The Face of GTA V Is ... Ned Luke?

Greg Tito

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Sep 29, 2005
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The Face of GTA V Is ... Ned Luke?



Internet sleuths might have dug up details on the actor playing the main character in GTA V.

The excitement of viewing the first assets from the fifth Grand Theft Auto game has died down - probably because everyone is playing MW3, Saints Row or Skyrim - but that doesn't mean die-hard fans haven't been trying to track down details. Speculation on the 1.5 minute trailer was in earnest with many people excited about possible callouts to previous GTA games. The most plausible was that the narrator sounded a lot like Ray Liotta, the actor who played Vice City's Tommy Vercetti, as an older man, but careful investigation by fansites like GTAV.net and iGTA5.com exposed another possible lead actor. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ned Luke.

Ok, it's perfectly acceptable for you to never have heard of him. According to his IMDB page, he hasn't appeared in anything other than bit parts and guest spots in TV movies and crime shows. But if you listen to his demo reel [http://www.imdb.com/video/demo_reel/vi174889497/] and compare his voice to the GTA V trailer, the resemblance is pretty damn clear. Plus, he looks a lot like the shot of the middle-aged criminal looking over Los Santos from a balcony.

There has also been some confirmation via Twitter, sort of. Actor said on November 5th [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0846359/], "My fellow thespian Ned Luke is the lead voice and profile in the upcoming game by Rockstar Grand Theft Auto 5! Way to go Ned! Wholly Molly!" Taenaka said that his observation wasn't official, but he knows Ned Luke's voice and face enough to be pretty sure it was him. Ned Luke also participated in the #GrandTheftAutoMemories Twitter promotion run by Rockstar, and he subsequently deleted his account. Take that for what it's worth.

[video=4918]

The final piece of evidence is that Luke's IMDB page lists GTAV as a credit [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2103188/] with him playing a character named Albert De Silva. Keep in mind, IMDB works similarly to Wikipedia in that authorized people can add or make changes to an actor's page at will, so the listing may not be accurate and most certainly does not come from Rockstar itself.

On the other hand, this is the first mention of the protagonist's name, and if Luke is confirmed as the voice and likeness, Albert de Silva may well be the main character in Grand Theft Auto V.

It's on the internets, it must be real!

Source: igta5.com [http://www.gtav.net/news/4440/is-ned-luke-the-voice-of-the-gta-v-protagonist]

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Sparrow

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Feb 22, 2009
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All I can say is... wow. Some folks have a lot of time on their hands. As much as I would have preferred Ray Liotta (because let's be honest, Rockstar could afford him) this guy seems up to the job.
 

GeorgW

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Aug 27, 2010
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It would make sense to use an unknown actor, if the length of the GTA4 campaignis any indication an A-list star would just cost too much.
 

jurnag12

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Nov 9, 2009
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Is it just me or is 'Albert' kind of a lame name for the protagonist of a game like GTA?
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

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Sep 28, 2009
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Sparrow said:
All I can say is... wow. Some folks have a lot of time on their hands. As much as I would have preferred Ray Liotta (because let's be honest, Rockstar could afford him) this guy seems up to the job.
"Affording" is always a tad interesting. Remember the post-release controversy of GTA IV when one of the main voice actors got less than $10,000 for playing the second most recognizable characters of a game that set sale records in the billions?
 

The Random One

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May 29, 2008
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Albert de Silva? How strange. Silva is a Portuguese/Brazilian surname, but the particle accompanying him is usually 'da', not 'de'. Maybe he's supposed to be Romanian.
 

Electric Alpaca

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May 2, 2011
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A second look at the IMDb page for GTA V, also lists Young Maylay as reprising his Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas role as Carl 'CJ' Johnson, but this is merely rumoured. Could we be seeing a return for Los Santos' original rags to riches hero though? Possibly. Again, nothing's been confirmed, so all of this is pure speculation for now.

I'm more right about CJ at least.

I'm a little disappointed that no new ventures are taking place though. No female lead, not a multi character tale. I hope it changes.
 

McGuinty1

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The Random One said:
Albert de Silva? How strange. Silva is a Portuguese/Brazilian surname, but the particle accompanying him is usually 'da', not 'de'. Maybe he's supposed to be Romanian.
After a quick googling, it appears that the majority of people with the surname "De Silva" are of Sri Lankan descent. This Ned Luke guy is as American as apple pie, so who knows. Maybe they thought it was vaguely Italian-sounding? I hope the name is just a placeholder that will be finalized later on.
 

putowtin

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Frostbite3789 said:
I still want it to be Frank West. So, this is a persona disappointment.
personally I think Adam West would have been an inspired choice!
 

Varrdy

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DasDestroyer said:
Ned Luke... Led Nuke... Does he nuke people while listening to Led Zeppelin?
That's just the most awesome thing I have heard all day! Now I have visions of a mad bastard screaming along to "The Immigrant Song" while raining nukes from an airship!

Wardy
PS The scary thought is that I came up with that mental image whilst stone-cold sober!
 

CleverCover

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putowtin said:
Frostbite3789 said:
I still want it to be Frank West. So, this is a persona disappointment.
personally I think Adam West would have been an inspired choice!
I think if Adam West did become a protagonist, I could never again take anything in the game seriously. It would be a great comedy though.

I'm happy they're getting unknown people. More jobs, ya know?
 

RipRoaringWaterfowl

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Varrdy said:
DasDestroyer said:
Ned Luke... Led Nuke... Does he nuke people while listening to Led Zeppelin?
That's just the most awesome thing I have heard all day! Now I have visions of a mad bastard screaming along to "The Immigrant Song" while raining nukes from an airship!

Wardy
PS The scary thought is that I came up with that mental image whilst stone-cold sober!
That doesn't make you insane. That just makes you awesome.
 

samsonguy920

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Mar 24, 2009
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So begins the speculation game. Always expected, and as long as nobody goes overboard on it, raising too many expectations, harmless. It shouldn't be too much longer before Rockstar does release details on some of who is all in the game.
And to those who complain about a middle-aged protagonist, keep in mind Tommy Vercetti was middle-aged himself. I seem to recall many GTA fans saying they enjoy Vice City the most. Probably one reason I enjoyed VC myself, considering Vercetti was the kind of character I wanted to play in a GTA game.
Electric Alpaca said:
A second look at the IMDb page for GTA V, also lists Young Maylay as reprising his Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas role as Carl 'CJ' Johnson, but this is merely rumoured. Could we be seeing a return for Los Santos' original rags to riches hero though? Possibly. Again, nothing's been confirmed, so all of this is pure speculation for now.

I'm more right about CJ at least.

I'm a little disappointed that no new ventures are taking place though. No female lead, not a multi character tale. I hope it changes.
One thing I hope for is a return of characters we know. One thing I didn't like is besides Lazlow(who is starting to get boring, frankly), there was nobody we knew previously from other GTA's. As long as we aren't playing CJ again, I am cool with him still being around. Nothing quite like getting into a game ready to kick ass and your character turns out to be a big wuss.