It’s astonishing that the lead writer of Helldivers 2 had only a week to find the person who would ultimately become the face of the game’s introduction.

The game’s cheerfully crude satire of American chauvinism begins moments after it starts, when John Helldiver’s pristine suburban life is torn apart by a giant insect. John warns us that we could be next unless we make the most important decision of our lives. Millions of players responded to the Super Earth spokesperson’s call to spread managed democracy throughout the galaxy. To celebrate the game’s two-year anniversary, Arrowhead released a “Dev Tales” video explaining how Craig Lee Thomas got the role.

In the video, Russ Nickel, the game’s former lead writer, explains how the scene was created. The script disappeared, and Nickel didn’t hear anything for a while. Then, he found out they were going to shoot in a week. The animation studio behind the film, Goodbye Kansas, wanted a Swedish actor for the role, which Nickel says would have been perfect. However, they needed to find the funniest person possible for John Helldiver. The studio agreed on one condition: they had to find someone in seven days. Nickel called everyone he knew in Los Angeles who was involved in casting.

In the video, Thomas recalls how quickly everything happened, from the self-recording to the motion capture. He said they were moving incredibly fast; the next day, they were already asking him if he had a passport. The rest is history, and Thomas believes he is particularly suited to the role. He has always enjoyed performing chauvinistic acts, such as acting promiscuous or two-faced. He knows this comes with his appearance. He describes it as a role he could lose.

More behind-the-scenes secrets can be found in the full video, which, according to the description, kicks off a month-long anniversary surprise series.

Source: PCGamer