Following the mind-blowing reveal of Keanu Reeves’ role as Johnny Silverhand in the base game, fans everywhere were shocked when Idris Elba was announced for the game’s Phantom Liberty expansion. Elba has since praised his time working on the project and claims that actors have to collaborate more in games than in movies.
Speaking with BBC, the Luther and Sonic 2 actor brought up how acting in video games is actually really similar to movies. If anything, Elba feels that acting in video games takes a lot more collaboration than films do, as they’re also working with animators and the whole development team.
"Character work is character work, performance is performance. You're using the same muscles, whether it's games, or commercials or whatever else you are doing,” Elba said. "The difference with games is you definitely have to collaborate even deeper because you're relying on an animator and a bigger team around you."
The acclaimed performer also brought up just how difficult voicing Solomon Reed was for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. It was a long process that actually started prior to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, taking three years to finish all the work for his character.
"It took a long time. We started before the pandemic and I had to find ways to try and finish it over the last three years,” Elba explained. “It's been a journey, and I'm super proud of where it is and what it's come out as. I'm proud of my contribution."
Now that Phantom Liberty has received a ton of praise, it seems all of that hard work was worth it. While Elba does do a good job, most of the acclaim has gone to the gameplay and just how improved it is over the base title. Considering how Cyberpunk 2077 was once considered an unplayable mess, this is a good thing.
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Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is now available on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC. Even the Steam Deck version runs well, making it the perfect chance to revisit Night City.