GTA San Andreas Voice Actors List: Young Maylay, Full Cast & Every Character!
GTA San Andreas is not just remembered for its massive open world and gripping story it is also one of the most impressively cast video games ever made. Released in October 2004 by Rockstar Games, San Andreas brought together a roster of 174 voice actors, blending Hollywood A-listers, West Coast rap legends, and character actors into a living, breathing world set in 1992 California.
From the moment CJ steps off the bus in Los Santos to the game’s chaotic final act, every major character is brought to life by a voice performance that still holds up more than two decades later. Whether you first played it on PS2 or you’re experiencing it through a mod APK on Android today, the cast is a huge part of what makes San Andreas unforgettable.
This article covers the full voice cast from the lead protagonist to supporting characters, antagonists, girlfriends, and radio DJ’s along with background on who these actors are and why their performances matter.
Young Maylay as CJ’s – The Voice Behind the Legend
Before GTA San Andreas, Young Maylay born Christopher Bellard on June 17, 1979, in Los Angeles was an up-and-coming rapper with no major acting credits. He was a friend of DJ Pooh, who co-wrote the game’s script, and the connection that landed him the role is a story worth telling.
Rockstar Games was on a conference call with DJ Pooh when Pooh brought Maylay into the conversation without telling him the call was on speakerphone. The team at Rockstar heard his voice, his natural Los Angeles street delivery, and his personality, and they immediately wanted him to come in for an audition. Weeks later, he had the role of a lifetime.
Maylay was given genuine creative input during recording. He was allowed to modify parts of the script to make sure CJ’s dialogue reflected authentic Los Angeles slang from the early 1990s. Some recording sessions reportedly ran up to 14 hours. The result was a performance that felt lived-in rather than performed CJ does not sound like an actor playing a gang member; he sounds like someone who grew up in that world.
Young Maylay also contributed musically, rapping on the “Welcome to Los Santos” theme that opens the game. His cousin, Shawn Fonteno, later voiced Franklin Clinton in GTA V keeping the San Andreas bloodline alive in the franchise.
In 2021, Maylay publicly stated he would not reprise the role of CJ, citing conflicts with Rockstar Games and criticizing what he described as the studio’s exploitation of African American culture. Despite this, he has continued to embrace the character at fan events and conventions.
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Full GTA San Andreas Main Voice Cast
The following table covers all major named characters and their voice actors. These are the performances that carry the story from start to finish.
| Character | Voice Actor | Role in Story |
|---|---|---|
| Carl “CJ” Johnson | Young Maylay | Protagonist Grove Street Families |
| Sweet (Sean Johnson) | Faizon Love | CJ’s older brother, GSF leader |
| Kendl Johnson | Yo-Yo (Yolanda Whittaker) | CJ’s sister |
| Big Smoke (Melvin Harris) | Clifton Powell | GSF member, major antagonist |
| Ryder (Lance Wilson) | MC Eiht | GSF member, traitor |
| OG Loc (Jeffrey Cross) | Jas Anderson | GSF associate, aspiring rapper |
| B-Dup (Mark Wayne) | The Game | GSF member turned rival |
| Big Bear (Barry Thorne) | Big Boy | Grove Street associate |
| Officer Frank Tenpenny | Samuel L. Jackson | Corrupt LSPD main antagonist |
| Officer Eddie Pulaski | Chris Penn | Tenpenny’s corrupt partner |
| Officer Hernandez | Armando Riesco | C.R.A.S.H. member |
| Cesar Vialpando | Clifton Collins Jr. | Aztecas leader, Kendl’s boyfriend |
| Catalina | Cynthia Farrell | Volatile girlfriend of CJ |
| The Truth | Peter Fonda | Hippie contact in Flint County |
| Mike Toreno | James Woods | Undercover government agent |
| Madd Dogg | Ice-T | Famous rapper, later CJ’s ally |
| Jizzy B. | Charlie Murphy | Pimp and gang contact |
| T-Bone Mendez | Kid Frost | Loco Syndicate enforcer |
| Wu Zi Mu (Woozie) | James Yaegashi | Mountain Cloud Boys Triad leader |
| Zero | David Cross | Tech shop owner, RC model hobbyist |
| Ken Rosenberg | William Fichtner | Cocaine-addled lawyer from Vice City |
| Salvatore Leone | Frank Vincent | Mafia boss Leone Crime Family |
| Emmet | Eugene Jeter Jr. | Weapons dealer in Ganton |
| Kent Paul | Danny Dyer | British music industry contact |
| Maria Latore | Debi Mazar | Salvatore’s associate |
Standout Performances – Who Made the Biggest Impact
Samuel L. Jackson as Officer Tenpenny
If one performance defines GTA San Andreas beyond CJ himself, it is Samuel L. Jackson as Officer Frank Tenpenny. Tenpenny is the kind of villain who never shouts he coerces, manipulates, and intimidates with quiet authority, and Jackson nailed every note of it.
