Photo: Kiefer Sutherland/Metal Gear Solid V
Crossing Over
With the great difficulties of acting in a video game, there must naturally be great rewards as well. Norman Reedus, star of AMC’s hit series The Walking Dead, starred last year in the video game Death Stranding. Directed by Hideo Kojima, who also directed Metal Gear Solid V and has worked in the gaming industry for more than three decades, Death Stranding is the video game equivalent of a big-budget arthouse film. Alongside Reedus it boasts a star-studded Hollywood cast including Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff, Margaret Qualley as Mama, Lea Seydoux as Fragile and Tommie Earl Jenkins as Die-Hardman.
Reedus took some convincing before finally agreeing to star in the sci-fi adventure game, which placed him in the role of a post-apocalyptic delivery man. However, the experience opened his eyes to the potential for video games to tell a story that would be impossible to tell conventionally.
In an interview with Patrick Shanley for Hollywood Reporter late last year, Reedus explained, “All the little mannerisms that Norman has, the game has, because instead of a generic character that you play throughout the story of a game, he wants you to connect with it. He wants you to feel emotion toward your player, because the emotion you feel toward the player is part of the game.” In this way, a skilled actor can truly own the role of a video game protagonist, making them distinct from any other player character in any other game.
Reedus went on to explain that the shared experience of playing a game, more so than the shared experience of watching a film, can bring people together. He said, “The human interaction you have with this character, and you meet other people who are having the same interactions, and you are building something instead of breaking something down — there’s elements of horror in there, elements of action and adventure, but there’s also an element of connection.”
Related Video: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019
