As video games have gotten more and more ambitious with their stories and action, developers
have started to turn to established Hollywood stars to give their games an added boost.
But not every well-known actor is easy to spot by their voice alone – and sometimes,
the events that put them in the game to begin with are hard to believe.
Here are Screen Rant’s 10 Actors You Didn’t Know Were in Video Games.
Michael Fassbender - Fable 3
The fantasy game series had turned to plenty of English film and TV stars for voices, but
with Fable 3, they swung for the fences.
Before he became a household name and Oscar-nominated actor, Michael Fassbender was brought on to
voice Logan, the game’s villain.
He’d soon launch to the top of the American box office playing Magneto in the X-Men universe
– along with his Fable co-star, Nicholas Hoult.
Matthew Perry - Fallout: New Vegas
There’s nothing game fans love more than finding out one of their favorite actors is
a closet gamer.
So when Friends star Matthew Perry was promoting his film “17 Again” back in 2009, he had
to admit that his love of open world RPG Fallout 3 had literally crippled him.
The developers took notice, and invited him to voice the character of Benny, one of the
antagonists of their upcoming shooter, New Vegas.
Who says being addicted to video games can’t take you places?
Haley Joel Osment - Kingdom Hearts
After the success of The Sixth Sense and Pay it Forward, actor Haley Joel Osment was an
overnight sensation.
Unfortunately, that level of fame didn’t last for his entire film career.
But he’s never faded from the memory of Nintendo fans.
He was first called on to voice the hero of Kingdom Hearts in English versions of the
game at the age of 14, and has kept up the role ever since, spanning across 9 games over
the course of a decade.
He may not stay a teenage forever, but his voice can try.
Dennis Hopper and Billy Bob Thornton - Deadly Creatures
A Nintendo Wii game letting people play as a deadly scorpion or tarantula might sound
odd, but the voice talents signed for Deadly Creatures is even more surprising.
Dennis Hopper and Billy Bob Thornton starred as two humans in search of gold who wind up
tangling with the game’s tiny heroes instead.
The game proved to be a surprising success, but it’s still not the usual storyline audiences
expect from two Oscar-winning writers.
Susan Sarandon - Dishonored
It's not every day that an Oscar winning actress accepts a supporting role in a triple-A video
game, but when the makers of Dishonored needed a voice to bring the mysterious, ragged aristocrat
Granny Rags to life, one actress seemed the perfect choice: Susan Sarandon.
To their surprise, Sarandon took them up on the offer, since she respected the game’s
choice of letting players complete it in a completely non-violent way.
In the end, she brought the kind of sinister performance to the creepy quest-giver that
only five Oscar nominations make possible.
Cara Delevingne - Grand Theft Auto 5
Rockstar Games has called on dozens of Hollywood stars to flesh out the world of Grand Theft
Auto, particularly when it comes to the DJs and shock jocks of their in-game radio stations.
But they caught one rising star early - before fashion model Cara Delevingne was turning
heads in Paper Towns or DC's Suicide Squad movie, she was owning the airwaves in Grand
Theft Auto 5, as the on air host for Non Stop Pop FM.
Will Arnett - Call of Duty
As the Call of Duty series has gotten more successful, A-level stars have been brought
in to blur the line between video game and certified blockbuster war movie.
But actor Will Arnett was hooked ever since the first Modern Warfare - a fact he discussed
while making the late night rounds.
The developers noticed, and even though the sequel was too far along to give the Arrested
Development star a role, he did get to lend his voice to a handful of in-game barks and
quips.
Eliza Dushku - Wet
This hack-and-slash title had all the potential to be a grindhouse hit featuring guns and
swordplay, starring a ruthless mercenary Rubi Malone.
Actress Eliza Dushku was cast in the role, having plenty of experience as a deadly martial
artist in TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse.
The game’s Tarantino-esque style made it a hit with some players, but a sequel was
cancelled – meaning fans of the actress will have to stick with one game for now.
Steve Carell - Outlaw Golf
Who says golf games can’t be marketed as loud, offensive, or not suitable for all ages?
In 2002, Outlaw Golf proved every sport could be extreme, injecting humor into the gentleman’s
game – especially when it came to the game’s commentator.
Years before The Office and The 40 Year Old Virgin, comedian Steve Carell was giving play-by-play
breakdowns of digital golf, but gave up the job for the game’s sequel, moving onto bigger
and better things.
John Goodman - RAGE
When the developers of the post-apocalyptic shooter finished designing Dan Hagar, the
first character players would meet, they realized that his glasses, hunting vest and shorts
meant he looked an awful lot like the character Walter Sobchak in the movie The Big Lebowski.
Figuring they should run with the idea, they sought actor John Goodman to play the part
again, giving a booming voice to the no-nonsense father figure ushering players into their
world.
So what do you think of our list?
Did we miss any of your favorite celebrity voices in popular video games?
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