MachineGames’ upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is shaping up to recapture the same thrills and sense of adventure from the timeless film series – albeit with less Harrison Ford. The title role is played by famed video game voice-over and performance actor Troy Baker, and as it stands, he sounds like a dead ringer for the Indy we know and love.
However, during the recent Golden Joystick Awards 2024 show, the lead actor told Gamesradar+ that he initially passed on playing Indiana Jones because the role “scared” him and that he had doubts that he’d be able to pull it off. Also, one key developer in particular was especially doubtful that Baker could do it.
“I originally passed [on the Indiana Jones role] because, truth be told, I was so scared that I would not be able to pull it off. And fortunately, [voice acting director] Tom Keegan saw past my insecurities and encouraged me to put myself on tape for this still,” said Baker.
Over the last decade, Baker has become one of the most recurring and recognizable actors to appear in video games. His most famous video game roles include Joel in The Last of Us Part 1 and 2, Sam Drake in Uncharted 4, Booker Dewitt in Bioshock Infinite, and The Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins. Still, despite his portfolio of work, the proposition of stepping into the role of the iconic Indiana Jones – for the character’s most fully realized AAA game to date – took a lot of work, and finding the leading man took time.
“We saw over 1000 people for this role, and so not only am I in competition with all those truly talented people, but I’m also in competition with myself,” he said. “And the beauty of this is that it’s not about ‘can you make a bang-on impression?’, it’s ‘can you help us feel like this is an authentic Indiana Jones?’ Because that’s what the core of all this is: does this feel like it’s an authentic Indiana Jones?”
He added that as the process went on, he was steadily won over. “And then finally, there was a Zoom call with the MachineGames team, and also Tom Keegan and Todd Howard, and they said ‘we want to walk you through the story’ – and where I was nervous and insecure before, by the time they were done walking me through the story, I was beyond excited. I went from ‘I hope I get this job’ to ‘I really, really wanted it'”.
After recent hands-on time with the game and more gameplay demos showcasing its scope, Baker’s performance stands up pretty well despite some massive shoes to fill. However, during the early casting, one key developer in particular was not enthused with Baker in the running—and that was the lead producer of The Great Circle and head of Bethesda Game Studios, Todd Howard.
“My favorite part of that story is how Todd Howard, when they originally brought my name to him, rolled his eyes like, ‘No, I’m not putting Troy Baker in my game.’ And I never thought that I would be [in it either].”
Thankfully it seems Baker won Howard over, and we’re now just weeks away from the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which will be the most ambitious and large-scale game focusing on the explorer and archeologist that we’ve seen yet.
Check out our recap of the Golden Joystick Awards 2024 here, and if you want more about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, go read our extensive preview of the game.