By Mike McCarthy
If you are like the other millions of people playing the hit video game Watch Dogs 2, you have already met Jonathan Dubsky and you didn’t even know it. As the voice of hacker Josh aka Hawt Sauce, Jonathan has been helping you through the game and hacking the world of San Francisco in the sequel to one of our favorite games. The passion that Jonathan exudes through the character that you interact with in the game is clearly visible.
As a gamer himself, Jonathan was all about this game once he found out the game he was actually working on. Gaming companies are more than secretive when it comes to their projects when finding actors, and Watch Dogs 2 was no different. Jonathan does spend countless hours playing games when he isn’t filming and we hope to see him in more games going forward.
An unknown and extremely interesting fact about Jonathan is that in 2005 he was the lead singer of the band, Mosaic. They placed fifth in Canada in the world-wide battle of the bands. How awesome is that right? He also got to experience leg waxing for a role as a female in a play… painful to say the least I am sure. You have also seen Jonathan in great films such as Beastly and alongside Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer in Warm Bodies.
If you have not checked out Jonathan Dubsky previously, you need to get on that right away. Go pick up Watch Dogs 2 at any gaming store or digital service right now and pay attention to Josh.
Wingman Magazine: Watch Dogs 2 is one of the biggest sequels to come out last year. One of my favorite series to play. Before you started doing the recording for your character Josh, did you play the first Watch Dogs or were you a fan beforehand?
Jonathan Dubsky: I had not played Watch Dogs, actually. The first time I had a chance to play was during the recording of the cinematics on Watch Dogs 2. We had a green room where we could hangout between our scenes and they had an Xbox hooked up. And of course, they had Watch Dogs. Whenever there were a few minutes free I would sneak away and get some gaming in. I only got to play about two hours of the game but I really enjoyed it!
Wingman Magazine: What kind of research did the writers give you, if any about your character or about the entire hacking premise of the game?
Jonathan Dubsky: One of the joys of working on this project was the immense freedom we were given as far as creating our characters. For Josh, I had the opportunity to research Asperger’s syndrome, read articles, books, speak to friends that have family members with Asperger’s and discover a new community that is often poorly portrayed in modern storytelling. Really, they gave us free reign and I certainly took it as a very large responsibility. But the writers also created Josh on the page, so from the moment I read his lines, he existed in my imagination and I could hear his voice. As far as the hacking stuff, there wasn’t really any training as far as computer tech goes. I’m actually quite lousy with computers go. Haha.
Wingman Magazine: Are you a gamer in any shape or form? What about the game Watch Dogs attracted you to the part?
Jonathan Dubsky: Huge gamer. Huge. I’m definitely guilty of spending far too many hours of the week playing away. But you know, it brings me immense joy and there are wonderful communities of players out there. In fact, I met one of my best friends through online gaming. For Watch Dogs, it’s difficult to say what attracted me to the project, because the truth is that actors know very little about the project they’re auditioning for when it’s a video game. Companies are quite ‘hush hush’ about these things and this game was no different. But when I had found out about the project and discovered I was working on Watch Dogs 2, I got incredibly excited. I had heard about Watch Dogs and knew it was an open world game in the same vicinity as Grand Theft Auto, a series I happen to be a big fan of. It was a bit of a dream come true.
Wingman Magazine: Voice acting is obviously a different aspect of being in the acting world. Is it hard just standing in a booth with a headset on as opposed to being on camera?
Jonathan Dubsky: It’s funny, this is a question that comes up quite a bit through people I meet and many of them are surprised to find out the work we did was not that different than your average film or TV job, except for the tight black suits and very large helmets. All of the cinematics and cutscenes were done with performance capture, which is a technology that combines motion capture with a helmet that records your facial expressions and your voice. At first it was very weird, walking around in flattering onesies and banging into each other with these giant football helmet-esque contraptions. But after a few hours, it really became secondary and we were quite free to do the work. Now that’s not to say there wasn’t any voice work involved. We all spent many hours behind a microphone in a booth, which is a tremendous challenge when you’re used to working lines of dialogue with the other actors present. So that was definitely a hurdle and a difficult one at that. You don’t have anyone to react to except the character’s voices that you read to yourself, in your head, between your lines.
Wingman Magazine: You have done extensive acting, some directing and producing as well. Do you want to get more time behind the camera or do you prefer to be in the cross-hairs of the camera?
Jonathan Dubsky: That’s a tough one. The two worlds are connected but so completely different. I don’t know if I could do one over the other but I definitely need both in my life. Acting, for me, is all about the process. The result is the process. It’s freeing, it’s terrifying, it can make you suffer and it can make you fall in love. You are free to experience life and it can be very cathartic. Film making, on the other hand, is a hands on art. You have equipment, people, locations, etc. It’s a team effort and it kind of feels like playing a sport. You’re all there to achieve something special and it’s a combined effort. And at the end, you have a tangible result. It’s a product that you build piece by piece. You have something you can show people, something you can screen. You have a story that can connect with anyone, anywhere. I love film making because I can be in control. I love acting because I can let go of control.
Wingman Magazine: I am intrigued by your connection to Sir Francis Bacon. Please explain the connection and who he is for our readers.
Jonathan Dubsky: Haha, ah yes. Somewhere down my mother’s family tree is the one and only Sir Francis Bacon. He was many, many things. Among them were scientist, philosopher and artist. He is perhaps most famous for “inventing” the inductive scientific method. My favorite story my mother used to tell me growing up was how people say that some, if not most, of Shakespeare’s works were written by Sir Francis Bacon and stolen. But who knows.
Wingman Magazine: I have read that Lord of the Rings would be an item you brought to a deserted island. Which of the 3 films would you bring? Would it be all 3 and it would obviously have to be the extended editions.
Jonathan Dubsky: Firstly, the only version to consider would be the extended one. And secondly, it would obviously be my box set that includes all three films as well as the countless hours of appendices, which are basically a film school on the go. Fun fact, when I first discovered that Lord of the Rings was being developed into a film, that’s when I stopped pursuing sciences in school and made acting my number one priority. I hated the idea these types of projects were being created and I wasn’t doing everything in my power to be a part of those worlds.
Wingman Magazine: Have you ever watched all three extended editions of Lord of the Rings in a row?
Jonathan Dubsky: Yes. The question is, how many times do I do it in one year? I can’t tell you, I must keep that number secret, I must keep it safe.
Wingman Magazine: Is there any role or job that you are working on now that you would like to tell us about?
Jonathan Dubsky: Right now I’m taking a little bit of a break as things with Watch Dogs 2 have been winding down. I’m working on a short film at the moment which will hopefully be screening at festivals sometime in the summer and fall. I’m writing a couple of television show ideas to pitch later in the year along with my writing partner in Montreal. Hopefully the video game industry will welcome me with open arms and allow me the opportunity to suit up once again and inhabit a new character and a new world through performance capture!
Check out Jonathan Dubsky’s Twitter and Instagram pages: both @jonathandubsky for up to date projects.
Andrew Cristi