9 Best Celebrity Appearances In Video Games
4. Samuel L. Jackson - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
One of the undisputed strengths of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the voice cast. Cobbled together from dozens of celebrity voices, it was one of the most star-studded casts ever to grace a single game in the ancient days of 2004.
The most canny casting choice in it was Samuel L Jackson as Officer Frank Tenpenny, the principal antagonist of the game.
Jackson has a distinct screen persona, largely cultivated by his roles in Quentin Tarantino films and a series of increasingly pulpy action films. His characters are largely carefree badasses who live by their own rules, and he isn't afraid of playing ethically grey characters either. And because this is Samuel L. Jackson, we can almost laugh at his gleeful amorality, another near universal trait amongst Jackson's roles.
Casting this man as a police officer creates the perfect expectation in the player for what kind of policeman Frank Tenpenny is. This expectation is confirmed, but not in a way that makes Tenpenny a predictable antagonist.