Star Wars protagonists hail from many places. Luke Skywalker was raised on Tatooine, like his father before him. Padmé Amidala grew up on Naboo before residing on Coruscant. If you listen to Hawks, the player character in Bit Reactor’s strategy game Star Wars Zero Company, you might think he’s from Texas.

“Sometimes when I'm very comfortable in the skin of the character I'm playing, [my Texas accent] kind of seeps out,” Jonathan Freeman told Polygon. He voiced the male version of Hawks, the leader of the titular Zero Company. “I thought that it kind of leaned into a bit of the weatheredness of the guy,” he said.

Hawks may not actually be from Texas, but that’s where Freeman grew up. His drawl immediately makes Hawks sound unique, and he’s also unique as a Star Wars lead in that his appearance can be fully customized. Hawks can even be different species, like a Twi'lek or a Mirialan. But, no matter, they’ll all sound Texan. “It is kind of funny to see these different species with this slight twang.”

Freeman felt at home as Hawks from the jump. “It's very rare. You can go through hundreds of auditions and then one will come along on a cellular level you just sort of get,” Freeman said. “I felt comfortable at the audition, I felt comfortable at the callback, and then at the table read, it was just immediate.”

Freeman singled out Hawks’ passion and empathy as traits that drew him to the character.

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