Hard on the heels of 10 video game voice actors who are also in your favorite TV shows comes the realization that... there are also a lot of awesome actors who have tried their hand at video games, and they should be celebrated too.
Here are some of the big names behind some of biggest video game franchises - how many did you already know?
Samuel L. Jackson: Nick Fury / Officer Tenpenny
It's hard to pin down one specific role for Samuel L. Jackson because he is Samuel L. Jackson in everything that it does - and it works.
From Pulp Fiction to "snakes on the muthaf*ckin' plane," Jackson transitions from the mainstream to the nerdy as easy as breathing, popping up in nerd flicks as Mace Windu in Star Wars and Nick Fury in the Marvel Universe films.
His voice work in games have largely stemmed from his film work, reprising his roles as Windu and Fury in games like LEGO Star Wars and Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes.
Jackson's appearance as the corrupt Officer Frank Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a departure from all of those, particularly since he plays a rather central character in the game.
Other notable game appearances include a small announcer role in Heroes of Newerth and the titular character in Afro Samurai.
Mena Suvari: Angela Hayes / Aerith
There has been no role that Mena Suvari has owned before and since troubled teenage sexpot Angela Hayes in 1999's American Beauty. While the original voice for Aerith was done (and done quite well if you ask me) by Mandy Moore, after Suvari was cast in the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, continuity dictated that she take on the role again in Kingdom Hearts II.
While she acquitted herself fairly well in Advent Children, where Aerith really only appears in hazy visions and dreamlike scenes, the dreamy, overly-saccharine tones didn't translate so well to a living, breathing Aerith in KH2.
Her role as Aerith Gainsborough is the only time Suvari has signed onto a video game project.
(Image source 1 & 2)
Willem Dafoe: Norman Osbourne / Nathan Dawkins
Although he has appeared in various films for more than 30 years, Willem Dafoe may possibly be most known for his turn as the first ambitious and angry Green Goblin in the Tobey McGuire Spider-Man trilogy.
He reprised this role in the Spider-Man video game that came out about the same time as the first movie, but his biggest role to date in video games has to be opposite Ellen Page in Beyond: Two Souls as a government scientist working with Jodie to analyze her powers.
Dafoe has also appeared in James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing.
Clancy Brown: The Kurgan / Doctor Neo Cortex
This acting heavyweight has been in a number of cult classics over the years, but nothing has gained him a following quite to the same fanatical degree as his appearance in Highlander as the main villain.
While Doctor Neo Cortex may not come across nearly as menacing as the Kurgan, this angry big-headed baddie was voiced by Brown (as well as Uka-Uka) for three games running.
Other video game appearances include: SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, and God of War III, just to name a few.
Ellen Page: Kitty Pryde / Jodie Holmes
While nowadays we mostly know her for her roles in Juno and Inception, the first time we really sat up and took notice of Ellen Page was when she appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat - the girl who can walk through walls.
While everyone continues to cite her face as the inspiration behind Ellie in The Last of Us, Page was committed to the voice and mo-cap action of working on Beyond: Two Souls alongside fellow film star Willem Dafoe as Jodie Holmes.
Page has done voice work for other TV series in the past, but Beyond: Two Souls is the first and only time thus far that she has stepped into voicing for video games.
Mark Hamil: Luke Skywalker / The Joker
It sometimes feels like there is not a single show out there that doesn't have some link to the extremely prolific Mark Hamil. While he has consistently popped up with varied and impressive voice work in dozens of TV shows, and was hard at work for about a decade before A New Hope, it is Hamil's performance as Luke Skywalker that sci-fi fans will forever remember his live-action film work for.
With regards to voice acting, Hamil reaped rewards and nominations for portrayal of the The Joker, particularly when he took on the role in the Batman: Arkham video game series (with the exception of Arkham Origins, where the Joker was voiced by Troy Baker).
Appearances as the Joker aside, Hamil has only ever done voice work in video games for one other title: Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet as the Red Skull.
Sean Bean: Eddard (Ned) Stark / Martin Septim
His constant and ever-varied appearances in TV, film, and radio have made him one of the most recognizable actors in the past 20 years - although perhaps more so for his meme-like tendency to die horribly in nearly everything he appears in.
His current top-of-mind role is as Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, where he was tragically offed before the audience even knew what was happening, though he has appeared in other nerd fan-loved epics like the Lord of the Rings film trilogy as Boromir and Agent 006 in GoldenEye.
His first big appearance was as the secret son of Emperor Uriel Septim VII (voiced by Patrick Stewart) in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, first appearing to the player as Brother Septim. Since then, his only other work in video games is in Papa Sangre II.
(Image source 1 & 2)
Rachael Leigh Cook: Laney Boggs / Tifa Lockhart
There are a number of TV shows and movies that Rachael Leigh Cook has appeared in, but it is the late-90s teen classic She's All That opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. (another celeb that has done voice work in Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Inquisition) that really brought her front-and-center into A-list territory.
Her biggest role to date in video games remains Tifa Lockhart from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts II following her performance as the spunky yet sweet Tifa in the Advent Children film.
She has provided voice work for several other animated TV shows over the years, and in games she has voiced the character Jaesa Willsaam in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Liam Neeson: Bryan Mills / James
This Northern Ireland native has popped up in various TV shows and movies for about 25 years, including his unforgettable performance as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List. He appeared in gritty reboot Batman Begins as Ducard, but it is as Bryan Mills in the Taken film series that currently have audience members going "ohhh, that guy!"
Neeson doesn't have nearly as many video game voice credits as he does film and TV, but he did appear in the Batman Begins game that coincided with the release of the movie, and he also appeared in big-budget Bethesda title Fallout 3 as The Lone Wanderer's father, James, and Vault 101's doctor.
(Image source 1 & 2)
Ron Perlman: Hellboy / Ron the Narrator
This prolific TV and film veteran has over 30 years of work under his belt, including recent sci-fi hit Pacific Rim, cult classic Blade II, and TV hit Sons of Anarchy, but it is Ron Perlman's turn as the meaty red protagonist in Hellboy that really continues to stick out in people's minds.
Perlman has done voice work for a number of TV shows, popping up in recurring roles as Killer Croc in the The Batman TV series and Slade in New Teen Titans, and has made no exception when it comes to video games either.
Best known for his role as Ron the Narrator in the Fallout games, the character itself doesn't actually exist within a normal play-through of the game but is rather used as a placeholder character that you can find with a few easy console commands.
Other video game credits include: upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Tom Clancy's HAWX 2, various Hellboy games, and Halo 3, among over a dozen others.
That's it!
Did you recognize them all? Do you have a strong urge to berate me for leaving out gamer staples like Seth Green's Joker in Mass Effect, Gary Oldman, Elijah Wood, etc.?
Let me know!
Published: Aug 12, 2015 10:08 am