The GTA 5 actor reveals why he almost quit on the first day of filming

Grand Theft Auto V Actor Shawn Fonteno has revealed why he almost left the project before he had even recorded a single line of dialogue or movement. The actor played Franklin Clinton in Rockstar’s 2013 game and impressed players for being an authentic street hustler trying to climb the criminal ladder. By the end of the game, Clinton manages to secure a house in the Vinewood Hills that overlooks the Los Santos skyline, far from his roots near neighborhoods like Grove Street. Of course, all of this comes after lots of murder, betrayal and more, creating a meaningful arc for the character.

That said, actor Shawn Fonteno almost walked away from this rich character early in the game’s production. In his new book Game Changer: My Journey From the Streets to Your Video Game Consoledescribed Fonteno’s journey to star in Rockstar’s games and shared some rare insights into the making of Grand Theft Auto V. On his first day, Fonteno walked into Rockstar’s New York studio, thinking he would be nothing more than voice over work, but realized it would be a full body performance. He was quickly instructed to put on a tight motion capture suit in a locker room and get out on stage, but because of the suit of the suit, Fonteno noticed how he felt self-conscious and began to think about it. He stormed out of the motion capture stage and back into his locker room, where he was ready to stop. The director of Grand Theft Auto V then met with him to try to reassure him. In the end, according to Fonteno, the director made a compromise and ordered all the Rockstar employees on the set to take a motion capture suit, which helped him calm down.