Troy Rawhiti-Forbes: Oscar-worthy gaming performances

Kevin Spacey in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Plenty of actors are performing in games but why aren’t they getting gongs too? Troy Rawhiti-Forbes attempts to put things right with TimeOut’s first-ever Spacies Awards.

It's awards season, and some of the world's leading actors won't be taking questions or flashing grins on the red carpet. You know, blockbuster stars like Jen Taylor, Troy Baker, Roger Craig Smith, and Jennifer Hale.

Who?

You'll know them as Cortana from Halo, Joel from The Last of Us, Ezio from Assassin's Creed II, (he's Sonic the Hedgehog too) and "FemShep" from Mass Effect.

There have been some killer voice and motion-capture performances in gaming, more than deserving of recognition from entertainment's best and brightest. How long until the Academy recognises the new game in town?

Until then, let's honour the winners of The Spacies:

Best Actor in a World Gone Mad

Kevin Spacey (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)

If we can't see gaming at the Oscars just yet, then let's at least celebrate the Oscars coming to gaming by way of one Kevin Spacey. He's got two Academy Awards already and, should he be rewarded for his role as Jonathan Irons in the latest Call of Duty, he'll have a new BAFTA to show for it next month (when the BAFTA Games Awards are presented).

Irons has been compared favourably with another brilliant Spacey role: Frank Underwood in the TV drama House of Cards. As Spacey has moved from the big screen to television and now to gaming, his inimitable presence hasn't been diminished at all. He could be cast in Angry Birds and still move you to tears or anger.

The man has no other games on his resume, but it's still quite fitting that The Spacies' most decorated actor could be Spacey.

Best Actress in Ohdeargodgetmeoutofhere

Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us: Left Behind)

Ashley Johnson voiced Ellie in the game The Last of Us.

Ashley Johnson, who had a long career behind her as a live-action and cartoon actress before stepping into the role of TLOU co-protagonist Ellie, received a gaming BAFTA for her efforts.

The world of TLOU was already threatening enough, being full of nerve-shredding danger at almost every turn, but Johnson's performance as Ellie tore away any sense of detachment or safety a player could have had left. Ellie's breathless vulnerability was yours; her flaring anger was yours.

Johnson, whose gaming career otherwise mostly includes forgettable Ben 10 titles, will be in the running against Spacey and her TLOU co-star Troy Baker (for Far Cry 4) on BAFTAs night for her role as Ellie in The Last of Us: Left Behind.

Best Actor in a Post-Apocalyptic Mindf**k

Nolan North (The Last of Us remastered)

If Frank Welker is the king of animation voiceover (he's the original Megatron, and he's Scooby Doo, so are you gonna argue?) then Nolan North is his peerless peer in the gaming world. He's had more bit-parts than an incomplete Lego set, but he's been exceptional as a leading man across a range of triple-A franchises. If you've played a new game in the last seven or eight years, the odds are good that you've heard North at work.

His chilling performance as David showed us that we really had no idea what he was capable of.

North also shines in Uncharted as the one-man thrillathon Nathan Drake, and as Desmond Miles in the parts of Assassin's Creed that nobody wants to play.

* Which gaming performances have been Oscar-worthy, do you think? Comment below.