He talks make-believe, motion capture, and meth.
The breakout star of Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar Games' billion-dollar-and-counting baby, is indisputably Trevor. One of three playable characters, Trevor is the chaotic soul of the game personified, a wantonly violent, wantonly sexual, wantonly amusing career criminal with an emotional soft spot for repressed Mexican housewives.
And Steven Ogg is Trevor. Ogg, a Canadian-born television and stage actor, lent not just his voice but quite obviously his appearance to the character, and makes the cartoonish and hyperbolic Trevor somehow believable. Which is not to say that Ogg has anything in common with Trevor, as he told us last week:
What has the response been so far to your work as Trevor?
Steven Ogg: It has been really wonderful! I have been so thrilled that the GTA fans have responded so positively to the performance. They have enjoyed his impulsive, psychopathic nature but have reveled in his humor — that has been great to hear! I wanted to make him multidimensional, and fans are responding to that. It's just great!
Have you played the game? Do you plan to?
SO: I have not played it, but I have put it into a console and watched the beginning. I tend to bump into the same wall over and over and over again when I attempt to control any character in a game. I'd love to watch it, though!
How much did the Trevor character change as you acted him? In other words, from the original script to what's in the game now?
SO: Trevor definitely evolved (not sure if that's the best word to describe Trevor's change) as I performed him. Nuances and character traits that began to appear — his walk, his manner of speech, his reactions, definitely informed his development throughout the game. It was so great as an actor because if I just trusted the words written — those words informed my choices and how Trevor came to life. If there were things I didn't understand about the character of Trevor — I made it make sense.
Did you have any concerns about playing a character who does such horrible things?
SO: What horrible things? Are you telling me that Trevor does reprehensible things? Hee hee. My first day of shooting was one of the most graphic and violent acts, so it set the bar. No, I was never concerned because it is acting — it's the same thing as when I was 12 years old pretending I was a British soldier with a gun and bayonet in the theater — it's play.
Via pbs.twimg.com
