Michael Hollick

Michael Hollick (born August 5, 1973) is an American actor and Broadway performer. He is best known for providing the voice and motion capture for Niko Bellic in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV^[1][2] and portraying Scar in The Lion King musical.

Michael Hollick
Hollick at Comicon
Alma mater	Carnegie Mellon University (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1995–present
Spouse	Angela Tsai ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2

Early life

He attended Carnegie Mellon University, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.^[3]

Career

Since 1995, Hollick has appeared in numerous plays, including De La Guarda, Fuerzabruta on off-Broadway, and Tarzan and Jumpers on Broadway.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Other credits include minor TV roles in Law & Order, Hawaii Five-0, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Sex and the City.^[9][10] Hollick played the villainous character Scar in the Las Vegas production of The Lion King.^[11]

In 2004, he was hired by Rockstar Games to perform both the voice and motion capture for Niko Bellic, the lead character in Grand Theft Auto IV. Released in April 2008, the game received widespread critical acclaim and became a massive financial success, with Hollick receiving praise for his gritty, realistic portrayal of the troubled protagonist.

Following the Grand Theft Auto IV's release, Hollick had a public dispute with Rockstar Games and their parent company Take-Two Interactive. Despite the game's financial success (earning over $600 million in its first week alone), Hollick was reportedly paid only $100,000 for 15 months of work.^[1][2] He publicly criticized Rockstar Games and the video game industry for underpaying actors, highlighting in interviews that, unlike film or television, voice actors in games at the time received no royalties or residuals—sparking a broader conversation about fair compensation in gaming.^[12] However, Hollick primarily placed the blame on the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) for failing to secure better protections for voice actors, rather than on Rockstar themselves.^[13]

On July 12th 2025, Hollick would join Cameo.^[14]

Personal life

Hollick has been married to actress Angela Tsai since 2007.^[15] On July 22, 2010, Tsai gave birth to their son.^[15] In 2015, she gave birth to their daughter.^[16]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	Stop	Marshall Movitz	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000–2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Coach, Paramedic	Episode: "Wrong Is Right" "Justice"
2002	Sex and the City	Dickie Sailor	Episode: "Anchors Away"
2006–2009	Law & Order	Nick Carvahal, Minister	Episodes: "Fame", "Dignity"
2009	Endorphin 2.7 Crash & Fall	Endorphin Guy Screaming	Episode: 2
2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Barry Epstein	Episode: "Privilege"
2008	Internet Superstar	Niko Bellic/Guest	Episode: "Live in San Francisco"
2014	Hawaii Five-0	Naval Intel Officer Lt. Granger	Episode: "Makani 'Olu a Holo Malie"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Grand Theft Auto IV	Niko Bellic	Voice and motion-capture
2009	Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned		Dialogue reused from the original game
	Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
2011	Homefront		Motion-capture
2015	Dying Light: Cuisine & Cargo	Ronald "Razor" Tomasino	Cuisine & Cargo DLC Content

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Cabaret	Singing Waiter	[17]
1995	The Secret Garden	Timothy	[17]
1995	The Most Happy Fella	Jake	[17]
1997–present	The Lion King	Scar, Pumbaa, Zazzu	[17]
1998	Godspell	Performer	[17]
2004	Jumpers	Greystoke	[17]
2006–2007	Tarzan	Mr. Clayton, Kerchak	[17]
2007–2014	Fuerza Bruta	Performer	[17]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Award category	Title of work	Result
2008	Spike Video Game Award	Best Male Voice Actor	Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV	Won