Troy Baker originally turned down playing Indiana Jones, but took the job because it wasn't about doing "a bang on impression" of Harrison Ford

gamesradar.com:

MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is shaping up to recapture the same thrills and sense of adventure from the timeless film series - albeit with less Harrison Ford. The title role is played by famed video game voice-over and performance actor Troy Baker, and as it stands, he sounds like a dead ringer for the Indy we know and love.

However, during the recent Golden Joystick Awards 2024 show, the lead actor told Gamesradar+ that he initially passed on playing Indiana Jones because the role "scared" him and that he had doubts that he'd be able to pull it off. Also, one key developer in particular was especially doubtful that Baker could do it.

"I originally passed [on the Indiana Jones role] because, truth be told, I was so scared that I would not be able to pull it off. And fortunately, [voice acting director] Tom Keegan saw past my insecurities and encouraged me to put myself on tape for this still," said Baker.

Over the last decade, Baker has become one of the most recurring and recognizable actors to appear in video games. His most famous video game roles include Joel in The Last of Us Part 1 and 2, Sam Drake in Uncharted 4, Booker Dewitt in Bioshock Infinite, and The Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins. Still, despite his portfolio of work, the proposition of stepping into the role of the iconic Indiana Jones - for the character's most fully realized AAA game to date - took a lot of work, and finding the leading man took time.

"We saw over 1000 people for this role, and so not only am I in competition with all those truly talented people, but I'm also in competition with myself," he said. "And the beauty of this is that it's not about 'can you make a bang-on impression?', it's 'can you help us feel like this is an authentic Indiana Jones?'  Because that's what the core of all this is: does this feel like it's an authentic Indiana Jones?"

He added that as the process went on, he was steadily won over. "And then finally, there was a Zoom call