The casting had to be completed in just seven days.
An important part of Helldivers 2 is the famous commercial-style intro featuring John Helldiver, who urges players to become one of the hell troopers.
Recently, Arrowhead Game Studios decided to recall how it found the actor for this role.
Former lead writer Russ Nickel said that the team had only one week left to choose an actor. At the animation studio Goodbye Kansas, they had initially planned to hire a little-known actor, but for John Helldiver they needed "the funniest person they could find".
Russ contacted everyone "he had ever met" and those who, as he knew, worked in casting in Los Angeles. In the end, through an agent, the news reached Craig Lee Thomas — he asked his wife to help create a video introduction and sent the material. Soon afterward, he was told it was time to head to the shoot.
As it happened, the trailer was released while the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) was still in effect — the actor was getting calls asking, "Is that you?", but he was not allowed to confirm his participation in the game. For several months, he had to deny everything and "ignore people".
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