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Rumour: Casting Call Reveals Portal 2 Details?
Posted by Luke Plunkett at 1:40 PM on June 10, 2008
A tipster's put us on to this casting call, supposedly available on subscribers-only industry site Breakdown Express (he's a subscriber, you see). It lists a voice-acting job, working for Valve. Working for Valve doing Portal 2 work. Said work begins next month, and in briefing potential actors for the role, a ton of details on what must be one of the game's major characters is revealed. If you don't like having this kind of thing SPOILED, move along. Move along. If you wouldn't mind taking a peek inside the sequel's world, though, click through for the character description, along with some concept art of the guy in question, just in case you're a budding voice actor and would like to get your tone just right.
Snappy portrait! Cave Johnson, now-dead boss of Aperture (who you'll already know of if you ever accessed the Aperture website and had a look around), is playing such a major role that he's described as the "principle antagonist", it suggest that Portal 2 may (may) be a prequel of sorts. Which would make sense from a story-telling point of view, what with the way Portal 1 ends and all. Also interesting that he's described initially as a "sidekick", implying that you may be playing the part of a fellow executive/Aperture employee this time around, rather than a science experiment with a pair of robot chicken legs.
Course, it could also mean Johnson is already dead in this game, with his consciousness living on as a prototypical GlaDOS, but if we start down that imaginative road we'll never find our way back...
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
roflwaffles
Posted 2:00 PM 10/6/08
personally, he looks like gmans brother.
wait, what if you PLAY AS GMAN?!!!1one.
roflwaffles
motogp
Posted 1:59 PM 10/6/08
Lol good news fro Portal freaks and fans indeed and all those who love and like it as well..Though i dont know abou the voice..It might make the fans become the worst haters xp
motogp
tyrannosaurus.drew
Posted 1:56 PM 10/6/08
That ruins everything. Now I can't enjoy the game
tyrannosaurus.drew
braagh
Posted 1:55 PM 10/6/08
Cave Johnson sounds like a name for a terrible superhero.
Or a used car salesman.
Question: Does "dead" mean he's a zombie?
A zombie car salesman is exactly what portal needs.
Anyhoo...To me it sounds like he'll be just like GlaDOS.
He'll still be a voice over, probably trying to help you escape(or just telling you to do things), then he'll go all crazy and stuff and try to stop you escaping/destroying the facility/whatever else your goal may be.
He's GlaDOS with an accent, and probably a different style of humor.
braagh
Nirolak
Posted 1:54 PM 10/6/08
@Stormrider: Yeah actually I agree with you a lot more looking at Reagan pictures.
Nirolak
Chewbenator
Posted 1:53 PM 10/6/08
@Stormrider:
@comtar: Yep was trying to match what I would think the voice might sound like and thought either George Bush Sr, or Reagan.
Chewbenator
InsidiousTuna
Posted 1:52 PM 10/6/08
@Stormrider: Exactly- Reagan, with a little of Joe Lieberman. You can see it in the eyes.
InsidiousTuna
Nirolak
Posted 1:49 PM 10/6/08
@comtar: Yeah, before I read the description I thought it was a bad drawing of George Bush Senior and that it was a joke job posting.
Nirolak
Stormrider
Posted 1:47 PM 10/6/08
@comtar: I picture it as more of a Reagan figure, at least from the description.
Stormrider
comtar
Posted 1:46 PM 10/6/08
So... it's Ross Perot with George Bush Sr's haircut?
comtar
Lunar
Posted 1:45 PM 10/6/08
Sweet. Good news for portal fans.
Lunar
Savage505
Posted 1:45 PM 10/6/08
mmmmm tasty
Savage505
kjcwashere
Posted 2:30 PM 10/6/08
i wish i had a southern accent...
kjcwashere
wild homes v: treyarch attacks
Posted 2:25 PM 10/6/08
Brilliant! Well, actually, the news doesn't scream 'brilliant' at me, but if any company has earned my undisturbed, absolute trust, it's Valve. I eagerly await whatever this game might become.
wild homes v: treyarch attacks
HELLSRIDER
Posted 2:23 PM 10/6/08
Wow I think im loving this game before it comes out!
HELLSRIDER
karmakid
Posted 2:16 PM 10/6/08
more cake ^^,
karmakid
Ruglia
Posted 2:12 PM 10/6/08
@braagh: Altho' GlaDOS's voice turned extremely sexy once you threw her first... 'part' into a fire =)
Ruglia
Cosmitz
Posted 3:35 PM 10/6/08
Interesting, but definetly not a spoiler.
