Famous Stars Behind Video Game Characters

Not content with being stars of television, cinema and streaming, some of the world's biggest stars are now playing characters in video games.

Did you know that these actors and actresses voiced heroes and villains in these video games?

1. Emma Stone

In Sleeping Dogs, developed by Square Enix, Emma voiced the character of Amanda Cartwright, one of the girlfriends of the game’s main character Wei Shen.

Speaking about the job, Emma said: “Everyone thinks it’s so cool that I get to do a video game, like, ‘Really? Do you do a video game?’”

2. Samuel L. Jackson

The Marvel star voiced the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas antagonist, corrupt police officer Frank Tenpenny.

3. Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood has been appearing in video games for more than two decades.

The actor reprised his Lord of the Rings role as Frodo Baggins in multiple games tied to the fantasy franchise.

He also voiced the titular dragon across the three Legend of Spyro titles.

In Broken Age, he played Shay, one of the game’s two protagonists.

His work earned him the 2014 Performance in a Comedy, Lead award from the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers.

4. Idris Elba

Idris Elba starred as Solomon Reed in the expansion pack for Cyberpunk 2077, titled Phantom Liberty.

He insisted that acting in a pixelated story is no different to being in a blockbuster movie, because "character work is character work”.

5. Jack Black

The A Minecraft Movie star is a genuine video game fan and has been involved in the industry since 2005, when he voiced Carl Denham in the game adaptation of Peter Jackson’s King Kong.

Jack later portrayed Harm’ny Lightbeard in 2014’s Broken Age and has also lent his talents to High on Life and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.