Voice actors helped shape the entertainment industry. All gaming, animation, and live-action works wouldn’t be the same without these actors’ incredible efforts. Each video game character, from Nintendo’s Mario to PlayStation’s Kratos, is given a unique voice to help them stand out.
We’ve heard and compared tons of video game characters from multiple titles to give you our list of the best gaming voice actors. This article will discuss male actors from the U.S. and Canada.
As usual, we would love to hear your thoughts about our picks in the comments below.
Troy Baker
Troy Baker is a phenomenal American voice actor and musician. He’s lent his voice to many tv shows, anime, and video games alike. He’s voiced Joel Miller in The Last of Us franchise, Booker DeWitt in Bioshock Infinite, and Samuel Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. He currently holds the record for most acting nominations at the Bafta Game Awards, too.
Troy started his career voicing for radio commercials in Dallas, Texas. While Christopher Sabat helped Troy nail roles in anime like Case Closed, Bleach, and others, his career in the gaming industry didn’t pick up until he voiced Matt Baker in Brothers in Arms. This helped Troy get into the groove of voicing characters in the game industry.
Due to The Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite’s success, Troy’s name started to pop up everywhere. In a 2013 issue of Entertainment Weekly, he was listed as the best breakout actor in the gaming industry due to his gaming roles. With these achievements under his belt, Troy doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.
Nolan North
Nolan North is an intriguing and popular American actor. Despite starting off as an actor for the ABC soap opera Port Charles, Nolan pursued voice acting after the show concluded in 2003. Now, many gaming fanatics know him as Nathan Drake from Uncharted, Desmond Miles from Assassin’s Creed, and Merasmus in Team Fortress 2.
Nolan’s lent his voice to many animated projects, too. Nolan wasn’t always an actor, though. Early in his life he pursued journalism and had a strong fascination with baseball. It wasn’t until he moved to New York City during his college years that he decided it was best to pursue a career in stand-up comedy and acting.
Nolan North used to host a stellar YouTube gaming program called Retro Replay with Troy Baker. Unfortunately, Troy left the show due to a disagreement regarding its direction. When he’s not voicing characters, he spends his life with his loving wife and children.
Steve Downes
Halo is Microsoft’s bread and butter. Master Chief is an iconic gaming character who wouldn’t be as amazing if not for Steve Downes. He’s an American voice actor and disc jockey. He’s been voicing Master Chief since the beginning and never fails to deliver an excellent performance. As a disc jockey, Steve’s worked for radio stations like KWST, KLSX, and KLOS.
In 2015, Steve announced his retirement from the radio business to dedicate more time to his family. Steve started his voice acting career in 1990. It wasn’t until his role as Gunnar in the video game Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator that he’d get noticed by a voice acting director and music composer named Martin O’Donnell. After meeting Martin and the folks at Bungie, Steve became the go-to voice for Master Chief.
David Hayter
David Hayter is a Canadian-American voice actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He’s best known for playing Solid Snake and Naked Snake in the Metal Gear series. At nine years old, David began his acting career but spent most of his time traveling the world. While he enjoyed performing live during the early 90s’, David slowly became more interested in voice acting.
He’d land a role as Captain America in 1994’s Spider-Man and Arsene Lupin III in the English release of Hayao Miyazaki’s The Castle of Cagliostro. Solid Snake and Naked Snake opened many opportunities for David, though. His performance in that series was so stellar that it helped him achieve roles in popular games like Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
He’s also cited Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear’s creator, as a huge influence on his work. Although he wouldn’t reprise his role in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, David voiced Snake in other games like Super Bomberman R and Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Ultimate.
Yuri Lowenthal
Yuri Lowenthal is a talented voice actor, screenwriter, and producer. He’s voiced many iconic characters from the animation and gaming industry. From Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto to Spider-Man in various Marvel-themed video games, Yuri’s explored many avenues over the years and adores what he does.
Outside of voice acting, Yuri assisted foreign English teachers, acted in plays, and runs a production company with his spouse called Monkey Kingdom Productions. While he doesn’t have many awards to his name, he’s been nominated for several awards over the years. It’s Yuri’s astonishing and charismatic voice that gravitates fans to his works.
John DiMaggio
John DiMaggio played a huge role in many fans’ childhood. He’s lent his voice to many bright characters across the entertainment industry. He’s voiced cartoon characters like Jake the Dog from Adventure Time and Bender from Futurama. As far as gaming goes, he’s known as the voice for the Gears of War protagonist Marcus Fenix.
Besides being an incredible actor, John was a great comedian who performed in a comic duo named “Red Johnny and the Round Guy”. He was an executive producer and narrator for the voice-acting documentary called I Know That Voice. He did run into a conflict with Disney regarding his role as Bender in Futurama’s revival, though.
