Actor Robert Bogue, who played Grand Theft Auto V antagonist Steve Haines, recently explained that he’s a “little disappointed” with Rockstar Games after allegedly auditioning for over 60 roles in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 but never hearing back from the studio.
Bogue spoke to Anderson Burak via Instagram recently and told the creator that while he had a great time working with Rockstar Games on 2013’s GTA V, in which he played FIB asshole agent Steve Haines, the actor had been basically ghosted by the studio despite multiple auditions for big and small roles in GTA 6, which is set to launch on consoles in November.
“I’m a little disappointed with Rockstar,” said Bogue. “I had an amazing experience working with them before. Some of the producers I worked with are still there, and so are several directors whom I have a great deal of respect for. I really wanted to be part of GTA 6, but they turned me down. I must have auditioned for more than 60 roles—some major, some minor. I didn’t care how big the role was; I just wanted to be in the game. I didn’t get any of them, and I never even heard back about a single one. Honestly, that was pretty discouraging.”
Bogue says that at one point he even started to wonder if Rockstar Games had an “unofficial policy” against using the same actors in different games for different roles. This is something fans have long suspected, as Rockstar has rarely used the same actor to play multiple large roles in different games. Bogue says that he wondered if this policy against bringing back past actors was real because he just couldn’t understand “being rejected that many times and not even landing a small role” or hearing back from the company at all.
Interestingly, Bogue is one of the exceptions to Rockstar’s history of not re-using actors, as he voiced main character Red Harlow in Red Dead Revolver and supporting character Troy in GTA IV DLC Ballad of Gay Tony.
“So yes, there’s definitely some disappointment and resentment,” said Bogue.
“It feels like falling in love with someone, only for them to suddenly leave you. The only things I know about the game are small details I picked up from the script excerpts I read during the auditions.”