How Actors Like Yuri Lowenthal Bridge Video Games and Animation Work

Yuri Lowenthal may be best known for bringing video game characters like Marvel’s Spider-Man‘s Peter Parker and Persona 3‘s protagonist to life, but unbeknownst to some, his career extends beyond the world of video games. With iconic roles like Naruto‘s Sasuke Uchiha and Code Geass‘ Suzaku Kururugi padding his resume, Lowenthal is a great example of an industry talent who has managed to bridge the gap between gaming and animation. Because of his range across tones, adaptability to direction styles, and willingness to reprise roles, the actor’s repertoire continues to grow as his options are far from limited.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2‘s Yuri Lowenthal isn’t the only one who has been able to bridge that gap, though, with actors like Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, and Matthew Mercer all finding their way into the animation industry despite largely being recognized for characters they’ve voiced and performed for in some of gaming’s biggest titles. Much of this, of course, is due to the skill of actors such as these, but the gaming industry has also been transforming over the last two decades in such a way that the gap between video games and animation is growing increasingly thin. As a result, actors who possess the level of talent of someone like Yuri Lowenthal are finding it easier to infiltrate the world of anime—or even the other way around, if their career began in animation and has since broadened to gaming.

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Bridging the Increasingly Narrow Divide

At one point in time, animation and video game voice work demanded two different things from actors. In animation, an actor’s voice needed to be exaggerated and expressive, primarily because the performance itself is what defined a character’s personality, tone, and energy. In fact, animators would frequently build characters around their voices, matching the personality of said character with that of the actor responsible for bringing them to life.

In gaming, on the other hand, voice acting hasn’t always been treated as a necessity so much as a bonus. For one thing, most of the earliest games didn’t even have fully voiced characters, and if any did, it was extremely limited. But even when developers and publishers started paying actors to voice the characters in their games, for a long time, it was still in addition to text boxes and a multitude of other silent side characters and extras.

Actors who possess the level of talent of someone like Yuri Lowenthal are finding it easier to infiltrate the world of anime…

It wasn’t until the late 90s that the gaming industry had what one might call a “cinematic breakthrough,” where video games began featuring full voice acting across their stories. Games like Metal Gear Solid are a great example of this, and it is even widely considered one of the first games where voice acting actually carried the narrative and characters felt like actual performances. Later on, games like Final Fantasy 10 and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion would develop this even further, with the former having a whole cast of fully voiced characters and the latter featuring an entire world of characters with voices.

It’s Acting, Not Voice Acting

Over time, voice acting in video games evolved so significantly that it is now looked down upon to refer to those actors as “voice actors” rather than simply “actors.” The reason is that their performances now demand the same energy, expression, and naturalistic delivery that is required of anyone doing animation or even film and TV work. While there are plenty of games still made today that don’t feature voiced characters in any capacity, those that look more cinematic in their presentation are almost expected to, as it might feel awkward for a character who looks like a real person to only speak via text box.

Thus, technological advancements in the gaming industry have caused the gap between video games and animation to shrink, and actors like Yuri Lowenthal an opportunity to exist in both worlds. Well, that and the fact that actors like Lowenthal are immensely talented and are therefore valuable to both sides of the aisle. However, a lot of that still comes down to what video games are capable of today, and what developers and publishers are willing to do for the sake of realism and cinematic presentation.

Games Caught Up to Animation’s Strengths

To put it simply, actors like Yuri Lowenthal can effectively contribute to both animation and video games because modern games look more like movies and TV than they historically ever have. But because they look the way they do—and because they are often given deep, emotional arcs—they require far more from actors than their voices. That’s where performance capture can come in handy, which ultimately allows for more expressive, more convincing portrayals.

Lowenthal actually did performance capture for Marvel’s Spider-Man, and it’s one of the reasons many likely couldn’t imagine hearing another voice come out of Peter Parker’s mouth in a Spider-Man video game from here on out. Since actors aren’t required to remain locked in a recording booth when using performance capture, they can better dip into the physical expression of their character and exhibit more emotion than they would be able to otherwise. If done well, these characters can end up feeling inseparable from their voices, just as animation was long before gaming caught up.

Actors Like Yuri Lowenthal Have the Kind of Range Both Media Require

But another phenomenon that begins to take place is when a voice like Yuri Lowenthal’s is recognizable enough that fans of his can follow him across media, even if they’re following him into something they might not have initially been interested in—like anime. Because Peter Parker in Marvel’s Spider-Man, for instance, might have had such an impact on a player’s emotions, they may be more intrigued by his work outside video games, and, as a result, follow him into that space. Because fans now typically associate a voice with a character’s identity in video games, that same identity can carry over to other media, bringing fans in tow.

Actors like Yuri Lowenthal can effectively contribute to both animation and video games because modern games look more like movies and TV than they historically ever have.

But again, it’s not only that the gap between video game and animation acting work has grown more narrow over the years that actors can occupy both spaces. Those talents still need the kind of range that can support both media, and Yuri Lowenthal is one of those. Sure, Lowenthal has an incredibly distinct voice that’s somewhat easy to pick out in a crowd, but he has also proven himself over time as someone who can handle a variety of roles well.

He can move between dark, brooding intensity, light, energetic humor, and grounded vulnerability, seemingly on a whim, making him a perfect candidate for diverse genres, roles, and media. In other words, there is still a noticeable gap between the worlds of video games and animation that actors in both worlds have to manage, even if that gap is not as wide as it once was. In the end, this is what other talented actors like Matthew Mercer and Laura Bailey are capable of as well, and it’s why they exist in various media.

That overlap has created a space where the same performance can exist across different media without needing to be transformed entirely. As games continue to lean into cinematic storytelling and animation maintains its performance-first identity, actors with the right range and adaptability are positioned to move between both with ease. Yuri Lowenthal stands as one of the clearest examples of that shift, not because he is alone in doing it, but because his career reflects how natural that crossover has become. The gap may still exist in form, but in practice, it is no longer something that limits where a performance can belong.