The Voice of Niko Speaks!
Michael Hollick, the voice actor behind the main character in GTA IV, Niko Bellic, spoke out recently to the New York Times, lamenting the fact that he got paid so little for a game that went on to gross more than half a billion dollars – IN THE FIRST WEEK OF RELEASE.
He brings up the real reason he got screwed out of more money, by calling out his union:
“Obviously I’m incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity,” Mr. Hollick, 35, said last week over dinner in Willamsburg, Brooklyn, shortly after performing in the aerial theater show “Fuerzabruta” in Union Square. “But it’s tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they’re making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don’t see any of it. I don’t blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games. Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies.”
Oh, and if you want an update on my own progress in the game, first let me say “Thanks for asking!” Followed by my answer of “I am currently stuck on the first Manny Escuela mission [where you clear out a warehouse full of drug dealers], as well as the final Brucie mission [the balls-to-the-wall race that i keep coming in 2nd!].” Yup, that’s what i’d say, allright. Also that when i get frustrated after failing those missions over and over, i vent that frustration by going hog wild with all the weapons in the hospital. Let’s just say you DON’T want to come to the hospital to get better if you’re sick — and leave it at that. Heh heh.
