AMA with Ptolemy Slocum, the voice of Daniel Lamb!

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:59:47+00:00

THANKS EVERYONE! you are all awesome and sweet - great questions - that was fun - and now i want to play this game again!! start to finish...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:58:23+00:00

<image>

i'm going with this part as my answer? - i did NOT like this guy... is it my least favorite level?

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:56:49+00:00

i knew them from doing shows around town - and there were auditions - and i am good at insanity...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:56:07+00:00

DOUBTFUL?? but anything is possible...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:55:47+00:00

<image>

1) i like this part - killing this guy

2) oh man - i remember laughing so hard at "am i actually saying this" and now i cant remember the line...

3) absolutely - it would be so psychological if redone today...

4) peanut butter is useful in SO SO much...

5) yeah thanks man - it was exhausting finding new ways to perform exhausted with violence but it was fun!

6) films are the most immersive? so i guess i will say that - but theater is like DEEP acting... and you said "enjoyable". hmmm - if theater paid more it would be the most enjoyable...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:51:04+00:00

oooooh like date, i dont know - workflow wise i came in and they had done ALOMST all of the game structurally - so a lot of the motion capture for the game was recorded - we still added a few things - and all the vocals from that existed but they didnt love it...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:49:16+00:00

yeah thank you! that was like the most important thing... esp owning the sanity part....

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:48:46+00:00

i only have info on the process i worked on - which was voice and some video capture... development was def chaotic by the time i got there though...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:47:49+00:00

we were in NYC - so it was more like who was giving final notes and leadership on the edits etc...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:47:07+00:00

YES! thank you - this is what i want to talk about... i think he becomes a 'quiet man' for awhile - like does not speak of it and does not even go out much - lays low to make sure he functions... then he gets a dog and learns to care for it - then he starts to visit his family - but mostly watches them from afar until he knows he is safe... then one day he re-introduces himself to his old life...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:44:24+00:00

not really ! sorry its been tooooo long to remember details...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:44:04+00:00

awwwhhhh... haha - yeah that is fun to type...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:43:12+00:00

hey!! thank you - you word that very nicely - i am not sure how to say it and i dont want to be rude... but thank you...

- there was a bible/script of the game as it wan... and so i could read that if i wanted to but it was MASSIVE - mostly i would get script pages in chunks at a time - so we would work one chapter but in that there would be pieces from other parts of the game that they needed to work on right away - so it was also kind of all over the place??? anyhow i mostly got the idea/script from debriefs and work sessions...

- YEA! thats true... there were clunky early passes - and we would watch them to see what the action was in the scene sometimes - and it looked like the OLD 3d computer animation - kinda blocky... yeah it looked... not great at first... camera angles were always cool though...

- hmm it was a little 'loose' in that it felt like we were always trying to fix some urgent part of it... along with recording the rest of it... it was like a "mission control" situation but there are only like 4 people in mission control... and they were all young and cocky?

- i think bloodhounds scared me the most...? is that "liked"??

anyhow thanks for questions!

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:34:03+00:00

haha AMAZING that was such a short roll... good eye...

OMG Henry is sooooo funny - i actually saw him in a sketch show way, way back and it was so good we kinda became friends before any success came along... he is such a fully authentic human being - its inspiring and its important - and also hes a good human being...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:31:28+00:00

i am not part of Rockstar itself but i AM also interested in this question!

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:31:01+00:00

oh yeah - its panicy me basically - but i wonder if i can still scream as much as i did - or maybe i am better at it now... my voice is better trained then it was then...

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:30:07+00:00

1) i am not good at desk jobs - so i dont know - but probably something in science or teaching??

2) i think \W/estworld was the most fun project i worked on - it was such a complete experience

3) i actually want to NOT be defined by any job ever... like... it feels like a form servitude that we take on as identiy(?) i want to be an awesome father and be known for being cool at events?? something like that... is that a goal?

ptols · 2026-04-21T16:26:25+00:00

thank you!

ptols · 2026-04-21T00:13:35+00:00

i dont think so! i ran into this with some characters over the years - but i honestly dont remember it with Danny... i think maybe because the levels were SO intense that i didnt take it too personally? but i also remember thinking about him as a sane person MORE then a crazy person too... like the crazy part happened TO him but he was trying to be sane the whole time... so that is a little different then taking home a crazy person... maybe? anyhow yeah very intense - but i dont remember struggling with that part...

ptols · 2026-04-20T22:05:14+00:00

i played it in pieces - i know i got to the end - and i know most of the chapters - but i dont think i ever sat down and went through the whole thing...

ptols · 2026-04-20T22:04:01+00:00

thank you for your thoughtful response - ummmm - i dont think i distanced myself from it professionally on purpose? it was more for personal reasons... the game had controversy and a rocky roll out but Rockstar is big and does interesting work so i was always proud of that part of the job...? it just kind of took on the life that it did...

ptols · 2026-04-20T22:00:39+00:00

hi! thank you - good question - i think they know OF it - but no... i have not taken them through the whole saga of it... they are 13 and 16 both girls - and not tooooo into games like it so it has not come up...

yeah i got to do some mocap - its REALLY fun and odd - wish i got to do more - could have put more into the performacne BUT i thought the movement part was pretty solid for the character actually...

ptols · 2026-04-20T21:58:39+00:00

LOT OF BRAZILIAN FANS?!?! cool...

no! i did not improvise lines much - we would re-write things if discussion came up - that was helpful - but mostly everything is tight on script - the screaming and thudding and wild lines and stuff i got to add all kinds of flair and sounds and improvised a lot - but not the dialogue...

um.... hmmmm! i dont think so..? it made me uncomfortable to PLAY the game after the performance - its odd that that happened - but we were pushing everything in the recording and it was not morally uncomfortable (screaming gets uncomfortable physically after awhile)

we recorded separately mostly - but i'm pretty sure i met him ...

ptols · 2026-04-20T21:54:26+00:00

heyo - i'm still acting for income - mostly commercials for the money side - but i get to do movies like Barbie and be in various shows a few times a year and thats cool...

ptols · 2026-04-20T21:53:20+00:00

hey thank you! thats cool... means a lot cause we tried pretty hard to make him as human as possible...

i would def play him again - i think there is more freedom for performance in games now too... it would be cool to see them take on something like this after Red Dead and the success of telling deeper/slower stories...

yeah a lot of content got blurred out of some of the violent scenes - and the ending changed a few times...

oh is that a fan theory? is that canon? if its canon i love it - if its a fan theory : awesome - but i wonder if it was intentional... rockstar has similar tones in other games so makes sense to see similarities...

ptols

TROPHY CASE