Video game development is full of constant changes, but it is far less common for a character to be overhauled this heavily once production is already taking shape. CD Projekt RED still chose to do exactly that with one of Cyberpunk 2077‘s secondary characters, Misty, Jackie’s girlfriend, because the Polish studio felt her original version was simply disappointing and empty.
The story actually comes from the actress behind the character, Erica Lindbeck, who recalled her first encounter with Misty Olszewski during the pre-production and brainstorming phase of the open-world RPG. As she explained to The Gamer, the original Misty was not meant to be nearly as important as the final version players ended up with. In fact, Lindbeck openly disliked the early take on the character, referring to her as “that damn Misty” because she barely had any lines and her personality felt extremely limited. Repeatedly recording her scenes only made the situation more frustrating for the acting team.
CD Projekt Did Not Want to Keep the Original Misty for Long
“I just hated her. I thought, ‘Oh my God, what are we going to do now?'” Lindbeck recalled. According to her, the role initially seemed destined to disappear into the background compared to the rest of the cast. Faced with that general frustration, the Polish studio decided to rework the character before carrying the problem deeper into full production. Lindbeck says the developers changed not only Misty’s personality and the way she interacted with V, Jackie and the wider world, but also her visual design.
CD Projekt’s goal was to make her far more distinctive in the eyes of players, and Lindbeck described the result as a kind of “kindly New Jersey Harley Quinn.” That transformation reshaped the tarot reader into a far more endearing and charismatic figure, one who quickly won over both the actress herself and the player base. Her popularity eventually grew to the point where she even outshone Meredith Stout, another major character portrayed by Lindbeck.
By the time Phantom Liberty arrived, Lindbeck said she was surprised that fans not only still remembered Misty, but were genuinely happy to see her return in the game’s first and only DLC, where she plays a meaningful role in one of the endings. What began as a thin and uninteresting role ultimately became one of the most recognizable supporting characters in one of the best RPGs of the decade.
