Silent Hill f, the first new entry in the Silent Hill series in a long, long time, brought with the game a brand-new cast of voice actors. The JP and ENG voice cast bring to life brand new characters, with the hope they will make a memorable mark on Silent Hill fans old and new.
At Rely, we had the great pleasure of interviewing series newcomer Stephanie Wong, voice actor for Junko, a new character and tertiary antagonist. Junko is the older sister of Silent Hill f protagonist Hinako, and an intriguing plot point that players will come to understand as the heavy narrative of the game unfolds.
Stephanie Wong is a voice actor based out of California, with an impressive portfolio of work including Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, where she voiced Kiwi. Now, she’s stepped foot into the realm of survival horror, bringing Kinuta Junko to life before our very eyes.
ROH: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us!
Stephanie: Of course! I’m excited to discuss my character further!
ROH: Junko’s line in the trailer “You’re going to kill them. With your own hands” immediately struck fans. How did you interpret Junko’s role and her relationship with Hinako and her sister when you first read the script?
Stephanie: So, there is a lot to that line. To explain, let me go further back. When I was brought onto the role, I was told I was Hinako’s older sister, I love her, I was there for her since childhood. When we grew up, I was expected to accept a traditional path in marriage and we split apart. I had to accept the idea of being a dutiful, pious housewife and I try to urge Hinako to do the same. I try to urge her in darker and darker ways. The line references the parts Hinako has to kill of herself so that she can be acceptable to society.
ROH: What can you tell us about Junko as a character? Who is she in this story, and what does she bring to the atmosphere of Silent Hill f?
Stephanie: She is the tertiary antagonist. The game is focused on Hinako and her friends, and Junko brings out the familial aspect. I think what’s special about Junko is that she is the voice of many of our family members and dear friends who think they are looking out for our best interests, when all they are doing is pushing us farther and farther away. She works in conjunction with the main antagonist, Fox Face, urging Hinako to take a path she doesn’t want to take. Junko’s sole purpose is to drive Hinako towards marriage.
ROH: The world of Silent Hill thrives on ambiguity, where characters often feel unsettling, even when they’re familiar. How did you approach making Junko’s voice both intimate and unnerving?
Stephanie: I didn’t want her to sound like a stereotypical villain. When I was given her information, that she is an older sister with strained familial relationships, these are all things I can resonate with personally as an older sister myself. Junko is human and not a monster. Her voice is close to my own speaking voice, but with a tonal shift to fit with Silent Hill, being eerie, speaking in a lower register, taking time with my words.
ROH: Did Konami or the directors give you specific guidance on how Junko should sound, or were you encouraged to bring your own interpretation to the character?
Stephanie: I auditioned in November 2023, got a callback a month later in December, didn’t hear anything for a couple months, and was told Konami was interested in February and I ended up recording in May. Jamie Mortellaro was the director and we recorded at Rocket Sound, a studio in Hollywood. We had the whole dev team fly in from Japan for recording and giving input. The game is also voiced in JP, so we had the original JP language to go off while I put my own flair on it in ENG.
ROH: Silent Hill is famous for psychological horror — was it emotionally draining to step into Junko’s mindset for recording sessions?
Stephanie: It’s so interesting and different when you’re in-character. I am just present and relating to Junko, which her main want is to help Hinako in her own way. It’s only when I step back and reflect on it, that it feels heavier and relating to gender and societal roles and what women deal with. I am present and focused on Junko when recording.
ROH: How many takes did it usually take to nail a line like the one in the trailer, which is chilling but also layered with emotion?
Stephanie: We move fast. On average, 2-3 takes. One main take and a safety, if you have to rework it.
Connection to Silent Hill
ROH: Were you familiar with Silent Hill as a franchise before joining the project? If so, did you draw on any past entries for inspiration?
Stephanie: Yes, I was familiar, but I was always scared of it. Growing up, I couldn’t watch or play it, all I knew was there was a lot of fog and scary things came out of the fog. I didn’t draw on any past entries and came into this new, and with an open mind.
