Jay Klaitz, who played criminal mastermind Lester in Grand Theft Auto V, spoke in an exclusive interview with The Escapist. He has called on Rockstar to take the series to Dubai or even Greenland should Donald Trump successfully annex the island.
In a wide-ranging interview, Klaitz also discussed working with Hollywood legend Robert De Niro on the Netflix series Zero Day, and why he thinks entertainment juggernauts like Rockstar need to use their resources to guarantee humans have a future in a world of generative AI.
Read the full interview below.
Q: How did you land the role of Lester Crest in GTA V?
I slept my way to the top! No, I’m kidding. Honestly dude, what was crazy was that I went in for the audition and had no idea what it was.
Rockstar, as I’m sure you know, are very, very secretive. It’s not like I went in going, “I’m auditioning for Grand Theft Auto V.”
I was given some lines, did this kind of crazy character and they hired me. That was it. Even going to do the first day of work, I didn’t really understand what we were doing. It didn’t become apparent until much later exactly what it was.
My agent just sent me in for it. I thought it was just going to be some silly little one-off thing and then it turned into a whole big thing. Obviously, it was a good one.
Q: How did a role in GTA V change your life?
I would say that where it really comes up is, professionally, you’re in the casting room and you’re doing a scene, you’re auditioning for whatever it might be, a TV thing, a commercial, theater, it doesn’t matter. Then somebody in the room goes, “Wait, you were Lester? Cool. No kidding.”
It’s not like I was Lester so the doors of Hollywood opened up to me forever. It’s more like, on an individual person-to-person level, when you’re dealing with producers, directors, casting agents, somebody recognizes it and gets geeked out about it.
They probably play it. They go, “Wow, cool, you’re Lester, so let’s get you in here.” There’s that on the professional side, but I’ve started doing a lot more conventions. I’m going to the Sci-Fi Con this weekend, and it’s going to be fun. I was in Belfast last month at Comic-Con Northern Ireland. In that way, there have been some really exciting life changes and events. Just getting to travel a little bit and getting to meet the people.
The fans that are just so excited about it and happy to meet me, and just having those sort of human interactions in the wake of having worked on this game is very cool.
GTA V was the highest-grossing media entity in human history when it came out. Movies, books, games, whatever, you name it. Nothing was bigger than that in the moment.
Q: What was the process like to record your lines for GTA V?
I did a little bit of work on The Ballad of Gay Tony. I did a little bit on Red Dead. That was more like just some voiceover or, back in the day, before the technology was what it is, they would stick you on this box and it would kind of turn around and get the 360 thing.
By the time we did GTA V, I’m fully in the room doing the scene with the other guys, just like you would shoot a movie or a TV show, really, except that you’re wearing the mo-cap suit with the little sensors all over it, and you have to get connected to their system so it reads you.
The studios we shot in were in New York, in Long Island. Everything was shot in the studio. So whatever you see of Los Santos, that’s them creating the world around us. We were never sort of on location in LA, so to speak.
You’re in this big room with cameras but they’re not like a traditional camera, but 360. So it’s capturing everything and you’ve got these helmets on that are getting your face audio, of course.
They would write a chunk of the game and then we’d come in and they’d build a set that was to scale, So, if you see Lester get out of a car, go up some steps with his cane, push through a door and then walk down the hallway, I was the skeleton version of that stuff.
I’d be in a seat with a sort of fake door thing and I’d push that open and I’d get out with my cane and I’d go up these metal steps that they’d arranged. I’d push through another thing. They made a sort of skeleton version of the physical world that you actually see in the game for us to be in with the other actors. All those guys. I mean, we spent a hell of a lot of hours over the years, hanging out, making that game or waiting around in the room to shoot the next thing. We had a good little crew.
Q: Are you still in contact with all the other main actors who played Franklin, Michael and Trevor?
Oh yeah! I’ll see two out of the three of them this weekend. I talk to those guys every so often. We’re all still very friendly.
Q: Did Rockstar give you any sort of reading list to get you and the cast into the right frame of mind for the sort of performances they wanted from you? Were you asked to go watch, say, The Sopranos all over again or some other key reference points that the developers wanted to riff on?
