If you’ve played any video game within the past 10 or so years, chances are you have heard the voice of Elias Toufexis a good number of times. The list of games he has appeared in are extensive, his most recognized role being Adam Jensen, the protagonist of the new Deus Ex games. He’s also voiced characters such as Takkar from Far Cry Primal, Andriy Kobin in Splinter Cell: Conviction and Blacklist, and he was Ezio’s brother Frederico in Assassin’s Creed II. Pretty good voice actor, right? Thing is… he’s not just a voice actor.
Shocking I know, but other than appearing outside of games on TV shows like the hit Syfy series, The Expanse, Elias has done motion capture for a majority of his “voiceover roles.” If in any game a human character is making realistic motions, the actors were more than likely in mo-cap suits. This is not to diminish the hardworking voice actors that simply stand in a recording booth and act, that also takes some serious dedication and hard work to be able to stand there for hours, say lines, and probably yell. However, as Elias once said in his UbiBlog, it takes balls. Literally.
“Allow me to explain: You put on a tight black suit. A really tight black suit. I went to theater school. I had three years of dance where I had to wear nylon tights to every class. I thought those things were restrictive. The motion-capture suits are like wearing dance nylons…while also having Hulk Hogan give you a bear hug with his 24-inch pythons, brother.
Then there are the balls.
It’s not what you think. (Well, it kind of is.) What it really entails are balls (or sometimes small light bulbs) that are attached to multiple points on your body. They essentially form a loose skeleton. Those balls then reflect light from multiple cameras and send that info to a computer that captures an actor’s movements completely. That’s just the body.”
Especially as of late, performance capture is being used in all types of AAA games to evoke a sense of realism and help the actors in giving a more natural performance. On the other hand, Mr. Toufexis here is taking his talent beyond the realm of video games and bringing it to shows like The Expanse on the Syfy channel, one of the most epic science-fiction shows on television. Appearing in Season 1 as a character named Kenzo, he reappeared in Season 2 as a completely different character dubbed Hybrid, made up entirely of CGI. This, of course, requires performance capture. This is part of the reason why Elias Toufexis is dubbed “Canada’s Andy Serkis.” Did I mention he’s from Canada?
He’s also made guest appearances on other series’ such as Supernatural, Alphas, and Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments where he had to sit in a makeup chair for 5 and a half hours.
Elias Toufexis as Jonathan in Shadowhunters. Recognize him? Me either.
There is no possible way this Canadian schmuck hasn’t proved himself as an actor yet, he’s just about done it all! The future is bright for Elias Toufexis, now we just need him to play Elijah Wood’s older brother.
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