By John Zurhellen

IIf you’ve been to NYC clubs XVI, Aspen, or Volstead, you’ve seen him standing outside the door. He’s a huge dude resembling Kratos from God of War, without the body paint. Mario D’Leon is his name and he starred as hitman bouncer Luis Lopez in Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony. Whether guarding the velvet rope in real or virtual life, Mario is simply the man.

JZ: What’s up Mario? You first entered GTA world as a stuntman doing motion capture work on San Andreas, then you got a small role as Luis Lopez in GTA4, then Luis became the main character in Ballad of Gay Tony. When did you first find out you were going to star in a Grand Theft Auto game?

Mario D’Leon: When did I find out I was the guy? I literally found out on the set, when Rod (the motion capture director) told me, “Dude… you’re the star of the game!” My GTA experience will always be one of my most cherished career achievements.

How does it feel to be part of the exclusive club of Grand Theft Auto lead characters?

Needless to say, I was psyched! And I still am. Everyday I’m reminded how awesome it is to be part of the GTA family. Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, BOGT (Ballad of Gay Tony) fans from all over the world always show me love. As I’m doing this interview right now, I just got a tweet from a new follower thanking me for doing an “awesome job on BOGT” and letting me know he “still plays it.” Love it!

Out of all the actors who starred in a GTA game, I think your life was closest to your actual character. Luis was basically you. Did you have input in creating the character?

Talk about life imitating art. Luis was totally me, minus the killing and drug dealing of course! Although, a funny story you might remember: one day I missed a shoot day and had my brother call in for me saying I was stuck in Miami. I was actually stuck in central booking! Everything was cool until the guys at Rockstar happened to notice my arrest was online. Talk about getting caught out there. Luckily I was cleared of any wrongdoing because little did I know, Rockstar had already chosen me to star in BOGT, and their concern was if I was gonna be around for it. Whew! Close call.

As far as input, Rod gave me total freedom both on set and in the voiceover booth. He’s definitely an actor’s director. Like, he told me, “There’s no way an English writer in London’s gonna know more about what a NYC Dominican’s gonna say than you.”

I also remember you were going through issues with your mom as Luis was going through similar mom issues in the game. You both wanted to live your life the way you wanted and wanted her to accept that. Can you elaborate a bit on what was going on at that time, and how it affected your performance?

Yeah, I was definitely going through it with mom. Basically she hadn’t been too happy with me since I left Colgate University—where I had a full basketball scholarship—and moved to Florida. Then I came back to NYC and got another basketball scholarship to Molloy College. She was happy until I left there to play pro ball in Puerto Rico. She’s always wanted me to finish school, to make something of myself. Sounds like someone’s mom, huh? Even when I decided to be an actor, I never really felt her support. So when Luis’ mom, the lovely and talented Lucia Armendariz, and I first met to rehearse our scenes, it was like pleading with my own mom to let me lead my own life and believe in me. Emotions were so high that Rod asked us to “save some for when we shoot.” To which I replied, “Trust me Rod, there’s plenty of emotion to spare.”

One thing about the BOGT recording sessions was those screams. I don’t think people know how much you had to constantly scream in that voiceover booth. Twenty variations of falling off the building, thirty variations of being set on fire… How did you survive all of that?

“Ri-co-laaaa!!!” Seriously though, plenty of Ricola and tea with honey. That was not easy on the vocal chords.

You ever have to do some action hero stuff like Luis Lopez in the real-life club?

Well, no base-jumping off the tops of buildings, but I have hidden from the cops on the tops of buildings after knocking some deserving clubgoer out.

Okay, I’m a single guy in the crowd outside the velvet rope and you’re working the door. What are the top three things I can do to increase my chances of getting me past that rope?

I’ll give you three words: Hand. Me. Money!

When you want to experience NYC nightlife, where do you go?

Hmm… the last place I wanna go is a nightclub, being that I’ve spent so much time in them. So I like to keep things chill. I love to eat so dining at the plethora – yes, Luis Lopez uses SAT words! – of eateries that NYC has to offer is always a must. Whether it’s French food at Daniel’s, Italian at Da’Silvano, or Spanish food at Sofrito, I get it in!

What’s coming up next in your world?

Well, you can currently catch me in Premium Rush, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt of Dark Knight Rises fame. I’m also in the new CBS cop drama Golden Boy.

To see Mario D’Leon (a.k.a. Luis Lopez) in action, visit rockstargames.com/theballadofgaytony

John Zurhellen writes video games for Rockstar Games, Activision, and other great developers.

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