"I must have auditioned for over 60 characters. Some were big, some were small. I didn't care. I just wanted to be in it," Bogue told Burak. "I didn't get any of them, and they never called me, they never responded on any of them. So I'm a little disappointed" .
Here is what Bogue's experience reveals about Rockstar's casting approach and the broader tensions between the studio and its performers.
The most striking detail in Bogue's account is not that he was rejected, but that Rockstar offered no communication at all. Bogue said the studio did not even send an automated rejection after dozens of submissions . This "ghosting" pattern, even toward a veteran actor who had already worked on the franchise, suggests Rockstar is running an extremely tight-lipped, non-communicative casting process .
Bogue speculated that Rockstar may have an "unwritten rule" about not reusing actors, because the sheer number of rejections — without a single small role — didn't make sense to him otherwise .
GTA 6 is built around two new lead protagonists, Jason and Lucia, and Rockstar has publicly signaled that it is not bringing back any characters or voice actors from GTA V . Bogue's character Steve Haines died in GTA V's canonical ending, but Bogue made clear he was willing to play any new role — big or small — and still got no response .
This clean-break approach is consistent with how Rockstar has handled previous franchise entries, but the complete lack of communication with a returning performer is a notable escalation of its secrecy culture.
Bogue's experience has drawn comparisons to past friction between Rockstar and its performers. The studio faced significant controversy in 2018 over crunch culture and allegations of unfair treatment of voice actors during Red Dead Redemption 2's development . Rockstar has long been criticized for opaque communication and a culture of secrecy that extends even to its casting pipeline .
Bogue's public disappointment adds a fresh chapter to that history. He told Burak that some of the producers and directors he worked with on GTA V are still at Rockstar, and that he holds them in high regard — which made the silence even harder to understand .
The story has sparked broader discussion about whether Rockstar owes candidates — especially returning collaborators — basic feedback on their auditions. Some observers have argued that Rockstar's silence may be a deliberate strategy to avoid leaks, given the extraordinary secrecy surrounding GTA 6 . Others see it as a simple disregard for performer relations .
Either way, Bogue's story is a reminder that even the most recognizable voices from a billion-dollar franchise can be left in the dark when a studio decides to move on.