Troy Baker initially turned down the role of Indiana Jones

If you're making a video game, there are few hands safer than Troy Baker to voice your protagonist. From Joel in The Last of Us to Booker DeWitt in Bioshock: Infinite, he's had a storied career, and now he can add Indiana Jones to his list of characters.

It nearly wasn't the case, though. In an interview with GamesRadar, Baker revealed that he turned down the role due to doubts and feeling intimidated by it. "I originally passed [on the Indiana Jones role] because, truth be told, I was so scared that I would not be able to pull it off," he said. "And fortunately, [voice acting director] Tom Keegan saw past my insecurities and encouraged me to put myself on tape for this still."

Baker also described how there was a lot of competition for the role. "We saw over 1000 people for this role, and so not only am I in competition with all those truly talented people, but I'm also in competition with myself," he added. "And the beauty of this is that it's not about 'can you make a bang-on impression?', it's 'can you help us feel like this is an authentic Indiana Jones?' Because that's what the core of all this is: does this feel like it's an authentic Indiana Jones?"

It all came down to a call with the MachineGames team, Todd Howard, and Tom Keegan, who walked Baker through the story of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, making him want the job even more. Baker also admits that he was aware Todd Howard initially didn't want him to play Indiana Jones, but it appears his personal doubts crept in before even that.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle releases on the 9th of December for PC and Xbox Series X/S.