Graham Greene, Oscar-nominated actor and—around our neck of the woods—voice and mocap performer for Rains Fall in Red Dead Redemption 2, has died in hospital after a long illness, Deadline reports. He was 73.
A Canadian First Nations performer, Greene broke ground in the 1970s, first on-stage and then on-screen, with his breakout role coming in 1990's Dances With Wolves, for which he was nominated for an Oscar.
But, I must confess, I know him best for his performance in RDR2—his only videogame role in a long career. Chieftain of the Wapiti, Rains Fall is a man whose rightness is open to question, but whose sympathetic nature is beyond doubt: a quiet, pacific leader doomed to spend his twilight years watching everything slip beyond his control. His tribe is being forced onto ever-diminishing packets of land by the unstoppable might and greed of the US government, and his own son is hardheadly pursuing a lost, violent war to stop it.
Despite his title, Rains Fall feels powerless to stop either of these things, and his calls for peace fall on deaf ears. Greene played the role with thoughtfulness and poise, creating a standout character in RDR2's late-game, and acting as a new kind of mentor figure to protagonist Arthur Morgan (whose previous mentor figure, Dutch van der Linde, has become increasingly unstable).
Greene earned plaudits for his work in the game, not least from writer, executive producer, and Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, who told Variety shortly after the game's release that "[Greene] did such a brilliant job of bringing this chief character to life.
"The government is coming down on him hard. He’s losing his rights as an independent king, and he’s a gentle soul in that violent world. [Greene] brought this great depth to [the story]."
"He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed," said Greene's agent in a comment to Deadline. "You are finally free."
