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Bethesda Initially Cast Deus Ex Voice Actor as Male Lead, Before Settling on a Silent Protagonist

Deus Ex voice actor Elias Toufexis was initially cast to voice the male protagonist in Bethesda's latest sci-fi RPG Starfield, before the developer decided to follow in the footsteps of previous title like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim to go with a silent protagonist.


“Yeah it’s true,” said Toufexis in a post on X. "@cissyspeaks [Cissy Jones] and I were originally the player voices in Starfield. We worked for months. When they decided the player should be voiceless they gave Cissy and me Andreja and Sam Coe.”

The voice actor went on to praise the developer for keeping keeping himself and Jones on to voice prominent companions after making the decision to go with a voiceless protagonist. “Games NEVER do this,” said Toufexis. "Once you’re out, you’re out. Good on Bethesda”.

Yeah it’s true. @cissyspeaks and I were originally the player voices in #Starfield. We worked for months.

When they decided the player should be voiceless they gave Cissy and me Andreja and Sam Coe.

Games NEVER do this. Once you’re out you’re out.

Good on Bethesda pic.twitter.com/QpGoC6YmWn

— ᴇʟɪᴀꜱ ᴛᴏᴜꜰᴇxɪꜱ 🖖 (@EliasToufexis) November 8, 2023

If you're playing Starfield, check out IGN's Sam Coe guide, as well as our Andreja guide, to find out more about the key Starfield companions.

In a subsequent post Toufexis noted an amusing aspect of having voiced both the now silent protagonist, and lodge companion Sam Coe. “Also the player efforts are still mine,” explained the actor. “So when you’re jumping around with Sam, both are making the same noises.”


Last week also saw Toufexis reaffirm his desire to reprise his role as Deus Ex protagonist Adam Jensen. “I want nothing more than to play Adam Jensen again,” said Toufexis. “But, until they call, I got other fish to fry.” The comments follow a social media post from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who asserted that developer Eidos Montreal was in the "very, very early" stages of developing a new entry in the series. Deus Ex has been dormant since Deus Ex: Mankind Divided released in 2016.

The actor also revealed that Eidos Montreal had made him audition for the chance to motion capture the movements for Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, only to go with a different body actor. “[For] Deus Ex HR they actually had me audition to play my own body and I DIDN’T GET IT,” wrote Toufexis on X. “They said I’m 5’11 and Jensen is 6'1." Toufexis later refused to return to voice the iconic Jensen in subsequent titles unless he was given the right to provide motion capture for the character.


Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

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