GTA 5, exclusive interview Shawn Fonteno: Franklin talks to us about the new DLC and more ...

GTA 5, exclusive interview Shawn Fonteno

The new expansion The Contract of GTA Online is undoubtedly the most interesting ever and not only because it is the closest thing to those single player DLCs that, by now clear, will never arrive. The Contract is also special because it has a very strong narrative component and, for the first time in eight years, brings back to the screens one of the main characters of the base game: Franklin.

For this reason we interviewed exclusively for the Italy Shawn Fonteno, the actor who played the problematic boy.

In the meantime ...

GTA Online The Contract: Born in 1968, Californian Shawn Fonteno returns to play the role by Franklin Clinton eight years on Let's start with a classic question, which is what has Shawn Fonteno been up to in recent years?

Shawn Fonteno: The last few years, as you know, have been insane with the whole Covid thing. I have been mostly at home, I have some business to carry on and in addition I have been working on my book ...

It's true, they told me ... you are a rapper, an actor and now also a writer .

My comic is also coming out about my real life.

Can you tell us more about the book?

The book is my journey, my journey from the streets to your video game console, my journey since I was nine. I've been through a lot, different problems, my mother got pregnant when she was very young and that's why I grew up with my grandmother; I never had the opportunity to meet my real father and ended up straight on the street. I dropped out of school early, been in a gang, survived different shit. They shot me several times. I know how it feels to live certain things. My book takes you from where I was before to where I am now, after meeting my wife and taking a better path. I'm here now and the book tells everything in between.

Can you buy the book already?

Pre-order on Amazon and will be available on my website sologamechanger.com where you can find more merchandise, other interesting sections. This is what I'm doing, man.

How did you end up being an actor and how did you join the cast of GTA?

I started acting with a friend of mine, the same one that got me into GTA. He is DJ Pooh and he is also starring in this new GTA Online content. He was my link. He has made several films, one of them is called The Wash, in the cast there was me, Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, Xzibit, Eminem. I also worked with Dre in the past and he then let me audition for GTA V. Without him, I wouldn't be here.

Business Partners

GTA Online The Contract: Legendary record producer Dr. Dre will also be joining the cast of the expansion. unreleased produced with Eminem What is it like to be Franklin again and to work with Rockstar Games again?

Oh, that's crazy, a dream. By the time I had left everything behind and was pursuing my career still enjoying the success of GTA V, making the fans happy well, well, well ... I'm back, man!

Welcome back!

I am happy.

Looking at the poster, did I notice a different, more mature, perhaps even wiser Franklin?

Yes, a little wiser, a little smarter, a little richer ... Franklin is in the "Contracts", he's the right man, he's the boss. He is the one who fixes things. But the cool thing is that the player will have the character of him, but Franklin will stand by him. You will have to do your thing, but you work with me, we are partners. Franklin & Partner. That's a good thing.

To play with Dre you met in the studios or everyone played him remotely. Is it still performance capture and not simple motion capture?

Yes, same thing with motion capture, we worked together. Something is done remotely, but the rest together.

I ask you this because it is important in my opinion to divide what is normally done and what Rockstar does. You're not just lending your voice, you put all of yourself, your movements into it ...

Sure, it's a real performance. Once the suit is on, we have to act. It's not easy because you have to close your eyes, get into character, and then you have to do a performance that is different from acting.

In what sense?

Acting is reading a script and doing exactly the same things, plus in a movie you are dressed normally, there is a set ...

Maybe even easier?

That's right, yes, it's easier to act in a movie than to do a performance in a motion capture suit. When you have all that stuff on, you have to rely on your imagination. You see the background behind me, you have to work hard to believe you are really there ... can you see it man? Time Square! (points to the background behind him)

Far from Los Santos though!

Far, far away.

Maybe it's time for Franklin to pay a visit to Liberty City.

Maybe (smiles)

Three (almost) friends

GTA Online The Contract: after eight years Franklin and Lamar have aged slightly, and you will notice the same in the inevitable Chop What part of Franklin would you like to be part of your personality?

All by Franklin. Franklin is me and I am Franklin ...

Everything? Even paranoia after smoking?

... I always say: 70% or 80% of what you see in GTA is me.

Franklin is also a good guy in my opinion, what do you think?

Of course, he's a good guy. I'm a good guy!

We didn't want to question this. But Franklin did bad things, gangster things, but maybe he's the best of the three.

You know what, many times they ask me why Franklin is no longer smoking, crazy, but if you dwell more on the story you understand that he can't wait to look further, to escape from the neighborhood, to live a other life. The only way to do this is to humbly try. You have to be a good guy, he can't always be pissed off. Working with my colleagues, especially Lester, Jay Kaitz, all helped me to be at my best on stage.

If Michael and Trevor called you now, would you answer the phone?

Of course, of course. You know, we often talk to each other. In fact, me and Ned (Ned Luke, Michael) talk a lot. We talk every three, four, five days. He is very busy in baseball, I in football, I work with a team and he does the same with his son. With Steven (Steven Ogg, Trevor) less frequently, just occasionally to ask ourselves how we are. We mostly get together on occasions like Comicon.

A Life Changing Game

GTA Online The Contract: But now that Franklin is back, can we expect to meet Michael and Trevor again? Which of the two would you prefer to co-star in a future expansion? So you're stuck in football, American of course. I tried too, we have some teams in Italy, but after 30 minutes I was on the sidelines throwing up. Tiring ... but always better than baseball, impossible for us Europeans to understand.

Baseball is boring. Too long ...

Let's go back to your career. We used to say rapper, actor and now also writer. But what would you like to do more in the future, what would you like to focus on?

About acting. When GTA V came out, Steven Ogg, the guy who makes Lamar, everyone else benefited from the success of the game by appearing in series like Walking Dead, Snowpierce, several movies. Initially, I didn't take it very seriously, I didn't want to focus too much on it, but this time I'll try hard. For example, I will be in a big movie that will soon arrive in your part ...

So can we say that GTA has changed your life?

Absolutely, yes. It changed my life and that of many actors. It is a product that has totally changed the entertainment industry, has sold huge sums and has allowed us to reach so many people. So yeah, it changed my life, before GTA he was tangled up in things that could have gotten me into very bad situations. When I got the call from the director and other people confirming that I had the role, my life changed from that point on. It saved me, got me on a better path, helped a lot and that's why I'm so loyal to the franchise. Now I have a family of my own, I have changed, look at me now sitting doing interviews, while once I would have been on the street looking for ways to make a living. And it also gives me a different view of life, you understand? Now I can live more, better. I no longer have to think about surviving.

And I also think a lot of people have been saved by GTA and your character. Video games can take kids away from the streets, from that kind of street at least. The Rockstar game is often seen as a violent game but it isn't, but you have to use the right eyes, the right head to understand it and get to the heart of the project, and of the characters.

Absolutely. And how many people will be glued to the screen when they see this new expansion, I guarantee you. I guarantee it. There are surprises that will make a lot of people happy, there is Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre do you understand?

Look I'm in Rome, it's not the same thing, but I love them all: Dre, Snoop, Warren G Gin and juice is my all time favorite, from Snoop's first album. Thanks Frank ... I meant Shawn!

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