THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 46 NOVEMBER 13, 2019
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SON/GETTYIMAGES. GH
OST:^ UBISOFT.AnalysisThe Business
Dead Redemption 2, which fea-
tured more than 500,000 lines
of dialogue). Filming commit-
ments vary, but Troy Baker — one
of the most prolific names in
video game acting, with credits
like The Last of Us and Metal Gear
Solid, says, generally, “you’re
going to shoot once, maybe twice
a month, for two to three days
over two years.” For titles like
Death Stranding and Red Dead,
however, that period ranged from
three to five years of shooting.
Filming generally takes place on
large soundstages in New York,
Los Angeles, Tokyo and London
where performers don Lycra suits
and hoist large camera rigs on
their backs. A common compari-
son made by actors is black box
theater, essentially a blank stage
with minimal to no props on
which they perform. Jon Bernthal,
who stars as the primary villain
in Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost
Recon Breakpoint, released Oct. 4,
says he didn’t know what to
expect when he stepped into gam-
ing, noting of the shoots, “You’re
in search of one perfect take in
a room full of like 800 cameras
going at once.”
Emily Schweber, a casting
director who runs her own office
in Los Angeles, primarily worked
on film and TV projects before
casting such games as Star Wars
Battlefront II, Call of Duty: Infinite
War fare and Wolfenstein II: The
New Colossus. In recent years,
she says she has noticed a rise in
established actors being cast in
video games. “Five or six years
ago, I was explaining to every
A growing number
of stars are signing on to
voice blockbuster titlesFor the top-buying age group, subscription and digital outpace physical sales overall in an average month, Nielsen survey finds
Who’s Who in
New Games
Millennials Outspend Gen Z, Gen X on Games
Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt Red, April 16, 2020
Keanu Reeves plays
Johnny Silverhand, an influential
musician and the player’s
pseudo-guide. The title is
arguably the most anticipated
game release of 2020.Death Stranding
Kojima Productions, Nov. 8, 2019
Norman Reedus plays
Sam Porter Bridges, a courier
in a postapocalyptic version of
America. Kojima’s last game, 2015’s
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom
Pain, has sold more than 6M copies.Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
Respawn Entertainment,
Nov. 15, 2019
Cameron Monaghan plays
Cal Kestis, a young Jedi. The game
is hoping to top 2017’s Star Wars
Battlefront II, which despite selling
9M copies, missed expectations.agent and manager why it was a
great idea,” Schweber says. But
now, “these scripts are so well
written, it’s not just ‘Get down!’
And that’s also exciting to the
actors,” she adds.
As of an update to its pay-rate
scales last July, SAG-AFTRA
actors make a minimum of $825
per day for on-camera work
and $3,150 per week for games,
compared to $5,258 per week on
a half-hour TV program or $8,413
for a one-hour show. (Big-name
stars can negotiate for far more
than the minimum, of course.)
Rates for film, meanwhile, range
from a minimum of $125 per
day for low-budget and short
films to $1,005 per day for base
theatrical projects.
“Games are interesting a lot of
young artists right now who want
to use this medium in a way that
hasn’t really been used before,”
says Cameron Monaghan, who
stars as protagonist Cal Kestis
in Respawn Entertainment’s
upcoming Star Wars: Jedi Fallen
Order. The game is Monaghan’s
first (the actor is known for his
work on Showtime’s Shameless
and Fox’s Gotham), though he says
he’s previously auditioned for two
other video game projects.
“A lot of game studios don’t
want to work with ‘TV actors’
because they just eye act,” notes
Janina Gavankar, who had roles
on Tr u e B l o o d and Arrow before
headlining 2017’s Star Wars
Battlefront II. “I am not saying
this is an ultimatum, but if you
are theater-trained you may
have an easier time working
in motion capture because you
have learned to use all of those
paintbrushes.”
Adds character actor Clancy
Brown, who has maintainedSource: Nielsen’s “Millennials on Millennials: Gaming Media Consumption” report (June 6, 2019).GEN Z MILLENNIALS GEN X TOTALFULL PHYSICAL GAMES FULL DIGITAL GAMES GAMING SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES ADDITIONAL IN-GAME CONTENT$40
$30
$20
$10
$39.09$29.19
$21.57$30.30$20.04$23.76
$17.52
$9.57$15.54$20.17 $21.96
$12.09$15.93 $17.59$30.45
$25.21a robust set of credits since
the early 1980s with turns in
The Shawshank Redemption
to Carnivale to Spongebob
Squarepants, “It’s not like doing
anything else.” In 2018, Brown
took on the role of Lieutenant
Hank Anderson in Quantic
Dream’s Detroit: Become Human
after his experience on the 2016
Warcraf t film led him on a path
of performance-capture work.
CAA agent Blank says it’s “not
just actors and actresses, but
also writers and showrunners
and directors all getting more
and more involved in the video
game space.”
A number of Hollywood’s top
creative minds have begun dip-
ping their toes in the gaming
waters. Last June, J.J. Abrams
launched Bad Robot Games with
Chinese media giant Tencent;
Rick and Morty co-creator Justin
Roiland released the PlayStation 4
adventure title Trover Saves the
Universe through his Squanch
Games banner in June; and
Annapurna mogul Megan Ellison
has been publishing award-
winning indie games through her
Annapurna Interactive produc-
tion label since 2017.
“What’s been really gratify-
ing about our involvement in
games is that there’s been a wide
spectrum of talent interest,” says
Dave Baranoff, head of Bad Robot
Games. He hopes to see other
studios develop game divisions.
“There are increasingly blurred
lines between what is a film and
what is a game. The Spielberg of
tomorrow is playing video games
today,” says Gavankar. “When he
or she grows up, what medium do
you think they are going to want
to tell a story in? It’s going to be
in games.”Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Ubisoft, Oct. 4, 2019
Jon Bernthal plays
Colonel Cole D. Walker, a villain.
Despite high hopes, Ubisoft CEO
Yves Guillemot called the game’s
launch a “disappointment” as sales
haven’t met expectations thus far.