Дуу оруулагч Брайан Драммонд Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 тоглоомд эргэн ирлээ

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 is releasing next month, and ahead of the real-time strategy game’s release, Men’s Journal caught up with voice actor icon Brian Drummond, who plays Gorgutz ‘Ead ‘Unter in the series. Drummond’s lengthy bibliography includes: Dragon Ball Z, Death Note, Astonishing X-Men, and much more.

Drummond opened up about his history with voice acting, landing the role of Gorgutz, his advice for aspiring voice actors and artists, and also his words of encouragement to those in the video game industry affected by layoffs.

MJ: Warhammer 40K Dawn of War is back! Tell me about returning to this popular series. What do you love about it, and what made you want to come back and play Gorgutz ‘Ead ‘Unter again?

Drummond: Oh man, it’s crazy to think I began working on this series over 20 years ago. It’s exciting. It’s an amazing series. My first introduction to it was when I had a buddy in the 90s who played the tabletop version of Warhammer, and he always brought the figures with him on our children’s theater tour. He was an avid painter of the figures and the details were incredible. I was introduced to it not much later, and Gorgutz is the cutest Warhammer character, come on!

MJ: What originally drew you to audition for Gorgutz?

Drummond: The first time, I was in the thick of working on a ton of shows. I auditioned for probably 10 characters for Warhammer. I got a deep, thick voice. I’ve played a lot of characters with those types of voices. Venom, Wolverine, Eggman, Knuckles–I got to play all of those characters, the anti-heroes. I’ve always been the type of person to just throw my hat in the ring and see what comes out the other end. Gorgutz was the big one I took back in 2005.

MJ: You have voiced several popular anti-hero characters, or morally gray characters. Why do you think fans are drawn to those characters? And what do you like about those characters?

Drummond: I’ll tell you, villains and anti-heroes, I don’t know what it is about writers, but they get the best dialogue. The writers are fabulous. Those characters can sit on both sides of the fence. You get the heroic side sometimes, the villain side sometimes, so they have some of the best written material. The writing is what draws anyone to a role, and the villains and anti-heroes get some of the juiciest stuff, and of course, having the raspy voice tends to lend me to those characters.

MJ: You’ve done a lot of voice work over the years, and it’s an incredibly impressive career. What makes voice acting for a video game different than anime? Or is it similar?

Drummond: There are some technical differences among all of them, definitely. With anime, you’re usually working alone, besides the producer or director. You also do work alone for most video games if you’re not also doing the motion capture. Voice work in video games is probably the most grueling work anyone can do in voice acting. Gorgutz’s war cry, screams, and Vegeta’s powering up are crazy hard on the voice. I almost lost my voice again this time for Gorgutz when recorded this Warhammer.

MJ: In Warhammer 40K Dawn of War, Gorgutz rules with an iron fist, but he seems to always have an escape planned, instead of facing opposition with honor. How did you approach this balance when it comes to your performance?

Drummond: In video games, so much of it is getting help from the director describing the sequence. I’m a theater guy, so my head always goes to, “What do they want?” What’s the capture? What’s the kill? What’s the want? What do they need? So, that’s my focus every time. I picture Gorgutz in every one of those scenarios and try to keep Gorgutz’s voice in all those scenarios.

MJ: Did you get a chance to do any improv for Gorgutz? Did the director give you any opportunity to add some creative freedom to your performance and the writing?

Drummond: You know, I believe there was some for the original appearance of Gorgutz many years ago. But because he’s such a popular character, based on the series, there’s a way fans like him to be. I could even tell the writers wrote to him this time because he’s been around so long. There might be some ad-lib every so often, but not a ton, and the writers killed it, and it’s because they know him so well.

MJ: What type of real-life examples do you look at when preparing for a role like this, especially for Gorgutz ‘Ead ‘Unter, who isn’t human? Or what have you learned about voice acting from voicing a non-human character?

Drummond: 22 years ago, I walked into the audition video with probably six different sides of Gorgutz, so I had them at the ready. I didn’t know what he looked like or how big he was going to be. At the time, when I heard “orc,” I immediately thought of Lord of the Rings, so I dove straight into the deeper voices. In auditions, you never know how many fights, deaths, and additional sounds you need to make. It’s always such a blast.

Drummond: When I got the call that Gorgutz is coming back to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4, and they wanted me back, I was a little nervous. The voice community here in Vancouver, Canada, and almost all of it was originally recorded here, and a lot of the modern voice actors for the series are based in London. So I was nervous about bringing my accent to the series. I had a problem sometimes with going into the range of a northerner, but the director reeled me back in, and I love how it turned out.

MJ: You’ve done so much voice work over the years. So much.

Drummond: I was poking around on Behind the Voice Actors, and I think I am lucky enough to be sitting around number 20 for the most English voice roles of all time. I’m never going to catch Mel Blanc and the South Park boys who do all the roles. I know I’m the luckiest person in the world, and I do not take it for granted at all.