Cosmitz
Dave Silva
Posted 3:33 PM 10/6/08
... This makes little sense. Maybe there will be flashback segments? Was the Portal gun invented before Chell was left in suspended animation?
Dave Silva
Xeneizes
Posted 3:11 PM 10/6/08
@roflwaffles: Gman was the first thing that came to my mind, as well.
Shocking!
Xeneizes
kiwizz
Posted 2:48 PM 10/6/08
I thought of Regan too but after reading the description - Foghorn Leghorn came into mind.
kiwizz
vig0r
Posted 2:41 PM 10/6/08
@roflwaffles:
Dont be silly,your computer would immediately explode resulting in a nuclear explosion that would kill only kittens and small babies,and after that the G-man would rise up with the blood of kittens on him and begin to walk towards,you however be dead by the time he got to you because as he came to you,you would get scared,thus turning you into a pussy,which is a cat so you get blown up too :O.Eventually the human and cat population decreases due to the fact that babies and kittens die,resulting in the plot for Half Life 3 where Dogs have become the overlords of earth and are fighting a rebellion and the combine at the same time.
vig0r
freakout
Posted 2:40 PM 10/6/08
They should totally get Al Gore to do it. Not like there's much else taking up his time nowadays...
freakout
mrdietsoda
Posted 2:36 PM 10/6/08
@Ruglia:
In the commentary the voice actress is just creepy. She sorta goes on a tangent about wanting the cake recipe so she can serve it to all her friends.
mrdietsoda
braagh
Posted 3:49 PM 10/6/08
@Dave Silva: The game may be a prequel, or perhaps it's based in another section of the facility where Cave Johnson is still alive.
The portal gun was probably created before Chell was in suspended animation; she was just another in a long list of test subjects, and she just happened to be an escapee.
At least that's what I think.
braagh
johnnyfear
Posted 4:39 PM 10/6/08
Nobody mentioning that he's got the same surname as Chell??
Now that I check wikipedia it no longer reads that way, I was sure I'd heard her name as Chell Johnson before.
Oh well.
johnnyfear
bighit006
Posted 4:23 PM 10/6/08
@Xeneizes:he does look vry similiar to gman but i dont see why theyd be doing voice casting for a character they already have. so i doudt its him.
bighit006
hk458
Posted 4:21 PM 10/6/08
I want my chicken legs damit!!!
I said chicken legs not snotty know it all scientits....unless he is like the free man.
hk458
Juaninja
Posted 4:15 PM 10/6/08
A.
I.
Reconstruction
'nuff said
Juaninja
sheepofdoom
Posted 4:14 PM 10/6/08
Hey guys, this article is being used as a gawker ad. The image behind it is the portrait you've listed as a potential spoiler. If it's worth hiding under a link, wouldn't it be considerate to not be slapping it up everywhere with just enough context to spoil some surprises in Portal 2?
Seems like a judgement call to me, just wanted to point it out in case it got done without the proper consideration.
sheepofdoom
Luke Plunkett
Posted 5:08 PM 10/6/08
@AZRoboto: What, you can't read the text on a watermark generated with 4% opacity? Cry me a river.
Luke Plunkett
lost_in_hollywood
Posted 5:04 PM 10/6/08
Sounds a bit Bioshock-ish too me, but i love Bioshock and i love Portal. CANT WAIT FOR THIS!
lost_in_hollywood
AZRoboto
Posted 5:04 PM 10/6/08
Nice water mark, Kotaku...
...not
AZRoboto
Barts
Posted 6:08 PM 10/6/08
@comtar: I just wonder how many people around here got the Ross Perot joke/reference. Me, having both cooperated with EDS and read "On Wings of Eagles", I got it, but then again, I am oooold.
Barts
Zhal
Posted 5:49 PM 10/6/08
@poedgirl:
:O Maybe their real GLaDOS was destroyed too!
Zhal
poedgirl
Posted 5:09 PM 10/6/08
Did anyone notice that the Aperture website is down? MySQL error.
poedgirl
Jilkon
Posted 6:13 PM 10/6/08
So.. the Aperture Science ceo? I wonder if he'll be as strange/creepy as the Black Mesa dude.
Jilkon
endent
Posted 6:44 PM 10/6/08
@AZRoboto:Kotaku own that image now. It can't be used anywhere else. That's obviously a good thing.
endent
Frank
Posted 9:14 PM 10/6/08
Recast the voice of GLaDOS or no caek for u.