No. In fact, they were very cool about it. The people on the ground making the game and the higher up folks at Rockstar were very cool about us bringing our own thing to the characters. There weren’t any references for you to build on. It was more like, “we’re going to give you these lines, but do your own thing.”
I would take the lines and make certain things my own in part because the writers are from your part of the world [the UK], so sometimes it was just shifting a little bit of language around? You know, regionalisms, but also more broadly, just in terms of improvising, some of the funniest, craziest stuff was just us fucking around. That made it into the game. So they were very cool, and I think again, that it sort of feeds into their general plan that this has got to be new and bigger and different. They weren’t trying to get us to build off of what they had done before. They wanted something different, and they let us do our own thing. That part of it was really fun. That made it fun because as an actor, you feel free to try shit and go crazy and do whatever you want. And it was fun.
Q: Between the four of Ned Luke, Shawn Fonteno, Steve Ogg and yourself, who would you say was most like their character and who was the most different?
That is a really good and tough question because it’s interesting to think about.
I am probably the most distant from the actual character I played, Lester, I would say, but there’s parts of all the other three guys in their characters and other parts that are distant from who they are as people. Maybe we’re talking about what it is to be an actor here more broadly.
Ogg is the wild card, baby. That’s what he does and I fucking love that guy for it.
Ned is definitely a guy who’s like “let me get in here and get the show going,” taking charge to do some stuff and make it happen. He’s that guy.
Solo is very chill. As I said, they let us bring our own thing to the characters and I think that’s reflected in the game. That’s not to say that they are those characters. They’re not. But there’s a healthy chunk of the real human in each of them, I would say.
Q: What ended up taking more of your time and work? GTA V or GTA: Online?
That’s a fun question. Making the proper game itself took longer because there are more bodies in the room. They’ve got to build that skeleton set, and so we’d shoot that and they’d have to tear that down, and we’d go hang out and have lunch, and they’d build the next one. Then we’d shoot that scene. It was just more cumbersome as a process.
For GTA: Online, there was some of that which we did in the same way but a lot more of the GTA: Online and DLC stuff was just me popping into the voice booth. That’s more like traditional voiceover work.
My guess would be that had the game not been as wildly successful as it was, the DLC part wouldn’t have been quite as extensive as it was. I mean, I’m sure they were trying to double down and rake it all in while they could, right? So yeah, I think definitely the success of the game led to plenty more work doing all that DLC, for sure.
I would come in and do a chunk. Maybe it was one day, maybe it was three days, whatever it might be. Sometimes for the mocap stuff, it would be a week or two, or it was two days. It was never exactly the same. It just depended on what was happening in the story. It was the same thing for the DLC. It would happen in little or big chunks over time.
People think that’s the distinction. They say I was the voice of Lester. Well, I was the voice, the face, the body, the whole thing. But also, sometimes I was just the voice, really.
To answer your question, I think making the primary game certainly took more hours. We worked on that for years. I literally don’t even know how many years. I honestly can’t remember because it went on forever. We would shoot for a while and then like go away for a few months while they sort of put it all together, and then worked on it, and then wrote the next part. And then we’d come back and do that and go away for a while. It was on and off for a long time.
Q: How big of a life commitment is it to get a role in a GTA game?
As an actor, it’s a great life commitment because you get to go do it for a while and then you’re free for a while. Then you go and you make some money, work on it for a while, and you’re free for a while. It’s great. When you’re an actor, it’s either nothing’s happening or everything’s happening all at once. That’s the joke everybody talks about. It’s very true. Scheduling-wise, it can get a little bit difficult, but it’s great for actors just in terms of knowing over the next few years I’m going to have at least a semi-regular chunk of money coming in and some good work to be doing. And it’s fun. So it’s a great life commitment.
Q: How much more work went into the re-release of GTA V for the next gen consoles with the first-person perspective that was added?
That’s a great question. I think for the most part it was them sort of being able to repurpose what we’d already done. Some of it was new for that but, it sounds a little crazy, I honestly don’t remember. It’s been a while, for one thing, but also when you’re doing it, you’re just kind of going, “all right, what’s the next scene? What the hell do I say here? All right, let’s go.”
I was never super aware of the bigger picture because we were always focused on doing the piece. I don’t even know. Probably when the game was released again and then we did some more mocap, that was involved in that shift.
