Every fan of GTA San Andreas (Grand Theft Auto VI) has wondered how Rockstar Games found the perfect voice for Carl Johnson.
In an exclusive chat I had with Young Maylay, he revealed that his entry into Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was anything but conventional. In fact, he was the “victim” of a well-planned setup by the legendary DJ Pooh.
DJ Pooh’s strategy to find out if Young Maylay was the right person for Rockstar Games
Maylay said he was at home, chilling, when the phone rang. On the other end was DJ Pooh, who was already working with Rockstar on GTA San Andreas. What Maylay had no idea was that he was participating in an audition without knowing it.
You can check out my full interview with Young Maylay in the player below:
While Rockstar executives listened in secretly, Maylay was only interested in music: "Hey Pooh, I need some beats, man… You know what I mean? I’ve got a few more raps, I’ll head over to the studio."
Fifteen minutes later, Pooh called back with the bombshell: Rockstar had loved his voice and wanted an interview. When Maylay asked why his friend hadn’t told him about the meeting, Pooh’s response was precise:
"Because I didn’t want you to try to be too cool, and I didn’t want you to force anything. I wanted you to be Maylay."
Maylay was really honest with me: "If it weren’t for DJ Pooh, none of this would have happened, man."
"I didn’t have to act" in GTA San Andreas
Another thing that impressed me was the fact that this was his first acting job. "That was my first time doing voice acting in my life." But for him, the transition was easy because his life and CJ’s overlapped.
He explained that the connection to GTA San Andreas was natural: "My lifestyle isn’t too far off from that, so I didn’t really have to act… It was just putting Maylay into CJ, bringing that character to life." He even joked that if he had to play a doctor or scientist, he’d be "out of his element," but there, he was the king of the street.
Check out: Exclusive: Interview with Young Maylay, the actor who played Carl Johnson (CJ) in GTA San Andreas
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