Troy Baker says turning 50 has not made him feel like he is slowing down. Instead, the voice actor says he still feels like he “just got started” and believes his best work is still ahead of him.
“I still feel like I just got started,” Baker said. “I feel like my best work is ahead of me.” He added, “I’ve had one hell of a run, and I have zero complaints,” and said that if his last job came tomorrow, he would be “good” and would “cash out happy.”
The comments land at a point when Baker is already one of the most familiar voices in video games. Over roughly 15 years, he has built a resume that stretches from smaller indie projects to some of the biggest releases of their year, with credits that include Joel in The Last of Us series, roles in Death Stranding 1 and 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, inFAMOUS: Second Son and BioShock Infinite.
His most recent game is MOUSE: P.I. for Hire, where he voices the lead character, and he is also expected to reunite with Naughty Dog in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. That mix of past and future helps explain why Baker’s remarks about being early in his career, even at 50, carry unusual weight.
There is a gap between the scale of what he has already done and the way he talks about what comes next. Baker makes clear he does not assume the industry owes him another big role, even after decades of high-profile work. “I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t know if I’ll ever get another opportunity like I’ve been given with these, but I also know that this industry doesn’t owe me anything,” he said.
That is what makes his answer so plain. Baker is not suggesting he is done. He is saying he would be satisfied if he were, and that the run he has already had would be enough. But with a new game behind him and another Naughty Dog project ahead, he is still speaking like someone who expects the next chapter to matter.
