Ned Luke
Template:Short description Template:DMCA Template:DMCA
Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.
Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.
Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for deprecated parameters".
Ned Luke (born October 4, 1958) is an American actor and YouTuber. He is known for portraying Michael De Santa in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V, and reprised the role in 2025 for Grand Theft Auto Online.[1][2] Throughout his acting career, Luke has appeared in 29 films and television shows, in addition to performing in over 100 commercials. He is also known for livestreaming video games, including Grand Theft Auto V on YouTube, and has 400,000 subscribers there.[3]
Early life
Ned Luke was born on October 4, 1958[4][5] in Danville, Illinois, to Cindy (née Smith) and Fred Luke.[citation needed]
Career
Luke's first major voice role was in Rover Dangerfield, where he played a sheepdog named Raffles opposite Rodney Dangerfield. He was cast as a guest star in several TV shows throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, and has appeared in about 100 television commercials featuring products such as Budweiser and Burger King.
In 2007, having grown disenchanted with show business and desiring that his son experience where he grew up, Luke decided to take a break from acting and moved his family from Los Angeles to his hometown of Danville, where he opened a restaurant with his brother. After two years, he decided to return to acting and he and his family moved to Ossining, New York.
His agent suggested he audition for the role of Michael De Santa, one of the three protagonists of Rockstar Games' 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V. Luke initially scoffed at the idea of being in a video game, but after reading the script he decided to proceed with the audition and, alongside Shawn Fonteno and Steven Ogg, was eventually cast.[6] Grand Theft Auto V went on to set several sales records and has become the 2nd highest grossing video game in history.[7]
Luke continued his working relationship with Rockstar Games after the release of Grand Theft Auto V. Upon learning that Red Dead Redemption 2 was in development, he expressed interest in joining the Western-themed project. Thanks to his positive rapport with the company, Rockstar allowed him to portray a non-playable character using both voice and motion capture. However, Luke later revealed that his voice had been dubbed over by another actor. He attributed this change to "creative differences" and speculated that Rockstar may have wanted to avoid drawing player attention to his character.[8]
Luke also guest starred on Boardwalk Empire [9] and served as host of the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2024.[10] In 2024 and 2025, Luke collabrated again with his Grand Theft Auto V co-stars, Ogg and Fonteno in commercials for "Republic of Gamers" by Asus, which featured some references to Grand Theft Auto V.[11][12] In 2025, Luke reprised his role as Michael De Santa in Grand Theft Auto Online, after 12 years.[13]
Personal life
Luke has been married to his wife Amy Sax, since 1997.[14] Together, they have a son.[1]
On November 23, 2023, Luke was swatted during a Thanksgiving livestream of Grand Theft Auto Online on his YouTube channel. While some fans accused Rockstar Games of failing to protect players' IP addresses, Luke refuted these claims and attributed the incident to his personal information being previously leaked online.[15][16] In December 2025, on a livestream with actor Rob Wiethoff, Luke was swatted again. His conversation with the police was cordial, with both recognizing the frequency of the swatting incidents. That same week, Luke shared a letter on his Instagram from the Department of Justice, which invited him to attend a sentence hearing for a swatter related to his case.[17]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | The Bear | Football Player | |
| 1991 | Rover Dangerfield | Raffles | Voice only, supporting role |
| 1996 | The Nutty Professor | Construction Worker | Uncredited |
| 1999 | Citation of Merit | Sergeant Smith | Short film |
| 2017 | American Gothic | Bill | |
| 2024 | Order for Ben | Dad | Short film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Angel Street | Officer | Episode: "The Blonde in the Pond" |
| 1994 | Guiding Light | Sheriff | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | NYPD Blue | Lawyer | Episode: "Cold Heaters" |
| 1996 | Murder One | Conspiracy Guy | Episode: "Chapter Eleven" |
| 1996 | Renegade | Andy Warwick | Episode: "The Milk Carton Kid" |
| 1997 | On the Line | Officer Al | Television film |
| 1997 | The Burning Zone | 2nd Officer | Episode: "Critical Mass" |
| 1997 | High Incident | Gary Butterworth | Episode: "Remote Control" |
| 1999 | General Hospital | Body Guard | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | City Guys | Lonnie Collins | Episode: "Miracle on 134th Street and Lexington Avenue" |
| 2000 | The Pretender | David Arnold | Episode: "Junk" |
| 2000 | JAG | Senior Chief Petty Officer Bracken | Episode: "Drop Zone" |
| 2000 | The Huntress | Detective Ellard | Episode: "The Kid" |
