Melina Juergens hopes people can “relate” to the tormented lead character she plays in ‘Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’.

Melina Juergens hopes people can ‘relate’ to the tormented lead character she plays in ‘Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’

Melina Juergens hopes people can ‘relate’ to the tormented lead character she plays in ‘Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’

The 30-year-old German native took on the part of psychosis sufferer Senua in the newest game from British developer Ninja Theory – but only after getting over her anxiety at switching from a video editor at the studio to one of its game actors.

She told The Guardian about reprising the role in the sequel after playing it in the initial game: “I hope people play it and feel what somebody goes through on a daily basis who suffers from mental health issues – particularly psychosis.

“(They) come away with an understanding of it, able to empathise with people more.”

Melina was a video editor at independent games studio Ninja Theory when the first Hellblade game, ‘Senua’s Sacrifice’, was being made in 2012.

She added about how she got into playing Senua: “They were looking for an actress, but in the meantime they asked me to step in to help out with performance capture tech experiments.

“At some point, they asked me to perform a scene. The director really liked it and offered me the role.

“I took a few days to think about it. I really did not want to be in front of the camera as I’ve always been behind.

“I thought it was such a great opportunity that I shouldn’t miss [out on] because I was scared. So I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to do it. I faced my fears.”

‘Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice’ shifted one million copies in its first 10 months of release after it was put out in 2017, and the following year first-time actor Melina won a Bafta for her performance.

The ‘Hellblade’ series charts her Celtic warrior character Senua’s battle with constant voices in her head and the hallucinations that come with her mental disorder.

Its sequel is set in 10th-century Iceland, and features Senua seeking revenge on the Northmen raiders who killed her lover, with Melina’s performance filmed using motion-capture technology.