Gametrailers has posted the audio of a radio appearance by Michael Hollick on a local radio show in Washington D.C. Hollick is the actor who does the terrific voicework and motion capture for Grand Theft Auto IV's lead character, Niko Bellic. It's an interesting interview, with some funny tidbits about the process of making the game, as well as a couple of surprises. For instance, Hollick was originally hired just for motion capture. It was only after a couple of weeks working with Rockstar that they hired him to do the voice as well. It's too bad the interviewers are a couple of drive-time radio goofballs who keep saying that even though they aren't gay, they want to "bang" Hollick. Although, come to think of it, I kept saying the same thing when I interviewed Sid Meier. But to their credit, they're fans of the game who ask the question we'd all want to ask. Namely, "Hey, would you do the Niko accent for us?"

On a more dignified note, in an interview with Seth Scheisel at the New York Times (login required), Hollick does a good job articulating the dilemma of actors hired for videogames. Look for this to be a hotbutton issue when the current agreement between the Screen Actors Guild and the leading videogame publishers expires at the end of this year.

And on a less dignified, but amusing, note, here's Jason Zumvalt, the actor who plays Roman Bellic.