Rockstar Games’ co-founder and former lead writer Dan Houser doesn’t think his writing in GTA: Vice City was the best, but he reckons acting legend Ray Liotta is what really made the classic game’s script shine.
Grand Theft Auto is no stranger to celebrity talent nowadays – just take a look at GTA 6’s star-studded soundtrack – but Ray Liotta playing the main protagonist of GTA: Vice City was a big deal more than two decades ago.
In an interview with IGN, Houser was asked about what it was like working with the iconic Something Wild and Goodfellas actor, who gave a voice to Tommy Vercetti. “My writing’s awful, and he [Ray Liotta] made it sound good [in Vice City],” Houser says.
“All good actors do that. The actor finds things that are not on the page. Acting is an unusual art form, but it is an art form. And when you see someone who’s good at it, they’re much better than someone who’s just ok at it. When they’re ok, they get what’s in my head, on the character side. The best actors go a whole level above that, and he definitely did that,” he adds.
Houser also describes how the seemingly random collaboration came about. Rockstar supposedly called Liotta’s agent and offered “a chunk of money” for about four days worth of work. “We met him for dinner the night before and then did two days with them in New York,” Houser explains. A couple of months later, Houser returned to LA closer to the game’s full release to record more lines with him. “The first day he turned up and didn’t seem into it, and the next day he came in and did about five hours and completely finished everything.”
“He was fantastic at doing it,” Houser continues. “I mean he brought a level of authenticity to Tommy that I think we’d have struggled with anyone else to find.”