Grand Theft Auto V

Available on: PS3, Xbox 360

Grand Theft Auto V: Is this the game's leading man?

Online sleuthing tracks down likely owner of trailer's voice and face

Words: Tom_Goulter on November 11, 2011

Internet detectives (the most inventive and unscrupulous kind!) have come up with compelling evidence that the lead actor for Rockstar's GTA 5 is none other than Hollywood's Ned Luke. You know Ned Luke: he was that guest star on that TV series you watched that one episode of when nothing else was on. Okay, fine, maybe you haven't heard of him, but Twitter has – and it's pretty sure he's the protagonist and narrator from the GTA V teaser.

Here's the GTA V reveal clip's clearest shot of our as-yet-unnamed guy, next to a similar angle on Luke from his TV work (which includes spots on SVU, JAG, and quintessentially '90s series Renegade). Feel free to run your own comparison of the actors' gravelly vocal tones: there's certainly a resemblance, but honestly, stern-sounding middle-aged white guys are a dime a dozen on IMDB, so your guess is as good as ours.

Above: Thanks to IGTAV for tracking down and photographing the tweets in question

Somewhat more incriminating are tweets from Luke's actor pal Jimmy Taenaka, and his cousin, who's not a fan of Luke's and suggests she'll only be playing the game “just to kill him or get him caught by the cops.” Yikes. We're staying out of family drama, but the evidence is certainly compelling, and would be in line with Rockstar's habit of casting lesser-known actors as leads (outside of Ray Liotta, of course, but if any game demanded stunt-casting, it was Vice City).

What do you think: have we found GTA V's lead, or is this some sort of red herring on Rockstar's part to keep us talking?

Platforms:

PS3, Xbox 360

Topics:

Grand Theft Auto, GTAV, Rockstar

12 comments

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ThatGuyFromTV - November 13, 2011 8:23 a.m.

I smell a bait and switch. I don't think that Rockstar would make someone so famous their main character.
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sleepyMexican45 - November 12, 2011 4:24 p.m.

That actor's in X-Files :) /nerd.
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sleepyMexican45 - November 12, 2011 4:25 p.m.

"Michael Critchgow". Wow how do I know that :|
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hulksmash - November 12, 2011 3:36 p.m.

it is him. if you check out his imdb page it lists GTA 5 and the character's name http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0902623/
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Reebokanonymous - November 13, 2011 10:07 p.m.

Oh my god you're right! But can't users edit that site? I don't doubt this, though. The tweets, his look, the voice. They all seem to match up to me.
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cokelogic - November 12, 2011 8:36 a.m.

Anyone track down a clip of Ned Luke; see if the voice is the same? Nothin' doin' on YouTube.
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FlyinHawaiian13 - November 11, 2011 5:40 p.m.

I feel I'm the only one who was hoping for more gang bangin' fo 'tha grove
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inkyspot - November 12, 2011 4:42 a.m.

No, your not the only one, but is should be a episode, like the Lost, or Gay Tony. That GTA was my favorite, even compare to most open world games today.
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inkyspot - November 12, 2011 4:44 a.m.

Looks like that Saints took that gang banging thing and ran away with it. So even if they don't do it in GTA5 you can dress all them Saints as Green... okay it's not quite the same. I tried.
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cokelogic - November 12, 2011 8:35 a.m.

My theory is there will be two playable characters. A wealthy developer type (Ned Luke) and a CJ type thug; to show the cause an effect of each others actions. The game does seem focused on money, or lack there of.
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DRAKULAxx - November 11, 2011 5:36 p.m.

I have a feeling we're going to be playing as Tommy Vercetti from Vice City.
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theinvinciblemick - November 11, 2011 5:30 p.m.

Holy crap it does looks like him, this could be it
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