Even though he fought alongside other profound actors for better pay, his plan didn’t succeed. Nonetheless, John was happy that his campaign reached multiple outlets and made people aware of the shady business practices. With a compelling voice and kind heart, John DiMaggio is a phenomenal actor worth praising.
Charles Martinet
Nintendo wouldn’t be where it is today if it weren’t for its all-star line-up of remarkable characters. From Mario to Inkling, Nintendo’s created many immersive worlds and mascots for fans to adore. While Mario didn’t have a voice at the beginning of his platforming career, Charles Martinet would lend the Italian plumber a helping hand.
Not only does Charles voice Mario, but he lends his talent to other characters in Nintendo’s roster. These include Luigi, Waluigi, Wario, and many other staple characters. Charles once pursued law in college but abandoned the idea to pursue acting instead. Afterward, he’d attend multiple establishments to develop his acting skills.
In the upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie developed by Nintendo and Illumination, Charles won’t be reprising his role as Mario. This came as a shock to many fans since Charles has been voicing Mario since the 1992 Super Mario Bros. pinball machine days. While this is a bummer for most folks, Charles has a secret role to play in the film. Regardless, Charles is a profound acting legend with a big heart.
Roger Craig Smith
Sega was once Nintendo’s biggest rival in the video game space until Sony and Microsoft came around. Mario and Sonic fans often clashed heads to see who was the better video game platformer mascot. Although those days are behind both companies, Sonic played a huge part in many fans’ childhoods.
While he wasn’t voicing Sonic at the start, many people consider Roger Craig Smith as the definitive Sonic the Hedgehog voice. Roger is an American voice actor who has been voicing Sonic since 2010. Besides Sonic, Roger voiced characters like Chris Redfield in Resident Evil, Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Assassin’s Creed, and Captain America in numerous Marvel projects.
Despite doing stand-up comedy for five years during his university days, Roger opted to become a full-time voice actor. However, he cites that his stand-up routines assisted him in developing his voice-acting talent. Despite announcing he’d be leaving his role as Sonic in January 2021, he redacted the statement in May 2021. Regardless, Roger’s a passionate voice actor with a lot of experience.
Christopher Judge
Christopher Judge is a great American actor. He’s best known for playing Kratos in 2018’s God of War and 2021’s God of War: Ragnarok. At the 2022 Video Game Awards event hosted by Geoff Keighley, he won the “Best Performance” award for his role as Kratos in the games mentioned earlier.
Besides Kratos, Christopher played Teal’c in the Canadian-American military sci-fi television series Stargate GC-1. At a young age, Christopher wanted to become an actor and studied drama during high school. However, he participated in football in college since he felt it was a stepping stone that’d help him achieve his mission.
As far as his personal life goes, Christopher is an avid golfer and is involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada. He enjoys reading up on his son Cameron Judge’s progress, too. He’s a professional Canadian football linebacker for the Calgary Stampeders. With several awards under his belt, it doesn’t look like Christopher Judge will be leaving it all behind anytime soon.
Lex Lang
While video game heroes are interesting, they’d be nothing without their villain counterparts. Lex Lang is a profound American voice actor and director, whose best known for being Crash Bandicoot’s beloved antagonist, Doctor Neo Cortex. Lex started performing when he was 7 years old and in high school, he performed in various theatre productions like The Fantastiks, Bus Stop, The Apple Tree, etc.
In college, he adored doing impressions and participating in stand-up comedy. He has performed alongside many prolific individuals like Jim Carrey, Richard Belzer, and David Spade before, too. Lex has won two Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards for his voice acting talents. Besides that, he was a voice director for clients including Cartoon Network, Sony, Microsoft, Warner Brothers, and more.
When he’s not busy, he likes playing the guitar, bass, or piano. Alongside his wife, Lex has started up organizations that emphasize the significance of recycling and preserving things for the planet. With all this under his grasp, it doesn’t look like Lex will be up to no good like his comical villain counterpart, Doctor Neo Cortex.
So, there we have it, our picks for the best male US and Canadian gaming voice actors!
What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!
I feel honored to have been included in such a distinguished group of talented actors. However, I must clarify that both of my Emmy-Award recognitions were not solely my own, as I was part of a remarkable ensemble of actors who contributed to the success of the two Emmy Award-winning programs, Curious George, where I play The Doorman and his dog Hundley (and Dr. Forbin), and Tutenstein, where I play Professor Bedhety. Thank you for including me in this list of the top 10 gaming voice actors in the US and Canada. I have a great passion for my work and take delight in portraying a diverse range of characters, whether they are heroes or villains. Thank you once again for this humbling acknowledgment. :)