GTA Veterans Tell Jason and Lucia’s Actors to Prepare for a Lasting Fanbase
Ned Luke, Shawn Fonteno and Young Maylay discuss Rockstar's guidance and the long public life of a GTA role in an MCM Comic Con interview.
For the actors who played Michael, Franklin and CJ, a new Grand Theft Auto release does little to end the attention around their own characters. Their advice to Jason and Lucia’s performers reflects that experience: enjoy the work, trust Rockstar’s direction and prepare for fans to stay with the role.
Ned Luke, Shawn Fonteno and Young Maylay discussed the subject in All Out Gaming’s MCM Comic Con interview, alongside Steven Ogg. GamesRadar’s account records three complementary perspectives on what comes after joining the series.
Advice from two generations of GTA leads
| Actor / Role | Advice | Career Context |
|---|---|---|
| Ned Luke, Michael | Enjoy the experience and appreciate fans. | Audience contact becomes part of the role’s long life. |
| Shawn Fonteno, Franklin | Follow Rockstar’s direction and prepare for a long ride. | A large production and a public-facing career require different kinds of preparation. |
| Young Maylay, CJ | Expect to grow older alongside the fanbase. | A newer game does not erase the connection to an earlier character. |
Maylay’s experience gives the discussion its strongest example. He described meeting older fans who still recognize him as CJ and explained that the arrival of GTA 5’s protagonists had not ended that connection.
The implication for the GTA 5 cast is immediate: Jason and Lucia can become the center of a new game while Michael, Franklin and Trevor remain important to people who discovered them earlier. Audiences do not move through the series in a single orderly generation.
A performance becomes part of someone’s gaming history
A convention encounter happens years after the scene a fan remembers. For a performer, that separates the production schedule from the public life of the job. Recording may end, but a new player can discover the character long afterward and arrive with fresh enthusiasm.
That is the practical force of Fonteno’s emphasis on Rockstar’s guidance and Maylay’s long view of the audience. One concerns working within a large production; the other concerns living with recognition after release. Luke’s focus on enjoying the experience fits between them.
Ogg, who played Trevor, joined the same conversation. The advice reported from Luke, Fonteno and Maylay focuses on enjoying the experience, working with Rockstar and maintaining a relationship with fans.
Jason and Lucia bring a new relationship to the series
Rockstar’s official GTA VI material introduces Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos as the central pair. Their relationship gives the next performers their own dramatic work, alongside the expectations attached to earlier protagonists.
The veterans’ advice offers a perspective on that career change. It provides no new casting confirmation, contract detail or account of how the new scenes were recorded. Those announcements remain Rockstar’s to make.
The interview also puts the new leads in a useful historical sequence. Maylay’s connection to San Andreas survived the arrival of the GTA 5 cast, and that cast is now preparing to watch another pair take the spotlight. Their experience suggests that a successful successor can expand the audience’s attachment to the series while older performances keep their own place in it.
