Stephen Root confirms he is in GTA VI
The voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on King of the Hill told the AP he appears in Grand Theft Auto VI. He didn't name his character, but his voice points almost certainly to Brian Heder.
We have the first actor to confirm his own role in Grand Theft Auto VI. Stephen Root, the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on King of the Hill, told the Associated Press: "Yeah, you're gonna see me in it." Rockstar hasn't officially named a single cast member so far, not even the actors behind Jason and Lucia.
According to Insider Gaming, Root spoke to the AP at the BAFTA Tea Party and didn't say who he plays. He hardly needed to. Fans noticed back in the second trailer in 2025 that Brian Heder sounds exactly like Buck Strickland. Root hinted at the same thing: he thinks his character was already in the first rollout almost a year ago, and too many people know his voice from King of the Hill, so the secret slipped out then. GamesRadar+ and the fan sites report it as Root voicing Brian Heder, but since Root never said the name, treat that as very likely rather than official.
So who is Brian? Rockstar's official site calls him a classic drug runner from the golden age of smuggling in the Keys. He still moves product through his boat yard with his third wife, Lori, but these days he lets others do the dirty work. He lets Jason live rent-free in one of his properties, as long as Jason helps with local shakedowns and drops by for Lori's sangria now and then. (There are worse landlords.)
Brian also shows up in the recent Extended Look, giving Jason advice, and Lori Heder appears too. GamesRadar+ describes a scene in the video, which was also shown on Netflix, where Jason and Brian talk on a rooftop and Brian tells a story about a fairground he went to as a kid, while clips of Jason and Lucia robbing banks play over Prefab Sprout's 1988 song Cars and Girls. Insider Gaming says Heder meets Jason and Lucia at a rooftop party and shares a cigar with Jason. Here it is:
Asked about the work, Root said he's very happy to be involved and that the game is amazing to look at. IGN also quotes him on the release: "It's coming out November 19th, is the latest I know of." Don't read that as an official announcement; he hedged it himself.
Rockstar has put well-known actors in side roles before: GamesRadar+ points to Kyle MacLachlan, Luis Guzman and Samuel L. Jackson in the PS2-era games. Did you recognise Root's voice in the second trailer?