| 2000 | Diagnosis Murder | Timmons | Episode: "The Patient Detective" |
| 2002 2003 2013 |
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Mr. Wilmont Roger Swanson Mr. Thurber |
Season 3: "Popular" Season 4: "Mercy" Season 15: "Surrender Benson" |
| 2004 | Third Watch | Ron Connelly | Episode: "Greatest Detectives in the World" |
| 2005 | As the World Turns | Detective Langstorm | 2 episodes |
| 2005 | Jonny Zero | Officer Muncie | Episode: "To Serve and to Protect" |
| 2002–2005 | All My Children | Fire Chief / Private Investigator | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Law & Order | Ken Cosgrove | Episode: "New York Minute" |
| 2009 | Katana | Executive | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2013 | Boardwalk Empire | Boorish Man | Episode: "All In" |
| 2015 | Unfiltered | Randolph Wiley | Lead role, unreleased |
| 2024 | Reasonable Doubt | Coach Powell | Episode: "This Can't Be Life" |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Grand Theft Auto V | Michael De Santa | Voice and motion capture |
| 2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | Moonshiner | Motion capture, voice dubbed over by other actor |
| 2025 | Grand Theft Auto Online | Michael De Santa | Voice and motion capture; "A Safehouse in the Hills" DLC[18] |
Commercials
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Budweiser | Man | [19] | |
| 1996 | Burger King | Customer | [20] | |
| 2007 | Cheerios | Father | [21] | |
| 2017 | Trulicity | Man in blue shirt | [22] | |
| 2024-2025 | Asus | Travel Agent | Republic of Gamers | [23][24] |
Accolades
| Year | Nominee/work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Grand Theft Auto V | Behind the Voice Actors Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game | Nominated |
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gaudiosi, John. "Preview: 'GTA V' actor Ned Luke talks". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.McWhertor, Michael (December 5, 2025). "GTA 5 protagonist makes a surprise return in GTA Online update". Polygon. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Youtube. Alphabet Inc. https://www.youtube.com/@ned_luke. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Script error: No such module "cite tweet".
- ^ Script error: No such module "cite tweet".
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Molina, Brett. "Interview: Crime pays for 'Grand Theft Auto V' actors". USA Today. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Chalk, Andy (November 7, 2017). "Grand Theft Auto 5 is the best-selling videogame of all time in the US". PC Gamer.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.McKeand, Kirk (August 25, 2020). "GTA 5's Michael Actor Had A Part in Red Dead Redemption 2, But It Was Removed". TheGamer. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Furn, Daniel (September 8, 2022). "GTA 5 voice actors: Full cast and where you know them from". Radio Times. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.SpottinGames (August 21, 2024). "Ned Luke & Alex Mckenna Opening Speech | Future Games Show @ Gamescom 2024". Retrieved May 8, 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Prescott, Lane (August 16, 2024). "ROG teams up with iconic voice actors in cheeky new video". Asus (ROG). Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ROG TRAVEL HAS ASSEMBLED A LEGENDARY CAST FOR ITS NEW ROG XBOX ALLY VIDEO". (Asus). August 20, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Games, Rockstar (December 5, 2025). "GTA Online: A Safehouse in the Hills Coming December 10". Rockstar Games. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
- ^ Script error: No such module "cite tweet".
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Phillips, Tom (November 24, 2023). "GTA 5 Michael actor Ned Luke swatted while playing on Thanksgiving stream". Eurogamer. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Dinsdale, Ryan (November 24, 2023). "Actor Who Played Michael in GTA 5 Swatted While Streaming, Defends Rockstar Despite Fan Outcry". IGN. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Robertson, Joshua (December 30, 2025). "GTA 5's Michael Actor Has Been Swatted So Often That He's Friends With The Police". TheGamer.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.McWhertor, Michael (December 5, 2025). "GTA 5 protagonist makes a surprise return in GTA Online update". Polygon. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
- ^ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRaThyrv/
- ^ https://x.com/ned_luke/status/1668832475584385025
- ^ https://x.com/ned_luke/status/1891589724747280516
- ^ https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wHHt/trulicity-i-can-do-more
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Prescott, Lane (August 16, 2024). "ROG teams up with iconic voice actors in cheeky new video". Asus (ROG). Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ROG TRAVEL HAS ASSEMBLED A LEGENDARY CAST FOR ITS NEW ROG XBOX ALLY VIDEO". (Asus). March 1, 2026. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
External links
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found.
