Three from GTA 5 - the creative journey of the actors who played Franklin, Michael and Trevor
Computer games have long ago moved from the category of ordinary pixel-entertainment in the art, where the actors, their facial expressions and behavior play a big role. GTA 5 owes much of its popularity to the main trio of characters, whose images embodied Steven Ogg, Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno. In this article we will tell you about the creative path of each actor, what they were doing before the hit Rockstar Games and what they are doing now.
Shawn Fonteno
Let's start with Shawn Fonteno. The man is already 55 years old, but as an actor he was little known for a long time. Shawn was born in Los Angeles and after school became a member of one of the gangs. Fonteno himself not once noticed that the character of GTA 5 Franklin Clinton is much closer to him than it may seem at first glance. The actor participated in shootings, was injured and committed crimes himself, but eventually decided to leave the gang and start life with a clean slate.
Career began in 2000, when Shawn played a cameo in a medium-sized comedy "3 Strikes". The picture was entirely devoted to the criminal life of African Americans and looked like a real DLC for Grand Theft Auto.
A year later, Fontenot lit up in another comedy — "The Wash". This time the main stars were Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.
However, in 2004, Shawn was invited to voice in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Although it was only a common character bandit, Rockstar Games, apparently, liked to work with an actor who could very accurately embody the characteristic image. In addition, Fontenot was a cousin of Christopher Bellard, the voice of Carl Johnson.
A few years later, Fonteno became one of the three main characters of GTA 5. His character Franklin not only inherited the appearance of the actor, but also many of his character traits. Shawn was lucky, because he practically did not play, but lived his life, receiving for this also an excellent fee. Since then, Franklin has appeared several times in Grand Theft Auto Online, and in 2017 Shawn again played with Snoop Dogg in the movie "Grow House" — a comedy about growing some plants.
At the moment, Fonteno is, alas, not filming. The actor is rapping and no longer flashes on the big and small screens, but we will not be surprised if Rockstar Games will attract him for the voice in GTA 6.
Ned Luke
Ned Luke is the direct opposite of his counterpart. Born in Danville (California), he was a diligent student and athlete. Career began relatively early — in 1984, but with roles Luke was not very lucky. Despite the impressive track record, the actor has not been able to break out of episodic appearances in TV series and average quality movies. In this case, the first job was just the voice of a cartoon dog in the film "Rover Dangerfield". By the way, the cartoon has a good rating, so you can familiarize yourself.
Subsequently, Ned often and regularly filmed, but the projects were not widely known and have little to say to modern viewers. In 2007, the actor was disappointed in the profession and returned to his childhood hometown with his family. There he opened a restaurant, but a couple years later his agent offered to try for the role of Michael in GTA 5. Initially, Luke did not like the idea. We assume that the actor was far from the world of video games and then did not really understand the essence of the work. However, after reading the script, Ned changed his mind. In addition, it was an opportunity to get one of the main roles. As in the case of Fonteno, Luke gave his character not only a voice, but also appearance. The character suited him, because Michael also like Ned missed his real job.
Unfortunately, after the absolute success of notable roles at Ned did not add up. Now the man is 65 years old, he is happily married and lives with his family in Westchester.
Steven Ogg
Surprisingly, but the most successful of the trio turned out to be the one from whom it was least expected. Steven Ogg embodied the image of Trevor — a crazy Canadian, whose actions sometimes caused a smile, but more often shocked.
By the way, Ogg is also from Canada. His career he began with advertising and theater. After moving to New York, the actor shone in the television show "Law & Order" and "Third Watch", where he played and Ned Luke.
Trevor was liked by gamers, and Steven himself claimed that it was one of the most difficult and large-scale work in his life. Since then, the actor has regularly appeared in popular shows. He can be seen in "Better Call Saul", "The Walking Dead", "Westworld", "Through the Snow" and most recently "The Walking Dead: Dead City".
Despite the fact that Steven still has no major roles, his talent allows him to always remain in demand. Now the actor is 50, he is still full of strength, so we are sure to see many projects with his participation.
***
We are almost sure that Rockstar Games will not miss the opportunity to "hype" and use the voices of their favorites in GTA 6. It's hard to say whether it will be cameos or completely different characters, but we look forward to seeing more work from this trio and wish them success.