Q: We last saw Lester in Los Santos. How do you think his story ends?
There is no end. Lester lives forever!
With Lester, you know how they joke that after a nuclear Holocaust, there’s basically nothing left in the world but there are cockroaches, and then there’s Lester. I think that’s pretty much how it goes.
You know, he’s a survivor. He’s a crafty motherfucker. I think Lester’s still kicking, you know what I mean? He’s still making some plan. He’s still up to no good. He’s doing his thing, doing his Lester thing, you know?
Q: Lester was one of the few characters in GTA V that had knowledge of the characters we met in Liberty City in GTA IV, like Nico Bellic and Patrick McReary. Could we see him return given he is a bit of a conduit to other games in the series already?
You never know, man. Maybe GTA VI comes out and it’s a big smash, and I’m sure it’ll be a big smash, and then maybe there’s more downloadable content where they bring back old Lester.
Who the hell knows? I mean, I don’t see why not. I’ll put it that way. I mean, I don’t think there’s been a ton of overlap from one to the other, character-wise has there? You never know, man. You never know.
Q: What decision did you make for the ending of your first playthrough of GTA V?
God, that’s so funny. People ask me that all the time and I’m such a piece of shit I don’t remember. I honestly have no idea. I’m like, what was your ending? Yeah, I did that one. I did that one. I’m the worst. I played the game through a few times, obviously. I got down with the online version a bit because it was always fun to call myself to get the cops off my own tail. But I don’t remember. I did both!
I don’t know if I ever played online with any of the other cast members. Maybe. If I were to go online and play and be like, I’m the guy who played Lester, nobody would fucking believe me anyway. They’d be like, okay bro, yeah, whatever. When I played online, it was usually in short spurts, just me messing around.
Q: Were you a big fan of the GTA series before you were cast in The Ballad Of Gay Tony and then GTA V?
Yeah, in a broad sense I’m a fan. I’m more of an instant gratification gaming guy if I’m being totally honest with you, rather than the sandbox. I’m more of a first-person shooter gamer. Let me turn it on, blow some shit up and be done with it. I’m not too proud to say I love a little Fornite. The greatest game ever made is GTA V but it’s also Rocket League. That’s the one for me. You turn it on and you’re fucking flying right off the bat. You’re rolling around. I’m not so much a sandbox guy as much as the quick and dirty version of video gaming.
Q: What’s your favourite GTA game other than GTA V?
Was there GTA before GTA V? Haha! It’s just a good excuse to talk shit about the other ones.
I mean, I guess I would just have to say GTA IV for no other reason than every time they do a new one, it gets infinitely better in terms of everything. The graphics, the story, you know, they’re only getting better with each one.
Even within the time period that we worked on GTA V, the technology went up and up and up the whole time. What we had when we started with versus what we used when it ended was very different. It was a very different setup, a different studio. I think when we started, they were using the same cameras that James Cameron used for Avatar, and by the time we finished, that stuff looked like child’s play. Like it was a joke. The technology only gets better.
So for me, I think correspondingly, the games only get better as they go, so GTA VI? I’m sure it’s going to be the greatest one yet, dude. I’m sure it’s gonna be like just a fucking unbelievable. It’s gonna be awesome, I’m sure.
Q: Given your love of Rocket League, is that the one game mode or side-quest missing from the GTA series?
Yeah, bro. It would be so fun if you could go to this place on the map, like a Rocket League arena, but then arm the cars. You know what I mean? Put some machine guns or whatever on them.
What I love so deeply about Rocket League is that it has its own physics and you have to learn those physics. They’re not quite the same physics that operate in this world, right? You have to like getting down with that and that’s how you refine your skill. So you would have to find a way to incorporate those slightly altered physics into GTA.
Are they missing out on an opportunity? Yeah. If anyone’s listening, Rockstar, put a Rocket League dome on the map somewhere in GTA VI! People would eat it up.
Q: If Rocket League gave Lester his own special edition car, what would it be?
That’s so interesting. My go-to car is the Challenger. I like a good muscle car like that and I feel like that might be fun for Lester too because he’s not that guy. He’s not like a big buff strong man out there kicking ass on the street. He’s more heady. So it might be cool for him, in Rocket League, to have something that is a little more like that.
