9 Major Celebrities Who Changed Gaming Forever

7. Mark Hamill - First BAFTA Awarded To A Game Performance

For Batman fans Mark Hamill is simply the Joker, a performance that's endeared him to multiple generations alongside the steel vocal chords of Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight. It's one that no matter what happens with the likes of Heath Ledger's brilliant take on the character or Jared Leto's upcoming attempt to followup in Batman V Superman, remains the quintessentially anarchic baseline that until 2009 was only associated with the animated series. However, in 2012 the video game BAFTAs brought out a new category, Performance - specifically designed to highlight genuinely amazing acting within video games alongside the more technical or visually-focussed stuff. Naturally Hamill took it thanks to his half-dying performance of a truly sinister Clown Prince in Arkham City, followed neatly by another revolutionary technical feat in Aaron Staton's facially-accurate portrayal of Cole Phelps from L.A. Noire. The BAFTAs have kept this category since, using it to shine the light on spectacular talents like The Last of Us' Ashley Johnson and Bastion/Transistor's loveable narrator Logan Cunningham, but what better way to kickstart the nominations overall than by someone as legendary as Hamill?
Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.