Whose appearance do the heroes of cult computer games wear (20 photos)

Nostalgic greetings to all! If earlier the appearance of game characters in the vast majority of cases was invented from scratch, then over time they began to hire actors for these purposes. Thanks to this, the characters turned out to be more alive and recognizable.





Max Payne (Sam Lake)

The first part of the game "Max Payne" had a very modest budget, so the creators could not even allocate extra funds to hire actors who would play the roles of the main characters and give them their appearance.



In this regard, it was decided to involve the creators of the game themselves as models. And when it came to who would play Max Payne himself, the choice immediately fell on game designer and screenwriter Sami Yarvi (Sam Lake), because who else but the developer and screenwriter could better portray their character.

However, as for me, the lack of acting data made itself felt, because Sami Yarvi did not look very organic in the image of Payne. During comic book interruptions, he kept smiling unnaturally and showing some strange movements. And the game character himself was depicted with a strange and stupid smile.





But this did not affect the success of the game, and it eventually became a hit. And thanks to higher funding, professional actors were invited for the second and third parts of the game.

Far Cry 3 (Michael Mando)

The psycho robber Vaas Montenegro from the third part of the game "Far Cry" is still one of the most iconic game villains to this day. And his phrase "Have I told you what madness is?" quickly went to the people.



And in many ways, the character gained his popularity thanks to the excellent acting of Michael Mando, who not only gave the character his appearance, but also played him in the cinematic promo video.



But the most important thing is that the psychotic antagonist turned out to be truly charismatic, and many gamers still consider him the best villain in this series. However, many were very upset that there was no real battle with Vaas in the game.

Mass Effect (Mark Vanderloo)

In the trilogy "Mass Effect" we will take on the role of Commander Shepard. And despite the fact that in the game you can create a completely unique character, thanks to the built-in editor, many chose to play for the standard Shepard model.



So, the actor and Dutch model Mark Vanderloo gave his appearance to the standard Shepard. At one time, I was sure that the filmmakers would take on the film adaptation of the game "Mass Effect", where they would invite Mark for the main role, which would certainly please the fans. But, unfortunately or fortunately, this did not happen, and given that Mark is not getting any younger, it is unlikely that he will be invited, even if they still want to make a film based on the game.

Mass Effect (Yvonne Strahovski)

Talking about the game "Mass Effect", one cannot help but remember such a character as Miranda Lawson, who appeared in the second and third parts of the game. The appearance of this heroine was given by the Australian model Yvonne Strahovski. In addition, she gave the character her voice, and also participated in the motion capture.



Death Stranding (Norman Reedus)

If you watched the series "The Walking Dead" or the movie "Blade 2", then you would certainly have caught something familiar in the appearance of Sam from the game "Death Stranding". In fact, this is true, because the appearance of the hero was given by Norman Reedus, who starred in these projects.



Moreover, Norman Reedus himself was so carried away by the process that he began to offer his own ideas for the game, thanks to which the courier's personality turned out to be more developed than was originally planned.

Half-Life 2 (Jamiel Mullen)

In fact, in the game "Half-Life 2" from the company "Valve" you can meet a whole bunch of characters who were copied from real people. But we are interested in the main cast.



One of the central characters of the game, namely Alyx Vance, was played by little-known actress Jemil Mullen.

Portal (Alicia Toyoko)

The girl named Chell from the game "Portal" was also not drawn from scratch. Her appearance was given to her by Alicia Toyoko, who, by the way, has long been established in the gaming industry and managed to work on such projects as "F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin", where she played Alma, as well as "Left 4 Dead". However, in the end, for the game "Left 4 Dead" the candidacy was revised, and Sonya Kinski was taken for this role.



Mortal Kombat

I will tell you only briefly about this cult series of games, since in order to tell about the actors who played the fighters in this game, you need to write several separate articles.

As you probably know, unlike the cult fighting game "Street fighter", the creators of the game "Mortal Kombat" decided to involve real people who would play the role of fighters.



As a result, to create the first part, the developers Ed Boon and John Tobias involved their friends, who were also athletes and martial arts masters. What is John Pesina worth, who played Johnny Cage, Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Reptile in the first two parts of the game. However, due to disagreements with the studio "Midway" Pesina could not continue to play Johnny Cage, which is why it was decided to kill his character off-screen.

But actor Richard Divizio played not only Kano in the first and third parts of the game, but also Baraka in the second part, Kabal in the third part, and Quan Chi in the game "Mortal Kombat 5: Sub-Zero Mythology".



In the third part of the game, actress, model and fitness instructor Carrie Ann Hoskins especially stood out. And Hoskins herself did not stop at the third part of the game. She voiced Sonya in some other parts of the game (but the character's appearance was already different).



But what really made fans scream with joy was the appearance of Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa in the game "Mortal Kombat 11", namely in the DLC "Aftermath". Yes, he played the sorcerer Shang Tsung in the movie "Mortal Kombat", and a couple of decades later he returned to this role in a game format.



Cyberpunk 2077 (Keanu Reeves)

The fact that Keanu Reeves will donate his appearance to one of the characters in the game "Cyberpunk 2077" became known during the release of the first trailer. In fact, he himself presented this trailer during the Microsoft E3 2019 conference.



In this game, Reeves plays the role of a character named Johnny Silverhand, who will be in constant contact with the main character.

"Pay Day" and "Far cry 6" (Giancarlo Esposito)

Actor Giancarlo Esposito is known for his roles as villains in various projects. Take at least such series as "Breaking Bad", "The Boys" or "The Mandalorian".



In fact, he played the same role in some computer games. Specifically, he played a dentist in the game "Pay Day 2", as well as the main antagonist in the game "Far Cry 6".

Last of Us (Ashley Johnson)

Actress Ashley Johnson is better known for her voice acting than for her roles in films. She voiced the boy Peter in the animated series "Jumanji", as well as Gretchen from the animated series "Recess".



As for the famous game "The Last of Us", here she gave her voice and appearance to the main character Ellie. Also, it was she who played all the scenes using the "Motion Capture" technology.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Kit Harrington)

Also, we can't help but remember the game "Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare", where the role of the main antagonist was played by the star of the series "Game of Thrones" Kit Harrington.



Alone in the dark (2024) (Several actors)

In 2024, a remake of the cult game of 1992 "Alone in the dark" was released. In this remake, we can again see the same characters from the original game, namely Edward Carnby and Emily Hartwood.



However, this time the characters were not drawn from scratch. Now their roles were played by professional actors. For example, the role of Edward went to the popular actor David Harbour, while the role of the main character was given to the actress Jodie Comer.



Of course, this is far from the entire list of famous actors who have given their appearance (and sometimes their voice and movements) to characters in computer games.

If you remembered someone else, share your thoughts in the comments.