Death Stranding – Kojima Originally Asked Stefanie Joosten To Play Fragile

The all-star cast of Death Stranding is something that Hideo Kojima has been putting a lot of spotlight on ever since it was first revealed. From Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen to Lea Seydoux and Lindsay Wagner, there’s a lot of Hollywood bigwigs involved with the upcoming game. One name, however, that was part of rumours and speculation time and time again was Stefanie Joosten, who played Quiet in Metal Gear Solid 5. 

As it turns out, the actress was originally asked to play Fragile, the character that is now played by Lea Seydoux. In a recent interview with YongYea, Joosten confirmed that she’d actually been contacted by Kojima personally back during the earlier days of the reformed Kojima Productions, and was told that he wanted her to play Fragile. Following that, however, Joosten wasn’t contacted by Kojima again, and the role eventually went to Seydoux.

“This was really early, when the new Kojima Productions was just founded,” she said. “Actually, Kojima-san contacted me directly. I speak Japanese, so he contacted me, and he asked me if I was willing to play this character in Death Stranding. He actually sent some really awesome character art from Yoji Shinkawa, and a character description.”

“For quite a while, I was under the impression that I was going to be involved in Death Stranding,” she added later. “Then there was silence for a long time. So my management, after about a year or so – because in the meantime I wasn’t going to bother Kojima-san, because obviously he’d been super busy setting up the new Kojima Productions – so my management contacted Kojima Productions, and the answer that we got back then was that casting had been finalized.”

“I think it’s just that Kojima-san went a different route, a different approach,” she continued. “He probably wanted to use Hollywood actors and reach a larger audience. And I totally understand. They’re great actors, and so experienced, so they’ll do an amazing job, so I don’t want to feel bitter about it. I just wanted to put that out there to clear that out.”

Death Stranding is out on November 8 for the PS4. You can watch the interview in question below.