Rob Wiethoff


Robert Allen Wiethoff is an American former actor and voice actor. Wiethoff is best known for providing the voice and motion capture for John Marston in the 2010 video game Red Dead Redemption, its expansion Undead Nightmare, and the 2018 prequel Red Dead Redemption 2.

Early life

Wiethoff was born on September 15, 1976 in Seymour, Indiana. His father was a doctor. Wiethoff attended Indiana University and completed a degree in general studies.

Career

While attending Indiana University, Wiethoff dated a woman who later moved to Los Angeles. He visited there for a week and was convinced by many people that they could get him acting roles in films, and he moved shortly after. However, all of the promises that he was given about the film roles were never true, and Wiethoff was left working as a bartender. He did not receive many jobs in acting, other than a few small roles in small films and television advertisements.
In December 2008, Wiethoff was travelling home when he received a call from his agent, telling him that he had an audition for an "untitled video game project". He completed the audition feeling discouraged that he was not going to be given the role. However, a few days later, he received news that he had won the role, and shooting began in January 2009. The project was ultimately titled Red Dead Redemption, developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. For the game, Wiethoff provided the voice and motion capture for the main playable protagonist John Marston, a former outlaw. Most of the game's story takes place in 1911, during the twilight of the American frontier.
Wiethoff's role in Red Dead Redemption received widespread critical acclaim. In 2013, he placed fourth in Game Informers top 10 best video game voice actors, with a comment that he " it." He was also placed second in Complexs top 25 greatest voice acting performances in video games, stating that he " his performance with undeniable bravado." Wiethoff was also nominated for, and won, several awards for his performance in the game.
Despite enjoying his experience working on Red Dead Redemption, Wiethoff has not since pursued acting, only securing a few roles. He says that he is more focused on raising his children and supporting his family.
In August 2013, it was announced that Wiethoff would be the voice of Lazarus in the interactive radio drama Codename Cygnus, developed by Reactive Studios. The episode featuring Wiethoff was released in September 2013.
Wiethoff left Los Angeles and "walked away" from the industry in 2013. Despite that, he reprised his role as a younger Marston for the 2018 video game Red Dead Redemption 2, a prequel to the original. His voice and motion capture work were done between 2014 and 2018.

Personal life

Wiethoff met his wife Tayler in Los Angeles during development of Red Dead Redemption. Once the game was released, the couple decided to move back to Wiethoff's hometown of Seymour, Indiana to raise their twin boys. They were born prematurely at approximately 28 weeks, which led to them requiring extensive medical attention following their birth.
Outside of acting, Wiethoff does construction work.

Filmography

Video games

;Other
YearTitleRoleNotes
2013Codename CygnusLazarusInteractive radio drama for iOS and Android

Film

Awards and nominations

!scope="row" rowspan="2|2010
!scope="row"|2011