ROH: Junko seems poised to become one of those characters who sticks in players’ minds. Do you feel pressure stepping into a franchise with such an iconic legacy?
Stephanie: Always with any role, especially something as big as Silent Hill, there will be pressure. The last major character I voiced was in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, who got a lot of love and hate for who she was, and I see the same thing happening for Junko because of her role, and what she wants Hinako to do. For those players who want to dive deeper into why Junko is the way she is, you can find a lot of love and relatability with her, if you’re willing to identify with those parts yourself.
Behind the Scenes
ROH: What was the recording environment like for Silent Hill f? Did you work solo in the booth, or did you have a chance to play off other cast members’ performances?
Stephanie: No, unfortunately not. All we had was the original JP. Most of the cinematic scenes are done in mo-cap, when you have a suit on with a lot of little pieces to track your movement to offer the lifelike animation we see in games. When I was recording, the animations were unfinished, so I was working off sketches of the characters, and characters with no faces. Half of my scenes were like that, while the other half were completed.
ROH: Was there a particular scene or line delivery that really challenged you, or made you stop and think, “Yes, this is who Junko is”?
Stephanie: The most challenging scene was the one you can partially hear in the trailer, where I’m telling Hinako to kill her friends and parents and everybody. I think because of the darkness of it, this is not something I’d ever tell my real sister, but it was very dark and Jamie wanted me to access a lower part of my register which was a definite challenge for me.
ROH: Fans are already dissecting Junko’s presence in the trailer. Some think she may be a guide, others a manipulator. Without spoiling, what would you say to players about how to approach her character?
Stephanie: Definitely with an open mind! And if you are keen on hating her, I think ask yourself, what are the parts you hate and do you hate it because it’s a reflection of yourself, or societal pressures placed on you, or because someone has spoken to you the way Junko does to Hinako? Junko can fill many roles, a guide, an antagonist, but the biggest role she serves is for us to reflect on our own selves.
ROH: Junko’s dialogue in the trailer is brief but powerful. How do you, as a performer, make a short line resonate with so much weight and foreshadowing?
Stephanie: I connect to my core, why she’s saying what she’s saying, the number one driver of acting is honing in on what you need, and the need has to be so strong that everything else doesn’t matter. With that line, I felt it deep inside my core. That line comes from a still, relaxed place, it’s not pushed, or contrived. When you want something so deeply and believe in it truly, you don’t need to force it. That is what that line is.
ROH: Did you ever creep yourself out while recording her lines, maybe enough to turn on an extra light at home?
Stephanie: The moment I stepped into the booth, the first thing the team did was show me a scary trailer of the game that won’t go out to the public. They blasted it through my headphones and I was staring at this scary thing, smiling, but inside, I was shaking!
ROH: Silent Hill is infamous for its monsters. If you could design one yourself, what twisted creature would you add to Ebisugaoka?
Stephanie: Hugely grotesque with many limbs and blobbiness, but also something human-like because I read that regarding serial killers, people are attuned to see subtle differences in others, and if something is off, it messes with our nerves. A design with uncanny features with just a couple things off about the monster would be fun to play with! It would also be fun to have a grotesque blob, though.
ROH: Finally, what do you hope players will feel the first time they hear Junko speak? Do you have any parting words for our readers?
Stephanie: I feel so blessed to have been chosen by Konami for the role. Everyone I worked with was incredible. I think fans should be really excited because there is so much to unpack, not just with Junko and the theme of marriage, but also friendship, love, bullying, and so forth. She is a small part of the grander scheme, and I think fans can look out for Junko, her mask, and think about why she is wearing it, what is underneath. What is she hiding?
We would like to thank Stephanie for taking the time to let us interview her. In addition to our interview, you can look forward to a written review of the game in the coming days, as well as a no-spoiler video review on our YouTube channel.
Silent Hill f is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC via Steam worldwide September 25, 2025.