A good classic muscle car as opposed to one of the more funky racing cars. Lester is the brains but he wants to go play with the brawn too, like another toy.
Q: If you could translate one car from GTA into Rocket League what would it be?
That’s a fun question. It would be fun to have some of the more characterful cars like a funky low rider or one of those huge trucks like an 18-wheeler in Rocket League. That would be an interesting challenge. Just sit it in front of the goal the whole time. That’s it. You can’t score on him. That’d be fun though. That would be a super fun overlap if they took some of the more famous cars out of GTA V and plopped them into Rocket League. That’d be cool. Why not, right? We’ll have to take it to the streets and do it ourselves otherwise.
Q: What was the hype like for GTA V as someone who worked on it?
To be honest, it’s very hard for me to say because I really didn’t fully grasp what it would be until it had already happened. I don’t think GTA IV was quite as explosive as GTA V was.
I would assume that the hunger will be even more this time because it was so massive. My assumption would be that it will be even bigger for GTA VI because you have this whole generation of GTA V people that are definitely going to get down with it and then you have the whole new generation of kids that will certainly get down with it. So my guess would be that it will be even crazier.
I don’t think people knew what to expect when GTA V came out. People didn’t see it coming. It’s not like when you do a movie or a TV show where it comes out and you have a premiere and you’re at the party and there’s an interview. There’s not an event like that to sort of mark the big release. We finished the game and they released it and I’m over here going, really? Is that big? Holy shit, okay.
I didn’t really have a concept in my head of how massive it would be until it had already gotten that massive.
Q: Does GTA VI deserve to be the first $100 game given the work that goes into making a GTA game?
Yeah dude. I mean, GTA V was so heavy on the mocap. I assume that GTA VI will be the same way, and these games take so long to make. Years and years and years. It’s not like they’ve just been hanging out, chilling and then just started doing the work last year. They finished GTA V and then started on GTA VI more or less immediately thereafter.
This shit takes forever and as we saw with GTA V the game will come out and there will be other versions, there will be downloadable content, it will be online. You’re almost buying multiple games when you buy the one.
I would also like to see it made more accessible to more fans so I get that side of the argument too to make it affordable for folks. That’s cool too. Maybe there’s like a way to split the difference, but I share the sentiment that this game warrants that price tag. Yeah, I get that.
Q: How much did GTA: San Andreas inform the work on GTA V in your experience given we were returning to the same city again in Los Santos?
San Andreas was not particularly present in our minds or conversations or whatever else because for me, I’m just focused on my character and being part of the larger story and telling that story. All this other stuff would have muddied that.
I can’t speak for Rockstar, of course, but I will say that I think that their mission is to make it newer, better, bigger every single time. I’m sure there’s some of the basics that are taken from one to the next but they operate like we’re taking it up again in a new direction, nevermind what happened before. We’re going on the next level of 10 levels up from where we’ve been previously for this one.
Q: We did see some references to San Andreas with GTA V where you could visit a neighborhood that looked like Grove Street, for example. Should fans be excited to explore reimagined versions of their favourite spots from Vice City in GTA VI?
That’s a great question, and I honestly don’t know the answer. I would guess that if there were easter eggs in GTA V that referenced previous games, I wasn’t particularly aware of them.
Again, because I’m kind of just focused on my little piece of the whole big pie, if they’re doing that this time, I think it would be smart from a marketing point of view to throw some of that in, make some fun references, do the cameos. I think there probably will be some but I think the focus is on making GTA VI newer, bigger and better.
Of course, you want to throw the people a bone and go, yeah, remember that thing? Wasn’t that cool?
Q: Where could GTA go next after revisiting Vice City in GTA VI? Do you agree with the people who want to see it go somewhere outside of America for GTA VII and beyond?
That’s another fun question. It would be cool to do it somewhere like Dubai. That would be fun. You’d get so many different environments, right? You could be in like a big city with huge skyscrapers but then you’re out in the desert one minute later. GTA: Dubai would give you a lot of fun environments and scenarios to play with and build a game on.
I think it would be fun to see something far up north too. Like way the fuck up north, near the North Pole. I don’t know, maybe Greenland or something like that?