Jackson had appeared in films that directly inspired GTA world, including Good fellas, Menace II Society, and Pulp Fiction. He brought that same energy to Tenpenny, crafting a character with parallels to Denzel Washington’s corrupt detective in Training Day a cop who uses his badge not to protect the community, but to control it. The performance works because Jackson never plays Tenpenny as cartoonishly evil; the character genuinely believes he is keeping order, which makes him far more unsettling.
Clifton Powell as Big Smoke
Big Smoke became one of gaming’s most quoted characters, and a lot of that is down to Clifton Powell. Powell had built a career playing intense characters in 1990s crime films Deep Cover, Menace II Society, Dead Presidents and he brought a disarming warmth to Smoke that made his eventual betrayal genuinely shocking.
The famous Cluckin’ Bell drive-through scene, where Smoke places an absurdly long order, became a cultural moment because Powell delivered it with total commitment and zero irony. Smoke sounds like someone who genuinely loves fast food, and it is funny and human, which makes the darkness underneath land that much harder.
MC Eiht as Ryder
Aaron Tyler, known as MC Eiht, was already a West Coast hip-hop legend when he took on the role of Ryder. As founding member and front man of Compton’s Most Wanted, his deep, sharp delivery came straight from the streets that inspired the game’s setting. He also contributed musically his song with CMW appears on Radio Los Santos in-game.
Ryder’s voice is immediately recognizable and credible. There is no performance layer between the actor and the character; MC Eiht sounds exactly like someone who grew up in early-1990s Compton because he did.
Faizon Love as Sweet
Faizon Love brought an interesting combination to Sweet Johnson a man who is both CJ’s harshest critic and his most loyal defender. Love was known for comedic roles in films like Friday and Don’t Be a Menace, but his work in San Andreas was notably restrained. Sweet needed to feel like a leader worth following, and Love gave the character dignity without stripping away his flaws.
Peter Fonda and James Woods
Both actors were major Hollywood names who added weight to supporting roles. Peter Fonda, a counterculture icon from Easy Rider, voiced The Truth an aging hippie conspiracy theorist who becomes an unlikely ally. The casting was almost too perfect.
James Woods voiced Mike Toreno, the mysterious government agent who turns out to be far more powerful than he first appears. Woods brought a slippery, unpredictable quality to the character, making it genuinely hard to tell whether Toreno is helping CJ or setting him up.
CJ’s Girlfriends – Voice Cast
GTA San Andreas introduced a dating mechanic where CJ could pursue six girlfriends, each with her own personality and voice. These characters added texture to the world and were voiced by an underrated group of performers.
| Girlfriend | Voice Actor | Where You Meet Her |
|---|---|---|
| Denise Robinson | Heather Alicia Simms | Ganton after first mission |
| Millie Perkins | Orfeh Alimorad | Caligula’s Casino, Las Venturas |
| Helena Wankstein | Bijou Phillips | Blueberry, Red County (gun shop) |
| Katie Zhan | China Chow | Avispa Country Club, San Fierro |
| Michelle Cannes | Vanessa Aspillaga | Downtown San Fierro, near club |
| Barbara Schternvart | Danielle Lee Greaves | El Quebrados, Tierra Robada |
Radio Station DJ’s – The Real Celebrities
One of the smartest choices Rockstar made was casting genuine musicians and celebrities as the DJ’s for San Andreas radio stations. These performers were not playing characters in the traditional sense they were essentially playing amplified versions of themselves, and the result gave every drive across the map a distinct personality.
