This is pretty interesting, considering that Rockstar used to hire big names, like Sam Jackson, Burt Reynolds, Chuck D, Ray Liotta and others back when. In a recent interview with Vulture, Rockstar games co-founder, Dan Houser, talked a bit about the pros and cons of using recognizable talents vs unknowns, maintaining player immersion, dealing with big egos and more.
Houser said, "“We don’t bring in name actors anymore because of their egos and, most important of all, because we believe we get a better sense of immersion using talented actors whose voices you don’t recognize.”
He went on to say that a few conflicts earlier in the companies history helped cement this viewpoint, from arguments with Chuck D that had him handing off directing duties to shouting matches with Burt Reynolds that has them looking at lesser known talents.
Not to say they didn't pile a ton of actors into the booth, since they definitely did. The script for Red Dead Redemption 2’s main story was "about 2,000 pages," but Houser claimed that if he printed out every spoken word, the stack of pages “would be eight feet high.”
Red Dead Redemption 2 releases on October 26th.