It would be fun to see something more remote. That might be kind of an interesting version of what makes a GTA and its gameplay. I don’t know, Maybe that gets too isolated. Maybe there’s not enough different stuff to build on.
Q: We saw GTA V take us to a rural town, Ludendorff, in New Yankton in its opening scenes, and we’ve seen Rockstar build a living world in the countryside with the Red Dead series, haven’t we?
Yeah, that’s true actually. It would be kind of cool to see a bare bones GTA in a way that is more about the story and what’s going on with the characters. You love all the work they do with the different environments and making it so there’s so many different places to go play, but it would be cool to focus in on the story even more. Red Dead is great for that.
Q: Not to get political but if Donal Trump got his way and annexed Greenland, wouldn’t that be a great setup for a GTA game in the arctic circle?
Jesus Christ, yeah! If Greenland becomes a state, maybe by the time GTA VII comes out, that’ll be the storyline.
Q: Do you think Rockstar see any other companies like CD Projekt Red as their rivals or are they of the opinion that Rockstar and the GTA series exists in a category of one?
I would say that Rockstar are famously tight lipped. Their level of security is extraordinary. They’re probably watching this interview right now and I’m only half kidding. They run their shit like the CIA. They’re watching. That would indicate to me that they know they have something that is precious that other people might want or other people might try to copy.
On some level they’re probably concerned about any competitor but also nobody’s quite done it like they’ve done it. But maybe that’s part of why? Because they concerned themselves with that. It’s harder for other folks to keep up, I guess.
Q: What was it like for you to work with Robert De Niro on Zero Day?
Oh my god! Dude, when people ask me that the thing I always say is that the actual man was better than the legend. Humble, kind, hard-working. That dude showed up to fucking work.
Every time the director was like, Bob, what do you think? You want to do another take? He always wanted to do another take for almost every frame of the show.
He would show up first thing every day, and he’s getting on in years you know, but like that dude showed up and worked and never faltered. Never. The dude showed up to do the job and he did it. He was just a pleasure to work with. At first I played it really cool but by the end we got a little friendly and had a couple of funny moments. He’s a great dude. I freaking love that guy.
Q: Surely he would be the greatest casting possible for a future GTA game?
My god, yeah. Dude, that needs to be the next game. They need Martin Scorsese and De Niro to make a video game. A mob video game. Come on. That would be amazing. Totally. I mean, Bob, but also the whole cast of Zero Day, the director was one of my all-time favorite directors to work with. Everybody involved was just fantastic. That was a very cool gig.
Q: How would you compare working with Rockstar on GTA V and with Netflix on Zero Day?
Similar in that the production values were top-notch. You were working for companies that had the money to put into the project in a real way. We’ve talked about the incredible technology with Rockstar. With Netflix on Zero Day the set they commissioned where all my character stuff took place, I would say is that if you were unconscious and somehow woke up on that stage, you would have had no idea that you weren’t in some kind of FBI-type building. It was down to the fine details. You could walk over and pick a random file up off a random desk and open it up, and there’d be information about the terrorist you’re supposed to be chasing. It was incredible the world they created for us to play in.
It was such a pleasure for an actor because you’ve got so much that you don’t have to worry about. You can just do your own thing. You can be free. You’re not making up for anything else. Everything around you supports it all so well.
In that way it is quite similar and quite different to playing Lester. I could certainly be broader, right? I could go a little bit bigger because of the type of media that GTA V is. It’s a video game. The character can be a little crazier, a little bigger. For something like Zero Day, you’ve got to focus it in and play everything quite small, especially for a show that was something of a procedural, a cop show basically.
You have got to play things very small, very real, and always be keeping the lid on it. Whereas with Lester, I can let the lid pop off and the steam goes out and you know, it’s fine. That makes sense for that but it wouldn’t make sense for Zero Day. Both incredible gigs that I loved dearly.
I guess the traditional actor in me prefers the more traditional television thing but both are super fun. It’s a little like TV versus theater. It’s kind of the same thing. Theater, I can be much bigger and go crazy, and I love doing that, but I also like the challenge because my inclination as a person is to go bigger. It’s more of a challenge for me to have to play it small so I guess that’s kind of why I like it.
