10 Hollywood Actors In GTA Games
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VOICE OVER: Mathew Arter
WRITTEN BY: Mathew Arter
Rockstar has an incredible ability to get well known actors into their games, and "GTA" has seen its fair share. For this list, we'll we'll be looking at actors with significant IMDB credits who also played roles in "Grand Theft Auto." Our list includes Danny Trejo, Dennis Hopper, Samuel L. Jackson, David Cross, and more!
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we are looking at those actors who we didn’t expect to see in our favorite game series, with 10 Hollywood Actors in GTA Games. For this list, we’ll be looking at actors with significant IMDB credits, who also provided voices for GTA. Rockstar has an incredible ability to get well known actors into their games, like Fred Armisen in Red Dead 2. But today, we’re focusing on the big one, Grand Theft Auto. As a blanket rule, we won’t be including actors who either played themselves, or are just featured on the in-game radio. So don’t expect Iggy Pop, Anderson Paak or Cara Delevigne on this list. Did you miss any of these voices originally? Let us know in the comments below.
Mentions of the famous San Andreas rapper Madd Dogg, are prevalent throughout GTA IV, GTA V, and GTA: Liberty City Stories. In GTA: San Andreas, the famous rapper is mentioned frequently leading up to the mission “Madd Dog’s Rhymes”, where CJ breaks into Madd Dog’s ‘house in the hills’ to steal his rhyme book for OG Loc. Madd Dogg becomes relevant in the game's plot again towards the final acts of the campaign, but many players may have missed the voice being provided by famous rapper and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit star Ice T. A Hollywood actor with chops to match, who can also spit bars. Yep, perfect casting.
Dennis Hopper is no stranger to video games, I mean he was the integral antagonist of the greatest video game film adaption of all time … 1993’s Super Mario Bros. With a list of IMDB credits including Easy Rider, L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve, Blue Velvet, Speed and Samson and Delilah, it’s easy to imagine Hopper had loads of fun playing the pompous adult film director Steve Scott. He was probably able to draw from a few people he’d met on set.
Don’t mention the old BR around your mother, she’ll get flush in the face and swoon for the 1970’s sex symbol. In life, Reynold’s portrayed himself both in film and life as a man’s man, firing guns, smoking and drinking hard liquor. The memory of his infamous Smokey and The Bandit cowboy hat made it really easy to believe him as GTA: Vice City’s Avery Carrington. Carrington is a real estate mogul and intense capitalist, who bends the rules to line his pockets. Born and raised in Texas, and now taking over Vice City one property at a time, Burt Reynolds perfectly portrayed another cowboy hat wearing man’s man.
Eastenders star Danny Dyer may not be a Hollywood actor, but there’s no shortage of Dyer on British television, with frequent appearances on comedy panel shows like 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown. Danny Dyer used his infamous cockney accent to bring life to GTA Vice City & GTA San Andreas character Kent Paul, a vague ‘music business’ heavy hitter and manager for English band The Gurning Chimps. The British humor and banter with lead singer Maccer, is one of the highlights of the GTA: SA campaign.
“Excuse me, do these effectively hide my thunder?” Legendary Arrested Development actor David Cross, is well known to GTA fans for providing his particular vocal tones to nerdy electronics expert Zero in GTA San Andreas. His character is not difficult to forget for fans of San Andreas, as he features in possibly the hardest mission in the entire GTA series “Supply Lines”. The infamous mission features Cross’ voice all throughout, and personally made me hate the sound of his voice for years to come. I’ve since learned to love him again, but it was damn hard.
When you think of an actor who perfectly represents the manic insanity of the GTA world, the wild and crazy, and the raw intensity, who do you think of? Nicholas Cage? Well we’re crossing our fingers for GTA VI. But in the meantime, we have the incomparable Gary Busey. Providing the voice in GTA Vice City and Vice City stories for Phil Cassidy, Busey perfectly vocalizes the unhinged gun nut in a way that rivals even the most seasoned voice actors. Good on you Gary, now please stop looking at me like that, you’re scaring me.
Danny Trejo is no s**t. He is known throughout Hollywood for his incredible talent as an intense and threatening persona, whilst being one of the sweetest and kindest men in the business. Danny Trejo lent his crackly baritones to Rockstar in GTA Vice City, by portraying Umberto Robina, the leader of the Cuban street gang. Umberto is an imposing character who loves his mother. He begins the game seemingly antagonistically, but by the end, he is a friend and an important connection for Tommy Vercetti.
Although James Woods has had a long successful career on screen, most 90’s babies (like myself) aren’t unfamiliar with his voice acting chops. From the infamous cameo as himself in The Simpsons, to the terrifying and hilarious Hades in Hercules. James Woods gave us another solid voice acting performance by filling the shoes of GTA San Andreas’ Mike Torreno, the unknown undercover agent for an unknown government organization. The tight lipped nature of this character is portrayed perfectly by Woods, who nails the intonation you’d expect from such a character, not unlike his portrayal of HIMSELF in THE SIMPSONS.
RIP to the goat. Standing tall alongside actors like Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta was a mammoth star of the late 80’s and early 90’s, appearing in back to back classics Field of Dreams, and Goodfellas. If you need an Italian American tough guy voice actor, and Pacino is unavailable, Liotta has you covered. And what a performance he gave! The only actor on our list to portray a protagonist of any GTA game, Liotta gave his voice to the infamous Tommy Vercetti. Often ranked as the best GTA Protagonist of all time, Vercetti was a breath of fresh air, giving us the first GTA Protagonist with a personality. Ray Liotta will never be forgotten by gaming fans and film fans alike. The GOAT.
