Extended Audio Interview with Niko Bellic's Voice Actor

Robert1986

Robert1986

Robert1986

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http://kotaku.com/5010866/extended-audio-interview-with-niko-bellics-voice-actor

His Myspace - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=156544306

Complains about his pay for doing GTA4. He got paid 100k to play Niko Bellic.

kotaku.com said:
This interview sounds like it's taken from the Big O & Dukes radio show on WJFK-FM in Washington. It's a long and in depth talk with Michael Hollick, the voice actor for Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV.

There's a little too much hero-worship from the hosts, but hey, Hollick is not a controversial guest, I suppose. He gives a really good look at the development of the game, and how the actors match their lines to the motion capture, which sounds almost impossibly hard to manage and remain in character. Newfound respect for this kind of work.

Other highlights: He auditioned originally for motion-capture; the game he was told he was auditioning for was called "Frozen." And he had days where he came in to work to find a script that was "50 pages of just screaming. In these you're jumping off of something, in these you're shooting someone, in these you're being burned alive."

And everyone, since it's Memorial Day in the U.S., that wraps up the posts for us. We're off tomorrow and Monday, however, you might want to check back in at 1pm Crecente time on Sunday, as we'll have a video announcement for something moving out later in the week. You might find it interesting.
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Well 100k out of 500 million is peanuts, I really don't blame him as he played the number one part in one of the biggest games to hit the GTA series ever, if not the gaming industry. He sounds nothing like him though :p, I really thought he was a real Russian.
 
That 100k was for 2 years of voice acting and motion capture btw. I'm sure he is about to get a lot more jobs now that he is well known.
 
I suppose over 2 years it works out above average salary which really is not that bad considering he was probably doing other games/movies as well. Not only that but because of the huge success of GTA 4 he will most likely get a lot of offers from other game developers and movie makers now.
 
While you could make a case for him perhaps deserving some royalties from the huge profits, the talent behind games does not work out as being the same as the talent behind films.

Actors sell films, they're a huge part of what makes the massive box office hit. However, it's completely different in the video game industry. The vast majority of what makes a game successful comes from the developers. Decent acting can help the overall quality of the game, but it's almost inconsequential as far as high sales numbers go.

Whether it was him, or any other random actor makes little difference to how many buy the game. When a game sells almost entirely due to the presence of a certain actor, then they can start making a genuine claim to a higher percentage of the profits.
 
Awesome interview

"Dude this is going to make you feel uncomfortable and you're a good guy an all but my balls just tingled"

LOL :D
 
I guess if they'd used a well known actor who can do Eastern European accents, like Peter Stormare or that guy from ER it would have cost a lot more than $100k. So R* could afford to be a bit less stingy and pay a nice fat bonus out of the royalties.

While not doubting the skill and dedication of the voice actors R* did use, one of the disappointments of GTAIV was that unlike previous installments there were virtually no big name actors on board.
 
I didn't think that was a disappointment, all the voice acting seemed very good, that was enough for me. Did anyone else think Brucie looked like a buffed up Ronaldo?
 
I suspect they didnt want to heavy an accent for niko or it would have perplexed all the Americans. They subtitle English people talking let alone some one with a thick accent.

Having said that little jacobs mate is beyond comprehension.
 
Paid too much for such a lousy job. Didn't even sound Serbian at all.

Not the first time a person has voiced a little disquiet at pay, Ray Liotta felt ripped off for his part in Vice City as the main character.
 
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