Stephen L. Russell is an American actor, playwright, and theater director. He is best known for his video game voice roles as Garrett in the Thief series, Corvo Attano in Dishonored 2, and various characters in Skyrim and the Fallout series.[1][2]
Stephen Russell | |
|---|---|
 Russell in October 2017 | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupations |
|
| Children | 2 |
Career
editRussell appeared onstage in Huntington's The Last Hurrah. Other stage credits include The Life of Galileo (Underground Railway Theater), The Bottom of the Lake (Tir Na Theatre), Daughter of Venus (Boston Playwrights' Theatre), A Pinter Duet, A House With No Walls, White People (New Repertory Theatre), And Then There Were None, A Prayer for Owen Meany (Stoneham Theatre), Talley's Folly (The Lyric Stage Company of Boston), and more than two dozen productions with the Wellfleet Harbor Actors' Theatre (WHAT), including The Beauty Queen of Leenane and the Eliott Norton Award-winning production of A New War.[3] He is the author of 13 plays for young audiences and won the 2009 WHAT Award for Sustained Artistic Excellence.[3]
Russell made his debut film appearances as Bob in the 2007 film Noëlle and in 2008 appeared as Luther Norris in the film Chatham. In 2009, he played a minor role in the film The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. In addition to voicing Garrett in the Thief video game series, he voiced Garrett's chief antagonist Karras in Thief II: The Metal Age, as well as many of the supporting characters in the series. He contributed the voice of the starship Von Braun's central computer XERXES and William Bedford Diego in System Shock 2. He also provided the voices of Andy, Mr. Buckingham, The Great One, Wadsworth, Sergeant RL-3, Cerberus, Enclave Scientists, an Enclave Soldier, and every Mr. Handy in Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76. The 2011 game Skyrim features Russell voicing a range of characters, including Barbas the talking dog, Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile, Belethor, and Thieves Guild leader Mercer Frey. In the 2015 game Fallout 4, he voices Codsworth and the synth detective Nick Valentine. He provided the voice for Lord Protector Corvo Attano in the 2016 video game Dishonored 2.
Russell did not return to the Thief franchise for the 2014 reboot because it utilized motion-capture acting, which required the voice actors to physically portray the characters and perform their own stunts. Eidos-Montréal announced that Russell had been replaced by Romano Orzari for the role of Garrett in the series, and explained their decision: "The actor playing Garrett needed to be able to perform his own stunts. Garrett's a really athletic guy. We could have pasted Stephen's voice on top of the actions and stunts of someone else, but this wouldn't appear natural."[4] The decision upset some fans of the series, who initiated an online petition requesting Eidos-Montréal to bring back Russell as lead voice actor.[5]
Personal life
editHe has a son named Peter, who is an actor and musician, and a daughter named Robin, who is a voice actress.[6]
Selected voice credits
edit| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Thief: The Dark Project | Garrett, Statue, Raoul, Guards, Hammerites, Servants | |
| 1999 | System Shock 2 | Announcer, William Bedford Diego, The Many, OnceGrunt, XERXES | |
| 2000 | Thief II: The Metal Age | Garrett, Karras, Guards, Civilians, Hammerite | |
| 2002 | Freedom Force | Man O' War, Time Master, Iron Ox, Pan, Pinstripe, Civilian Male, Judge | |
| 2002 | Arx Fatalis | Fallan Orbiplanax, Undead Creatures, Goblins, Enoill Calpale, Sacred Dagger | Speech director |
| 2003 | Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide | Additional Voices | |
| 2004 | Thief: Deadly Shadows | Garrett | |
| 2005 | Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich | Iron Ox, Man 'O' War, Blitzkrieg, Charles Wilson, Pan, Pinstripe, Time Master, Pierre | |
| 2006 | Mage Knight: Apocalypse | Additional Voices | |
| 2008 | Fallout 3 | Andy, Mr. Buckingham, The Great One, Additional Voices[7] | |
| 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Mercer Frey, Clavicus Vile, Barbas, Additional Voices[7] | |
| 2015 | The Magic Circle | The Old Pro[7] | |
| 2015 | Fallout 4 | Nick Valentine, Codsworth, Mr. Handy, Additional Voices | |
| 2016 | Fallout 4 Far Harbor | DiMA, Nick Valentine, Additional Voices | |
| 2016 | Dishonored 2 | Corvo Attano | |
| 2017 | Prey | Dr. Sylvain Bellamy[7] | |
| 2018 | Fallout 76 | Mister Handy, Giles Sweetwater, Zeke, Additional Voices[7] | |
| 2018 | Underworld Ascendant | Cabirus | |
| 2019 | ZED | The Dreamer | |
| 2023 | Starfield | Captain Petrov, Larry Dumbrosky, and Victor Aiza | |
| 2023 | Blood West | Protagonist |
References
edit- ^ "Stephen Russell". behindthevoiceactors.
- ^ Alexander, Daniel (September 25, 2019). "Dishonored: 10 Easter Eggs From The Series You May Have Missed". thegamer.com.
- ^ a b "Stephen Russell". huntingtontheatre.org. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ^ Andy Chalk (April 3, 2013). "Eidos Confirms New Lead Voice Actor For Thief". Escapistmagazine.com. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
- ^ Meer, Alec (April 3, 2013). "Why Thief Russelled Up A Different Voice Actor". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
- ^ "About Stephen L. Russell". Archived from the original on September 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Behind the Voice Actors – Stephen Rusell". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 11, 2020.