He said he thought to himself about the other actor, “You’re going to get your ass kicked,” He said he knew he was going to get the job.
He said he was also sure he and Ogg worked the best together at the audition, and told Ogg he hoped he could “bring it” because he was going to get the job.
“I go, ‘I got this thing,’ and we went in there and we literally threw down the scripts,” Luke said. “It was so good. The chemistry, it was just there, cooking and hot and heated.”
He said he told Ogg he’d see him on set because he knew they got the roles.
And he was right.
For the role, the developers used Luke and the other actors’ likenesses, and all of them did motion capture. He had to wear a motion-capture suit with reflective balls all over it.
“Everything you see Michael do is my face, voice, body and stunts,” he said. “It’s a regular acting gig.”
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Popularity, conventions
Luke already knew the process and the ups and downs of auditions, and had gone broke a couple times. He said you can make unbelievable money and then nothing for a long time.
“It’s that perseverance,” he said. “It’s that thing. You learn it growing up in Danville.”
He said Danville has been considered the “red-headed stepchild to Champaign.” But his hometown also gave the world Dick and Jerry Van Dyke, Gene Hackman, Bobby Short, Donald O’Connor and other incredible actors and entertainers.
“I’m humbled to even be mentioned in the same breath as those guys,” Luke said. “They are some incredible people and success stories and talent. It’s just amazing to me.”
Luke even got to act with Dick Van Dyke in an episode of his series “Diagnosis Murder.”
“Working with Dick Van Dyke is one of the biggest thrills of my life,” Luke said.
He said he’ll never forget their scene. As they were about to start shooting, Van Dyke told him, “Let’s show them what Danville can do.”
“It’s something special,” Luke said.
When Luke performed in the Danville High production of “The Wizard of Oz,” in an auditorium that is was later named after Van Dyke, he’d never sung on stage before.
He’s now appeared in about 30 television shows and movies.
His convention appearances for fans revolve mostly around his video-game roles.
He said the actors were not allowed to participate in conventions for the first four years after the game came out. His first appearance and panel were at the New York Comic Con, “which was crazy,” he said. Then it was Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo.
“I don’t think they were prepared for Steven and Shawn (Fonteno, who plays Franklin) and me to take off like we did,” Luke said, saying that conventions weren’t on their radar at the beginning.
Luke said he knew having them go to conventions would be good promotion for them and the game, which also has an online element that’s “self-feeding like a beast.”
Now with the game celebrating its 10th anniversary, Luke has been part of convention tours.
He’s been to China twice, he took his third trip to Brazil this year, and he’s also been to Dublin, London, Canada and all over the U.S.
“It’s really awesome,” Luke said. “The best part of it all is that no matter where we go, it’s exactly the same. You have people who just want to meet you. They’re shaking. They’ve played this game and lost themselves in this game.”
He said some fans have said the game and actors saved their life, or the game got them through hard times.
A fan who came to Pop Con in Indianapolis with his dad told Luke he loved his work in another Rockstar Games title, 2018’s “Red Dead Redemption 2.” He said he had contemplated suicide and that game and “GTA V” saved his life.
“This is the effect you can have on people,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense.
“I will do as many comic cons,” he added. “It’s about the fans. You have to pay them back. If you don’t have the fans, you have nothing. I don’t have a career, or a different career.”
He said the impacts teachers and coaches have on their students and players and their lives, such as his brothers B.J. and Steve have had on athletes, as well as himself when he coached, are tremendous. His other siblings are brother Matt, who works in television/video, and sister Cricket, a social worker.
He said he tries to do about one convention a month.
“I try to give that back to my fans,” he said.
More recent jobs have been in Amsterdam, with Luke being a brand ambassador for a company that makes gaming computers.
“I shot a couple spots for that,” he said.
He also was on the Hulu show “Reasonable Doubt,” and had a role in the short film “Order for Ben” that should be making the indie film festival circuit, he said, where he plays the father of a transgender child.
“It’s a reconciliation film,” he said.
He said he gets cast in a lot of diverse roles and continues to audition. He said it’s busy in Atlanta.
“You just keep banging,” he said.
With his livestreaming, YouTube channel and social media, he’s built up quite the following. He has 2.8 million followers on TikTok. He said fans tell him, “We love you, ‘Big Daddy.’”
He also has his own merchandise.
“I like coaching actors,” he too said. “I’ve been doing some of that.
“It’s been really good for me. I’m able to go watch Bubba play baseball,” he added about being a dad, saying being a successful actor has allowed him to be there for his son, taking projects when he wants to.
Advice to others
What would he tell others who want to be an actor?
“You better be ready to work and study,” he said. “Everybody thinks it’s so glamorous. You can just get eaten alive. It’s kind of a ‘take’ business, not a ‘give’ business.”
He suggests prospective actors take theater classes in college and work hard on their acting or singing chops.
“The most important thing you can do is learn the business of that business,” he added. “If you don’t know how the business operates, you won’t know how to operate in that business.
“I was a hard-nosed, cocky brat and I went out there. I didn’t want to listen to anybody,” he added. “I didn’t take any (expletive) from anybody. I didn’t work the business.”
He said he didn’t want to “play the game” to be an actor.
“I wasn’t into it. I was never that guy,” he said.
Luke said as he got older and got more experience under his belt, he figured out how to play the game.
“I had a tremendous acting coach,” he said, who told him he had incredible talent but needed work on his humor, irony and charm.
Luke also advised those looking to act to find the humor in everything they do. Everything doesn’t have to be heavy, nor over-the-top funny.
“I believe that acting is reacting, acting is living, acting is listening and communicating,” he added. “You cannot give up if you really want to do it.
“If acting is that thing, then you better be ready to bust your butt,” he said.
He said he’s done many other jobs in his life to support his acting, including shoveling horse stalls, waiting tables, bartending and getting up at 5:30 a.m. to clean a theater to afford an acting class.
It’s not all red carpet and TMZ entertainment news, he said: “It’s a calling.”