Losing His Voice In Red Dead Redemption

Voice actor Colin Nissan got the role as Marshall Leigh Johnson in Red Dead Redemption. Or so he thought.

Nissan, writing for the blog of The Paris Review (a rather heavy literary magazine based in New York), spins a gem of a tale about his first voice work for a video game. Over the course of two hours at Rockstar’s studio in SoHo “I threatened, chased, arrested, and killed people. I even died. I didn’t just die, I died with an accent. I was in the freaking zone.”

Two months before the release, Marshall Johnson appeared in a trailer for the game – without Nissan’s voice. Launch day arrived. Nissan met the marshall in Armadillo, and sure enough, the bastard spoke in someone else’s voice.

I pulled out my gun and stared at him. He stared back at me. “Be careful with that thing,” he said. And with that final confirmation of this stranger’s voice, I pointed at his chest and pulled the trigger.

I needed closure. More importantly, I needed to know if this son of a bitch died better than me. He owed me that.

Mr. Nissan, if you want your revenge on Marshall Johnson, play the mission “Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane.” After its completion, use deadeye to shoot his horse out from underneath him. He’ll start walking, and then he’s all yours.

Searching For Me In Red Dead Redemption [The Paris Review]