MJ: You’ve created so many memories for so many people with your various performances, whether it be Vegeta, Gorgutz, or any other character from your deep bibliography. What would you tell all your fans who grew up listening to your voice?

Drummond: The main thing I would tell them is, “go for what you want and lean into it.” I never planned to be a voice actor. When I came out of theater school in 1991, I thought I was going to be a theater person. As a performer, you want to have an interest in everything. Sometimes you gotta be a carpenter; the next day you gotta be an electrician.

Drummond: When my agent asked me, “What do you think about doing a cartoon?” I said, “I don’t know, I’ve never done it before.” And I was on a G.I. Joe show in 1994 called G.I. Joe Extreme, and I was in a room with a lot of the other actors like Matt Hill and Ian Corlett, Goku from Dragon Ball Z, watching all those guys work was incredible, and it was so much fun. I came out of that and told my agent, “if there’s more of that stuff, sign me up for it.”

Drummond: Usually, in theater, you need the triple threat, and I realized I was maybe only a single threat. My singing and my dancing were subpar. So I thought: I’d better focus on this. It got to a point in the early 2000s that I had to set aside everything else because I was on so many shows, and I told my agent, let’s set aside film, television, and theater and lean into voice work and I’ll go back to those things when the work slows down. The work never slowed down. If anything, it kept going, and I’ve been thrilled about it. Go for what you want!

Drummond: Off topic, but I played a character called Ryuk on Death Note. I walked into the studio, and I was not scheduled to audition for Ryuk, but I saw his pictures in the studio, and I asked the director, “I don’t know what that cool-looking demon thing is, but can I do something for him too?” The director said, “Sure, take two minutes and look at it.” I was lucky enough to land the part, and I only got the part because I asked. So, always ask! Get yourself seen and always ask!

MJ: Do you have any advice for someone looking into getting into voice acting, especially for video games?

Drummond: It’s very different than when I first started. Back then in the 90s, if you didn’t live in LA, NYC, or Toronto, good luck. That’s not the case nowadays. We all have this thing: our instrument, our voices. It’s up to you to learn how to pick it up and tune it, like a guitar. To train it, you copy your favorites, like what Vegeta sounds like. It’s just like picking up the guitar and learning your favorite song.

Drummond: You also have to get seen. Now, you have TikTok, Instagram, and if you put yourself out there, I’m going to follow you. With algorithms, maybe they get seen and then end up on a major show. So, it’s two things: train your voice and make yourself get seen. No one is knocking on doors asking for voice actors. Get out there!

Drummond: Off topic, but I gotta tell this quick story. I came across this one guy. Incredible deep voice. He had never done any voice acting. I followed him, and now he has hundreds of thousands of followers. Someone suggested that he read a poem on Instagram, and he did, and now he is everywhere and is booking gigs everywhere. He put himself out there. Start with the things you like, but always put yourself out there.

MJ: You’ve been with Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War for many, many years. What is it about the series that you think fans keep coming back to and want more of?

Drummond: That’s a great question! Initially, it was all about imagination with the tabletop game, and you think that would’ve gone away with video games, but it hasn’t! We fall in love with the looks of space marines, factions, orcs, and there’s just something about creating a team and crafting a strategy, and there’s no one way to win it or one character to play as. I think that’s what’s kept it going for so long. I love it!

MJ: Indeed. We saw a similar thing with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons and Dragons.

Drummond: Absolutely! It’s always the fans. The fans drive everything. I mean, Vegeta and Dragon Ball Z and Death Note, all of that was years ago. Fans keep it going. From all of the memes and cosplays and passionate online discussions, it’s not me that keeps the series going; it’s always the passion and love from the fans.

MJ: The video game industry is not the most stable at the moment. There’s a lot of controversy, like with PlayStation recently, and of course, there are a lot of layoffs. What would you tell artists, writers, and game developers who are considering leaving the industry?

Drummond: Wow. That’s a great question. I feel that from the perspective of a voice performer. Two of my three children are both performers. If they were younger, I would’ve told them to head to the voice over side of things, it’s great. Nowadays, AI is putting the fear into a lot of us.

Drummond: But you know, I believe in the pendulum theory. I think we’re going to bounce back to the real people, the real performers, the real writers, the real actors, because, as humans, we crave it. I want to see everything real. If it’s not real art and emotions, I could not care less. I want the real art. We will come back to creation as humans. I would never discourage anyone from doing their art, and in fact, I would encourage it more now than ever. If you have any bit of art in you, let it out! Please do it! I’m there to consume it! Keep doing it! Even if it’s not currently putting money in your pocket, it will put joy in your heart, whether it’s voice acting or painting Warhammer figurines.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 releases on September 17, 2026, for PC.