Q: Are there any other projects on your acting bucket list on stage, on screen or in gaming?
My all time number one wish would be to work with the Coen Brothers. I’m just such an incredible fan of every damn thing they’ve ever done, period. If I could do that, I’d walk away. That’s it. I’m done. I would George Costanza the whole thing. I’m walking out while I’m on top! Thanks everybody. I just am such a deep, deep fan of the Coen Brothers.
Yeah, that’s probably my number one answer for that. There’s, of course, a list of a few, but if I had to pick a number one, that would be it.
Q: Given GTA is already such a big deal, would it even make sense to move it to a TV series as they’ve done for the Fallout franchise? Would your pick be the Coen Brothers to give that a go?
It is so interesting. I mean god that would be really cool to try and pull off because there’s a lot of big questions to how you’d even start.
Number one, of course, is it live-action or is it animated or mocap? It would be very fun to try to do a live action GTA V series.
It would be tough to translate because it’s that sandbox type game and people can do whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want. It’s hard to sort of refocus that into a straight narrative. But it would be fun to try.
Q: What sort of spin-offs would you love to see for Lester after GTA V? He’d be perfect for a GTA heist strategy game or criminal management sim, right?
Yeah! I would like for Lester to take over the world, right? I would like to see Lester step out of the shadows finally and openly be running the world.
He’s always behind the scenes, the tech savvy guy, the puppet master, so I think as a character, his ultimate dream would be to finally succeed so much that he could pull the curtain back and go, here I am world! I now own Los Santos! All of it! There’s nothing any of you can do about it.
Whatever the story would be, I think his spinoff would be coming out of the shadows, taking over the world.
Q: Like an evil version of Sim City?
A little bit, yeah. Not completely evil. He colors outside the lines a little bit, or a lot.
Q: Do you have concerns about what generative AI is going to do for actors and other people in the creative industries, especially for games like GTA?
I don’t think it’s going to fade away. I think that’s short-sighted. I think the best hope is that there is a world where both things can exist.
It’s a really hard thing, right? Because on the one hand, it can be a really great tool for independent filmmakers. If you have a scene, I’m working with a buddy on a script about the story of a veteran and there’s a flashback to the war. If we can make that flashback with AI successfully, we just saved ourselves $100,000-200,000. Who knows how much money and it looks fucking super cool and we would get to do a thing that like really boosts the film. Awesome.
But then if the rest of it is more practical effects and real human, okay, cool. If the tool is used wisely, judiciously, great. You know, the fear that everyone talks about is that entertainment, TV and films get lost forever and basically it’s just somebody sitting down and going, okay, I want to watch a movie and I want me to be the hero and I want my ex-girlfriend to be the villain, but I’m sleeping with all of her friends and I’m super rich. Make that! Then it’s just sad, indulgent, shitty, instant gratification entertainment that requires no real storytelling, no real effort on the part of the audience. No real thinking. That’s the fear.
I don’t think we’re going to be able to stop it. That doesn’t seem very likely to me. So it’ll just be a question of, will we be able to find a middle ground where it’s used wisely? It’s scary as hell. And it’s already a problem. I think people are not putting as much money into projects, especially film, because they’re afraid that they’re not gonna make the return because AI is gonna kick the door open and end everything. Already stuff is not being made because of it, just because of the fear of it, let alone the actual implementation of it. It’s a scary time. It’s a shit time to be in showbiz, dude. I’m not gonna lie to you.
There’s just so much uncertainty, and that’s one of the bigger reasons, of course, but that’s only one. It’s tough. I don’t know. It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
My hope is that as AI becomes more and more of a thing, there will be a natural inclination to counter it by leaning more into practical effects and making it as real and human as possible in whatever way that might mean so that we do have a world where both things exist happily.
I think that’s probably the best case scenario. And yeah, I mean, my God, Rockstar, keep employing people to model horse testicles! We’re gonna put that on a t-shirt. Sell it. That’s my million dollar t-shirt idea. I hope so. I hope that’s what’ll happen, and I hope Rockstar and Netflix and television and filmmakers will take up the mantle to be human-first.
Last Updated On: Oct 29, 2025 10:13 pm CET