. She had to survive a lot of difficult circumstances, and yet, that hasn’t made her bitter; it’s made her more focused on building a better world and creating order from chaos.
Even though Vishkar had this incredible hard light technology, I love that she took her background in Indian classical dance and turned that into a way to heighten her performance and ability to use hard light. It’s why she is so good at her job.
Now, what I do find interesting is that she is aligned with a … shady company – I’ll say it! She’s learning so much about what is going on behind the scenes, and you see this in the short stories, the one with Zenyatta and Lifeweaver. You get a sense of who she is and how empowered she is, regardless of what the organisation is saying.
I find it really interesting that she is exploring that duality, especially as someone who is on the spectrum and historically may have seen things more as black and white. Now, she is seeing the gray areas in which Vishkar has been operating, and she’s understanding that not everything is as it seems.
WHAT DID YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE ON CRITICAL ROLE?
The people! I mean, the people, the people, the people are the best thing. The players and the community. The gang at Critical Role are some of the best human beings I have met in my life. Individually and together, they are such a force in the world, a force for good, creativity, support, love, comedy, and talent. All of them are amazing on-camera and off! The team behind the scenes at Critical Role is a thing of wonder.
But also the Critters! I’m so in love with this fan community that they have built over the years, who don’t just love the show but take care of each other. And I think that’s a really beautiful sort of microcosm – now macrocosm – that Critical Role has created through what they’ve done.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AND WHAT DID YOU FIND MOST APPEALING ABOUT IT?
I started playing Dungeons & Dragons when I was eight years old, when my beautiful brother Anish (who is perfect in every way and you can’t tell me otherwise) gifted me the basic D&D set. I fell in love with it, especially the storytelling aspect. I stopped playing when I went to college because it was a little more difficult to find a group, but I still played the PC versions of the game. It was always a part of my upbringing, so it was always very, very close to my heart.
When I came back to it when I met Matt and Marisha and started to get into the TTRPG/actual play space, it was like coming home. It was so, so special. To do that with people who are master storytellers, who are committed to creating something people would enjoy watching as well as playing. To play with people like that is such a gift and makes the game even more fun. You’re creating a world together, you get to be the actor and the writer when you play Dungeons and Dragons.
WHAT’S THE ROLE YOU’RE MOST PROUD OF AND WHY?
That is a really tough one. You know, what pops into my mind are the roles I played in my first Broadway show, a play called Metamorphoses. It started as a small show in Chicago, but it came out of such creativity and love. Mary Zimmerman, the director and creator of the show, is so extraordinary. She builds her shows around the people that she has and will write throughout the process. So the roles that I got to play in that show felt like putting on a glove; they felt so suited to me. It was the first time I really felt like I got to be what I am, and that that was enough as an actor.
[…] To be able to take that show all the way from Chicago, around the country, and then to Broadway was such an extraordinary experience. To share that with dear friends, mostly fellow graduates of Northwestern, was a beautiful experience both personally and with that group. It changed my life forever.
SINCE YOU LAST JOINED US AT SUPANOVA, YOU’VE RELEASED A BOOK, I AM FUN SIZE. TELL US ABOUT THAT AND WHAT YOU HOPE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY FROM YOU…
In 2017, when I first came to Supanova I had just started a web series called I Am Fun Size and So Are YOU! (which we shortened to I Am Fun Size) and it was a love letter to the incredibly generous and giving gaming community who have been so open with their support, art, cosplay, with everything they share with us voice actors. I really wanted to give something back to them. The one thing I knew that I had that no one else did was my set of experiences and how I navigated them, whether gracefully or ungracefully. In I am Fun Size the series, I answered questions by sharing my experiences in hopes of helping people overcome the challenges they faced. I didn’t want to give direct advice because I have no business telling anyone what to do, but I definitely wanted to share my stories and help people realise they’re not alone.
So, a few years later, I decided I wanted to turn the series into a book because I had been encouraged by a lot of friends. One person in particular was my friend Cedy, in Malaysia, who is a wonderful creator and just a fantastic human being. So I wrote the book! The only real difference between the tone of the series and the book comes in the form of the beautiful illustrations by Vivian Truong (@superrisu) because I wanted my dog Charley to be my partner in crime in this book. Also, because I learned so much from Charley, I added some, what I called, ‘Charley lessons’ into the book.
What I want people to take away from this, honestly, is for people to know that they’re not alone, no matter what they’re going through. We are all unique, we are all on our own paths, but that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. There’s always someone there to either walk beside you, or cheer you on from afar, or send you a silly dog meme. There’s always someone there with you. I want I Am Fun Size the book to feel like that buddy that you can pick up at any point and turn to any page or any story and just have a moment to be with a friend. That’s what I want people to take away from it.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT ATTENDING SUPANOVA?
There are so many wonderful things about it. You’re in Australia, you’re there with friends, but ultimately, it is all about getting to connect with the community. I am always so thrilled to get to connect one-on-one with people who are either playing the games that we’ve made or watching the shows that we’ve made because it’s a privilege and a gift to be able to connect with those people in person and see what makes them happy, what makes them tick, and what they’re excited about.
As an actor, it can be a very solitary profession, but when you actually get to talk to the people who are watching, playing, or taking in what you’re making, it just becomes so much more fun. It becomes so much more special and so much more meaningful. Of course, I’m also really excited about quokkas and Tim Tams and all of the things that I love in Australia. And I am hoping to catch Chris Hemsworth because I let him win when we arm wrestled last time, and I feel like we need a rematch, so there’s that…
Anjali Bhimani will appear at Supanova in Perth (28-29 June).
Lead Image: Anjali Bhimani at Supanova 2025 – Sydney. Photo by James Presneill
