Videogames give actors second chance

By Kemp Powers

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - You may know actor Keith David for starring opposite Kurt Russell in the 1982 horror film 'The Thing', or for his Tony Award-winning role in the 1992 production of 'Jelly's Last Jam'.

Videogamers, however, will more likely recognize David for his role as the Arbiter, the deep-voiced alien "co-star" in Microsoft's best-selling "Halo" videogames.

"I'm not a big videogame player," David said. "But once I was on the set of a film and one of the grips came up to me and said 'I know you're the voice of the Arbiter, can I have your autograph'?"

Videogames have helped resuscitate the careers of many film and television actors, whose distinctive voices can make them a hot commodity in the game world even as their status in Hollywood fades.

The surge in games using big-screen voice talent could even rewrite industry pay scales as actors angle for a bigger piece of the $18 billion U.S. video-game market.

Many once-familiar actors have carved out second careers as video-game characters.

Terrence Carson, one of the stars of the 1990s sitcom "Living Single," now voices Kratos, the main character in Sony's hit PlayStation franchise "God of War".

Character actor Michael Ironside has lent his distinctive voice to the UbiSoft franchise "Splinter Cell", playing the ruthless secret agent Sam Fisher.  Continued...