Troy Baker has been one of the most prolific voice actors in anime and games for almost two decades, having starred in The Last of Us, Death Stranding, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle alongside countless supporting roles, but he says he's just getting started.
Talking to GamesRadar+ ahead of the BAFTA Games Awards 2026, Baker says every acting role is an opportunity to hone his craft and make his next performance even better. Baker has been widely praised for portraying characters with emotional depth, most notably Joel Miller in The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2, as well as Sam Drake in Uncharted 4 and Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, but he tells us every role is a learning process.
"I still feel like I just got started. At the end of every job, no matter the size or scope of the role or the project, my last session is always the one where I go, 'OK, now I've got it figured out. Can we start?'" Baker says. "I always feel like I've got one take in me, one better take in me, one other idea that I wanted to try, or I've learned enough about the character, the story, the process, to where I feel more equipped.
"And it's a bit of a raw feeling – I think other actors have felt the same, I'm not alone in that. But what I've learned also to couple with that is the fact that the goal is then take that lesson that I learned from this project, and apply it to the next, and realize that I will be in better service to the next project if I learn as much as I can from the last one."
Again, if you're playing a AAA game released after the year 2010, there's a decent chance you'll hear Baker's voice in it, but he's known for his close collaborations with Uncharted and The Last of Us studio Naughty Dog. Baker and the studio's creative lead, Neil Druckmann, are reuniting for the upcoming space Western, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, though Baker's exact role is unknown. And Baker is setting some high expectations for his future performances.
"I feel like my best work is ahead of me," he says, adding that the future remains uncertain. "I don't know what that looks like. I don't know if I'll ever get another opportunity like I've been given with these, but I also know that this industry doesn't owe me anything.
"I've had one hell of a run, and I have zero complaints, and if tomorrow, my last job comes to me, and that's it. I'm good. I can cash out happy. I'll go off and do other things, because I know that I have my stories that I want to tell. I know that I have more that I can contribute, but I won't be surprised if, or rather, I will be grateful with the career that I've been given, if this is it."
The 2026 BAFTA Games Awards with Google Play will take place on Friday, 17 April 2026, at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.
