Omnipresent videogame voice actor Troy Baker, known for major roles in everything from The Last of Us to Metal Gear Solid and Far Cry, has revealed he is not behind one of GTA 6's main characters (widely referred to as Jason, but yet to be officially named). Following the release of GTA 6's first trailer late last year, the role was widely ascribed to Baker despite the character barely saying anything.
In an interview with The Movie Dweeb's YouTube channel, Baker said he wasn't playing the character, and didn't want credit for the performances of others.
"He says one word," notes Baker. "This is what's funny and to be honest a great lesson for me, because that's a lesson in perception so people think and they just automatically assume.
"I want that guy, whoever it is, to get credit for his work because I'm sure it's going to be great, and I know many people who worked for Rockstar—[RDR 2's] Roger Clark and [GTA 5's] Ned Luke—that's a grind. Those guys pour themselves into those characters and they deserve all the credit for their work. Not me."
Baker goes on to discuss audience perceptions further and how at some points, such as with Indiana Jones, it's been a minor issue for him.
"I count it as a compliment if people think [the GTA 6 performance is] good and they associate me with it, that's a really good compliment," said Baker, "but there is something about perception, like Todd Howard going 'I don't want Troy Baker in our game because he's in every game.' Listen man, whoever thought that that would be a problem? Whoever thought that having a lot of work would prevent you getting work?"
At the time, Baker's GTA 6 'involvement' was one of those claims that some soon came to regard as a truism: to be fair, the character's voice bears similarities to Baker, and part of the fan theory was just how many games Baker appears in. To be equally fair to Baker, I'd say his performances across these games are distinctive and various, and I can't imagine confusing his Revolver Ocelot with his Joel Miller or Sam Drake. And of course Todd Howard eventually came around to the idea of his playing Indiana Jones, even though Baker's claim that no one knew it was him seems a little far-fetched.
"To me it's the ones where people go 'I had no idea it was you', those are the ones where I go 'I really did my job' and this is no different, when people did not know that it was me in the trailer, I went 'I did my job'," said Baker.
"My truest desire is that people don't see Troy Baker as Indiana Jones and they don't even see Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, but they just see Indiana Jones and they see themselves as Indiana Jones," said Baker of his upcoming role. "That's when I know that we have done our job, when they feel like Indiana Jones more than me or Harrison."
So it's safe to say Troy Baker is not one of the main GTA 6 protagonists (though he could of course have another role in the game). The luxurious and detail-packed trailer at least gave us plenty more to speculate about, even though the game won't be arriving until 2025 at the earliest. And unfortunately we all know what that means for PC: if Rockstar plays this as it has done historically, we won't be screaming around Vice City, Baker or no, till 2026 at the earliest.
