"Nobody could do that" — Troy Baker remembers Indiana Jones game casting

Baker explained: "So, oddly enough, in November of 2020, a friend of mine came to me, Travis Willingham, and he said, 'Hey, I got this audition for Indiana Jones.'

"And I looked at him, I said, 'You can't do it. There's no way you should do that. There's no way. Because what are you going to do? Are you going to be Harrison Ford? Are you? Nobody could do that. And what are you going to do, try and do something different?'

"And then, as irony would have it, a director that I never worked with before, Tom Keegan, reached out to me and said, 'Hey, I like you for this role.' And I said, 'OK, I have one question. Do they want Harrison Ford?'

"And he said, 'We want 1981 Harrison Ford.' And I said, 'Great, I'm going to give you two names, and one of these two people are going to solve your problem.'

"And Tom Keegan said, 'OK, thank you for that. I like you for this role.'

"And I said, 'Tell you what, man. I'll put myself on tape. If you think it's good, send it on. But if it's not, do us both a favour and keep this between the two of us.'

"And he liked what I did, and apparently so did Machine Games and everyone at Bethesda. So that's what put me on the adventure."

Did Baker already have a Harrison Ford voice in his back pocket? In his words, "No, oddly enough, and believe it or not, I don't walk around my house going, 'I wonder what I sound like as Harrison Ford.'

"To me, the only advantage that I had, I think, is that this is my first movie that I saw in the theatre. And I was five years old, way too young to see this movie.

"It was the first time that I saw a superhero that didn't wear a cape, that used his brain more than he used his fists. And it made me realise that someone who loved history, someone who loved being a normal guy, could also have extraordinary adventures.

"And so I never thought that, 40 years later, I would be standing on the stage with an incredible cast, with an incredible crew telling an incredible story [as Indiana Jones]."

In the full interview, Baker also talks about his favourite Indiana Jones film, how he approached the character, and how surreal it was (as the original Joel actor) to see The Last of Us translated into a TV show last year. Take a look!

Read more:

• How does Harrison Ford's face look so real in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle? We asked the developers
• Why is Indiana Jones a first-person game? Director explains "immersive" decision

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle launches 9th December for PC, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox Game Pass.

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