Stephen Chang interview: Talking MCU, Last of Us 2, and getting work during COVID-19

Published , by Chris Jarrard

Making a living as a working actor is incredibly tough. People can spend countless years auditioning and fighting for any type of break with no guarantees of success. Stephen Chang was in such a position for the first several years of his acting career, though has started to break out in multiple big-time roles over the last few years, including spots in Captain Marvel and the Twitch-exclusive web series Artificial. Chang may also be recognizable to fans as the voice of Jesse in The Last of Us 2, arguably the biggest video game launch in 2020 so far.

Our own video guru Greg Burke got the opportunity to sit down with Stephen for a one-on-one discussion of his biggest roles and dealing with being a working actor under the cloud of the COVID-19 outbreak.

When it comes to The Last of Us 2, securing any role is a big deal as developer Naughty Dog is the best in the business at delivering compelling stories and characters that rival any you may catch on the big or small screen. Chang landed the role of Jesse in the game, portraying one of the major characters in protagonist Ellie’s story arc.

He explains that being selected for the role of Jesse came as a bit of a surprise as he wasn’t a big player of video games. In fact, he was unaware of how popular the Last of Us franchise had become in the industry until he found himself reading opposite Westworld’s Shannon Woodward. He surmised that if she was working with Naughty Dog on the game, it must have been a big deal.

For more interviews with voice talent, developers, and all the folks responsible for creating the biggest games in the industry, be sure to check out the Shacknews and GamerHubTV YouTube channels.