Famous actors in video games

If you thought big Hollywood actors only starred in feature films, you’d be wrong. With games becoming more and more mainstream, it’s rare that a high profile release doesn’t feature a recognisable name. Here are 10 of the best.

Samuel L. Jackson

Pop-culture icon Samuel L. Jackson is good at many things: he’s effortlessly cool, he has a distinctive voice and he can certainly appreciate a tasty burger. He lent his booming aura to corrupt officer Frank Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. You could practically picture Samuel L. Jackson recording the lines in a booth, but the strong vocal work made Tenpenny an incredible antagonist.

Patrick Stewart

Thespian extraordinaire Patrick Stewart has done it all: films, TV shows, theatre and even a few games from time to time. Other than providing the voice for Captain Picard in plenty of Star Trek games (Armada, Armada II, Starfleet Command III, Invasion, Bridge Commander, Elite Force II and Legacy) he’s also chipped in a brief performance for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and will be taking a more prominent role in the upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

Tricia Helfer

If you need a cold, unimpassioned voice actress to take the role of some sort of strong sci-fi female, ideally a robot, then Tricia Helfer is your gal. Most famous for her work as Six in Battlestar Galactica, she took a shine to video games with 2007’s Command & Conquer 3, later bossing Nathan Fillion around as Veronica Dare in 2009’s Halo: ODST. Her 2010 roles include EDI in Mass Effect 2 and Kerrigan in StarCraft II.

Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman’s most recent blockbuster role was as Commissioner Gordon in 2008’s The Dark Knight – currently the second biggest grossing film of all time. He also played Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies, was Dracula himself and featured in that episode of Friends where he taught Joey that proper actors spit when they annunciate. In terms of video games, he’s recently popped up in Call of Duty: World at War and will be returning in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Oh, and he was in The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night.

Liam Neeson

As he slowly clarifies in Taken, Liam Neeson has a very particular set of skills. And one of those skills is as James the head scientist on Project Purity in Fallout 3, designed to clean the water leading into the Capital Wasteland. He’s also your Dad. In the game.

Keeley Hawes

Keeley Hawes has been the voice of Lara Croft since 2006, providing the dulcet British tones of the world’s most famous tomb raider in Legend, Anniversary, Underworld and the recent Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Her television work has been equally British and includes Ashes to Ashes, Tipping the Velvet and Spooks.

Andy Serkis

Incredible contortionist and dashing precious-seeker Andy Serkis has twisted himself into all kinds of roles – notably Gollum in The Lord of The Rings. He’s also worked closely with UK developer Ninja Theory on both Heavenly Sword and the upcoming Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.

Nolan North

Since starting out working on American soaps, Nolan North’s iconic voice – equal parts rapscallion and hero – has turned him into quite the gaming celebrity. Most famous for being Nathan Drake in Uncharted, he’s also appeared in, well, almost everything: Transformers: War for Cybertron, Dark Voice, Trauma Team, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2, Valkyria Chronicles, Mafia II, Resonance of Fate, Quantum of Solace, Saints Row, The Saboteur, Shadow Complex, Singularity, EverQuest II, Fable II, Final Fantasy XII, Gears of War 2, God of War, Ape Escape 3, Area 51, Army of Two and Assassin’s Creed. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Neil Patrick Harris

The NPH has been a cult darling since taking the title role in Joss Whedon’s musical series Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. But this guy is also Doogie Howser, Carl Jekins from Starship Troopers and Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother. His video game credits include Matt Hazard’s antagonist Wallace “Wally” Wellesley and, far more importantly, Amazing Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

Michael Ironside

Michael Ironside is so hard he could probably survive being shot in the head and dropped into a pit of lava. His voice sounds like tree bark that’s been ground up with rocks; it’s so tough it could file diamond. His voice is Sam Fisher – gamers were furious when Ubisoft were vague about whether or not they’d be using him in Splinter Cell: Conviction. They did, of course.