One of the most evil and memorable GTA antagonists is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ Officer Tenpenny. Somehow always remaining in the shadows, he sticks with CJ throughout the campaign in an obviously antagonistic way, eventually rising to be Carl’s biggest threat, making it clear on the replay that he was the main bad guy from the very beginning. Nobody could have played this character better than the legend himself, Samuel L. Jackson, who provides his perfect tones of both threatening and calm. Officer Tenpenny represents the worst in their world, and is a voice acting performance that stands tall in gamers minds nearly 20 years after GTA San Andreas’ release.
Ice T
Mentions of the famous San Andreas rapper Madd Dogg, are prevalent throughout GTA IV, GTA V, and GTA: Liberty City Stories. In GTA: San Andreas, the famous rapper is mentioned frequently leading up to the mission “Madd Dog’s Rhymes”, where CJ breaks into Madd Dog’s ‘house in the hills’ to steal his rhyme book for OG Loc. Madd Dogg becomes relevant in the game's plot again towards the final acts of the campaign, but many players may have missed the voice being provided by famous rapper and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit star Ice T. A Hollywood actor with chops to match, who can also spit bars. Yep, perfect casting.
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper is no stranger to video games, I mean he was the integral antagonist of the greatest video game film adaption of all time … 1993’s Super Mario Bros. With a list of IMDB credits including Easy Rider, L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve, Blue Velvet, Speed and Samson and Delilah, it’s easy to imagine Hopper had loads of fun playing the pompous adult film director Steve Scott. He was probably able to draw from a few people he’d met on set.
Burt Reynolds
Don’t mention the old BR around your mother, she’ll get flush in the face and swoon for the 1970’s sex symbol. In life, Reynold’s portrayed himself both in film and life as a man’s man, firing guns, smoking and drinking hard liquor. The memory of his infamous Smokey and The Bandit cowboy hat made it really easy to believe him as GTA: Vice City’s Avery Carrington. Carrington is a real estate mogul and intense capitalist, who bends the rules to line his pockets. Born and raised in Texas, and now taking over Vice City one property at a time, Burt Reynolds perfectly portrayed another cowboy hat wearing man’s man.
Danny Dyer
Eastenders star Danny Dyer may not be a Hollywood actor, but there’s no shortage of Dyer on British television, with frequent appearances on comedy panel shows like 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown. Danny Dyer used his infamous cockney accent to bring life to GTA Vice City & GTA San Andreas character Kent Paul, a vague ‘music business’ heavy hitter and manager for English band The Gurning Chimps. The British humor and banter with lead singer Maccer, is one of the highlights of the GTA: SA campaign.
David Cross
“Excuse me, do these effectively hide my thunder?” Legendary Arrested Development actor David Cross, is well known to GTA fans for providing his particular vocal tones to nerdy electronics expert Zero in GTA San Andreas. His character is not difficult to forget for fans of San Andreas, as he features in possibly the hardest mission in the entire GTA series “Supply Lines”. The infamous mission features Cross’ voice all throughout, and personally made me hate the sound of his voice for years to come. I’ve since learned to love him again, but it was damn hard.
Gary Busey
When you think of an actor who perfectly represents the manic insanity of the GTA world, the wild and crazy, and the raw intensity, who do you think of? Nicholas Cage? Well we’re crossing our fingers for GTA VI. But in the meantime, we have the incomparable Gary Busey. Providing the voice in GTA Vice City and Vice City stories for Phil Cassidy, Busey perfectly vocalizes the unhinged gun nut in a way that rivals even the most seasoned voice actors. Good on you Gary, now please stop looking at me like that, you’re scaring me.
Danny Trejo
Danny Trejo is no s**t. He is known throughout Hollywood for his incredible talent as an intense and threatening persona, whilst being one of the sweetest and kindest men in the business. Danny Trejo lent his crackly baritones to Rockstar in GTA Vice City, by portraying Umberto Robina, the leader of the Cuban street gang. Umberto is an imposing character who loves his mother. He begins the game seemingly antagonistically, but by the end, he is a friend and an important connection for Tommy Vercetti.
James Woods
Although James Woods has had a long successful career on screen, most 90’s babies (like myself) aren’t unfamiliar with his voice acting chops. From the infamous cameo as himself in The Simpsons, to the terrifying and hilarious Hades in Hercules. James Woods gave us another solid voice acting performance by filling the shoes of GTA San Andreas’ Mike Torreno, the unknown undercover agent for an unknown government organization. The tight lipped nature of this character is portrayed perfectly by Woods, who nails the intonation you’d expect from such a character, not unlike his portrayal of HIMSELF in THE SIMPSONS.
Ray Liotta
RIP to the goat. Standing tall alongside actors like Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta was a mammoth star of the late 80’s and early 90’s, appearing in back to back classics Field of Dreams, and Goodfellas. If you need an Italian American tough guy voice actor, and Pacino is unavailable, Liotta has you covered. And what a performance he gave! The only actor on our list to portray a protagonist of any GTA game, Liotta gave his voice to the infamous Tommy Vercetti. Often ranked as the best GTA Protagonist of all time, Vercetti was a breath of fresh air, giving us the first GTA Protagonist with a personality. Ray Liotta will never be forgotten by gaming fans and film fans alike. The GOAT.
Samuel L. Jackson
One of the most evil and memorable GTA antagonists is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ Officer Tenpenny. Somehow always remaining in the shadows, he sticks with CJ throughout the campaign in an obviously antagonistic way, eventually rising to be Carl’s biggest threat, making it clear on the replay that he was the main bad guy from the very beginning. Nobody could have played this character better than the legend himself, Samuel L. Jackson, who provides his perfect tones of both threatening and calm. Officer Tenpenny represents the worst in their world, and is a voice acting performance that stands tall in gamers minds nearly 20 years after GTA San Andreas’ release.
