Interview with Elias Toufexis – The Voice of Adam Jensen

Sometimes, after spending countless hours working on Unfinished Man, I ask myself, “why the hell did I agree to this?”. It’s a lot of work, you know. Then a great opportunity comes up, like say… an interview with Elias Toufexis, and I’m reminded why I love this site so much.

Elias Toufexis is the actor behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s Adam Jensen character. He’s also played numerous other roles in film, television, and video games, such as Splinter Cell: Conviction and the Assassin’s Creed 2+ games. In the interview, Elias answers questions about his time working on Deus Ex, and a bunch of other odds and ends related to his career and current projects. So without further ado…

Unfinished Man: Elias, please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. Did you always plan to get into acting?

Elias Toufexis: My name is Elias. I’m about 5’10 and I like long walks on the beach…wait, no I don’t. I got into acting because it’s the only thing that I’m actually good at. That and eating nachos. I’m good at eating nachos. No mess.

I always planned to get into acting right after I saw Star Wars. I wanted to be Luke Skywalker…since I couldnt do that, I figured I should try acting. I haven’t given it up yet.

UM: You’ve done quite a bit of voice work in games over the years, but nothing as big as Adam Jensen. What was that role like for you? Any major challenges?

Elias: It’s funny but videogame work has become full on acting now. It’s no longer just voice work, though that’s part of it. When you’re playing a character like Kobin in Splinter Cell it’s a full performance capture (think Avatar or Andy Serkis) and then some voice work later on. With Jensen, since you hear him more than you see him there was a LOT of voice work.  The major challenge for me was the fact that it took so long. I had to make sure I didn’t lose the character from day one to day 4 million and six…or whatever it was.

UM: When doing the voice work on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, did you have any input into the dialogue? Mary DeMarle did some awesome work, but I’m curious if she changed anything based on your feedback.

Elias: I was responsible for everything you liked in the game. Mary was responsible for the rest.
Totally kidding. Mary was open to changes but, honestly, I really didn’t have to ask to change much. Like you said, Mary did some awesome work.

UM: From start to finish, how long were you working on DE:HR? There was a shit-ton of dialogue. Did you work in long shifts, or more so in bursts?

Elias: It took about 4 years. Seriously. We started in 2008 and finished like two days before it was released….then we did the Missing Link DLC. We would work mostly in four hour sessions with as many actors from the scenes that we could get together. Sometimes I had to do it by myself. I forgot who I was sometimes and I would leave and try to get on the subway for free. When the guy didn’t let me on I saw a bunch of dialogue options in my mind then I punched him.

UM: While creeping your Twitter feed, I’ve seen you talk a lot about “Alphas” lately. What’s the deal with that?

Elias: “Creeping your twitter feed”. Don’t ever say that to me again.
Alphas is a television show on Syfy. I play one of the bad guys in a bunch of episodes in season 2. I’m having a great time. Great bunch of people. Alphas is kind of a mix of Heroes and CSI. The team (which I intend to destroy!) has minor powers that they use mostly for crime solving. It’s a great concept with a great cast and crew.

UM: You’ve done tons of work on both television and games. Do you like either one better than the other? Any major differences between the two in how you approach a role?

Elias: I don’t care what medium it is as long as it pays me.
Also, and more honestly, I care only about the character. If the character is good I’m happy with whatever form of storytelling he’s in. Speaking practically both have their pros and cons. TV takes forever and you’re putting in 15 hour days. Video games don’t take as long for the actor. You can’t be as subtle in video games as you can on TV. Though I seriously tried with Jensen.

UM: Would you ever consider recording yourself praising me using the Adam Jensen voice? ie: “Chad, you’re super handsome and talented”. I don’t mind negotiating in private.

Elias: No. No I would not. I don’t even know you and Jensen is a lot of things…but he’s not a liar. (Chad: 🙁 )

UM: Aside from acting, what other jobs have you done over the years? I read that you once trained as a professional wrestler… that could have been an interesting career move.

Elias: I tried professional wrestling as a hobby because I grew up loving Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Brutus Beefcake etc… but I was never considering it for a career. It hurts too damn much. It really does. In terms of jobs outside of acting… I tried it all when I was starting out. Worked at a fiberglass company. Worked at a place that basically rewound videotapes all day. Comic book store. Blockbuster… but the best was that I was fired from my job at a movie theatre because I called in sick so I could go to an audition or something. A year and a half later a movie I starred in opened in the same theatre. Sweet, sweet justice.

UM: Anything else you want to tell our readers?

Elias: Buy my book! If I had a book I mean. Feel free to ask me anything on twitter…my wife tells me I’m on there way too much.

Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it… my dreams of waking up in the morning and having Adam Jensen tell me I’m awesome have been crushed. Elias, thanks again for an awesome interview! If you too are interested in “creeping” his Twitter feed, you can do so via @EliasToufexis.