Red Dead Redemption is considered to be one of this generation's iconic releases from Rockstar Games when it saw a 2010 release on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360; even more so than the publisher's mega popular fourth entry in its Grand Theft Auto franchise.
Outside of redefining open-world gameplay, the sequel to Red Dead Revolver was known for its tragically emotional story about John Marston. Voicing Marston was Rob Wiethoff who was the subject of Polygon's most recent Human Angle series about why he left Hollywood and its lifestyle.
Born and raised in Seymour, Ind., Wiethoff's reason for moving to the west coast came from wanting to be an actor.
Wiethoff spent around ten years working odd jobs like bartending and looking for a break until his agent called him into a last-minute audition of what would become Red Dead Redemption.
According to Wiethoff, he didn't even know what the project was for nor about Rockstar's previous games simply because he wasn't a gamer.
"The storyline was still being written as we were shooting, so it was impossible to know exactly who this guy was or what he was really trying to accomplish," said Wiethoff. "I kept hearing people say, 'Remember in GTA when this happened' and man, I didn't even know what GTA was. I had to pull the director aside and ask him."
Red Dead Redemption's filming structor was scattered over a two year period he started to find parallels between and Marston.
"John Marston didn't fear anything or anybody," Wiethoff explained. " The only thing on his mind was completing the work he had set out for him and getting back to his new life with his family."
Though the game was a critical and financial success, Wiethoff and his then girlfriend (now his wife) Tayler decided to move back to Indiana because of how hard it would be to raise children there in comparison to his hometown. The exhaustion of landing a huge role over the ups and downs within the industry was another factor.
"I had a cool experience; there's no guarantee I'll ever have anything like it again," said Wiethoff. "I thought, screw it, if anyone wants me for anything, they'll call me."