Frank
Karoshi
Posted 9:49 PM 10/6/08
You play as a slice of cake and Cave is gon' EATCHOO.
Karoshi
Herabec
Posted 12:29 AM 11/6/08
@Frank: NEVER! They couldn't have done better! Ellen Mclain was perfect for GLaDOS!
Herabec
Mephistopheles
Posted 1:27 AM 11/6/08
I originally read Cave as Carl. I was wondering why Carl Johnston would be making an appearance in a Portal game. Perhaps Aperture Science is a front for a crack lab. Actually, it all makes sense if you think of it that way. The protagonist of Portal 1 was simply a crack slave working off her debts, whilst Glados was her sardonic dealer.
Mephistopheles
gblock
Posted 6:46 AM 11/6/08
You know, the more I think about it, the more I like it - reinterpreting Portal 1 with the protagonist as someone *selected* for the purpose, GLaDOS deceived about the identity of the assassin... There's a lot of room for reinterpretation. Even GLaDOS's attempts to dissuade the character - nobody cares about you, nobody will miss you, etc - all turn out to be lies, and GLaDOS's failure to recognize the danger becomes less about an erring AI and more about an attempt to actively deceive GLaDOS. The player's willingness to ignore everything that GLaDOS says takes on a new purpose.
gblock
gblock
Posted 6:42 AM 11/6/08
(when I say 'player as time-traveller', I mean you, the player, travelling from Portal 1 to Portal 2 through the medium of your wallet, sweaty hands, and a bit of hard plastic.)
gblock
gblock
Posted 6:41 AM 11/6/08
Variations on a theme:
Portal 2 as 13 Monkeys, but without the time travelling main character. Actions taken by the player during Portal 2 will ensure that the events of Portal 1 take place; perhaps even culminating in the selection and cryogenic storage of the final test subject, turning the Portal 1 experience of the silent victim of GLaDOS into a ruthless killer and affecting a reinterpretation through the telling of Portal 2. Player as time-traveller. And a chance to fill in the character for her return in Portal 3, in a world more prepared (story-wise) to receive her after her escape, now that we know that she was put there for a reason, her entire history a lie that GLaDOS was unaware of.
gblock
QuackerJacks
Posted 9:59 AM 11/6/08
It's prob a plant? I mean, though the audition is real, it could be for an entirely different role, no?
QuackerJacks
gamarsh
Posted 5:35 AM 11/6/08
Totally irresponsible posting.
I am the owner of Breakdown Services/Express and this posting of copyrighted material may cause the casting director to lose her job. This information was intended for the exclusive use of talent agents not the public.
This amounts to theft. Just consider the circumstance that it was your personal information that was blasted on an irresponsible site and that you lost your job because of it.
This site has no decency and no morals.
gamarsh
theharribokid
Posted 2:48 AM 11/6/08
Mmmm... yummy cake :)
theharribokid
eduardoj
Posted 1:05 AM 11/6/08
We better be able to get the cake in that game
eduardoj
mcdrewski
Posted 3:04 PM 10/6/08
I love that you guys took the time to warn me of spoilers, and made sure that I would have to click through in order to read them. However, just a tiny little tip for the future.
VIA THE RSS FEED - THE FULL TEXT OF THE ARTICLE, AND ALL PICTURES IS INCLUDED.
Normally all I get is unexpected [Hot tears of maximum risky web traffic] displayed on my screen. That's annoying. Today kotaku crossed the damn line. So even though I didn't *want* to get spoilers... I did. Waah.
mcdrewski
Reetesh
Posted 2:59 PM 10/6/08
They're introducing more characters to the thing! awesome :D
The leader of Aperture Labs?
Reetesh
GeekanerdAHR
Posted 2:52 PM 10/6/08
This certainly does make it sound like Cave is Portal 2's GLaDOS, which is fine as long as they've got the same Old Man Murray guys on writing duties. If it is indeed a prequel, I hope they do us the fanservice of giving us a look at early GLaDOS, even if it's back when she was just AI for a fuel-line de-icer. A look at her first deadly Neurotoxin massacre is probably too much to ask.
GeekanerdAHR
kinkie_duck
Posted 2:28 PM 10/6/08
frankly, i don't really care about protal i just want eps 3!! & well yah portals fun but its best part is how it ties in with half life
kinkie_duck