| Radio Station | DJ / Host | Genre |
|---|---|---|
| Radio Los Santos | Forth Right MC (Chuck D) | Gangsta Rap |
| Bounce FM | The Funktipus (George Clinton) | Funk / Soul |
| K-DST The Dust | Tommy The Nightmare Smith (Axl Rose) | Classic Rock |
| West Coast Talk Radio | Andy Dick | Talk / Comedy |
| K-Jah West | Sly & Robbie | Reggae / Dancehall |
| Radio X | Sage (Sass Jordan) | Alternative Rock |
| CSR 103.9 | Forth Right MC (Isiah Washington) | Smooth R&B |
| Playback FM | DJ Pooh | Classic Hip-Hop |
| Master Sounds 98.3 | The OG Loc (Jas Anderson) | Old School Funk |
| SF-UR | Julio G | Electronic / House |
Chuck D of Public Enemy brought genuine hip-hop authority to Radio Los Santos. George Clinton, Parliament-Funkadelic founder and one of the most important figures in American music history, turned Bounce FM into a joyful, absurdist experience. And Axl Rose voicing K-DST’s DJ added a layer of self-aware rock-star excess that suited the station perfectly.
Other Notable Supporting Cast
San Andreas had a deep supporting roster that extended well beyond the main story characters. Several names stand out for their contributions.
| Character | Voice Actor | Known For |
|---|---|---|
| The Game (B-Dup) | The Game (Jayceon Terrell Taylor) | West Coast rapper The Documentary |
| Big Boy (Big Bear) | Big Boy (Kurt Alexander) | Power 106 FM DJ, Los Angeles |
| Jethro | John Zurhellen | San Fierro Garage crew |
| Dwaine | Navid Khonsari | San Fierro Garage crew |
| Ran Fa Li | Hunter Platin | Triad contact, Las Venturas |
| Su Xi Mu | Richard Chang | San Fierro Triads |
| Richard Burns | Wil Wheaton | Radio personality (Star Trek: TNG) |
| Jimmy Silverman | Gary Yudman | Las Venturas casino manager |
| Maria Latore | Debi Mazar | Reprised from GTA III |
Why the Casting Philosophy Still Matters
When Rockstar cast GTA Vice City, they leaned heavily on name recognition Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper. The performances were strong, but lead designer Dan Houser later admitted that the fame of those actors sometimes pulled players out of the experience. They were too aware they were hearing Ray Liotta, not Tommy Vercetti.
With San Andreas, the approach shifted. The lead was given to a relative unknown. Famous names were pushed into supporting and antagonist roles where their recognition added authority rather than distraction. And for many of the key supporting parts, the casting drew from actual hip-hop and street culture people who understood the world being depicted from the inside.
The result is a game where the world feels authentic. When you hear MC Eiht as Ryder or The Game as B-Dup, you are not translating a celebrity performance through a fictional character. The voices feel like they belong to the streets of Los Santos, Flint County, and Las Venturas. That is difficult to engineer, and Rockstar got it right.
It also worth noting how many of these performances had a natural, unpolished quality that was a deliberate choice rather than a limitation. Young Maylay’s CJ sounds like a real person navigating an impossible situation, not a hero delivering scripted lines. That quality is what made players genuinely care about what happened to him.
The Definitive Edition, which is more stable and has improved graphics. Instead of trying to interlink the two versions, it’s safer to stick with the official release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who voiced CJ in GTA San Andreas?
CJ Carl Johnson was voiced by Young Maylay, whose real name is Christopher Bellard. He was a Los Angeles-based rapper and friend of writer DJ Pooh. He was cast after Rockstar heard his natural voice on a speakerphone during a conversation with Pooh.
Is the voice actor for CJ the same person as his character model?
No. Young Maylay confirmed in a 2026 interview that CJ’s 3D character model was already finalized before he was cast. He provided the voice and motion capture, but the character’s physical appearance was not based on him.
What happened to the GTA San Andreas voice actors?
Most continued their careers after the game’s release. Samuel L. Jackson remained one of Hollywood’s most active actors. Chris Penn passed away in 2006. Young Maylay continued rapping and attending gaming conventions. Clifton Powell remained active in television and film. Clifton Collins Jr. went on to roles in The Blacklist and Pacific Rim.
How many voice actors does GTA San Andreas have in total?
GTA San Andreas has a total of 174 credited voice actors, making it one of the most extensively cast games of its era. This number includes both named characters and ensemble roles like gang members and radio personalities.
Did any GTA San Andreas voice actors appear in other GTA games?
Yes. Debi Mazar reprised Maria Latore from GTA III. Frank Vincent’s Salvatore Leone also appeared in GTA III and Liberty City Stories. William Fichtner returned as Ken Rosenberg from Vice City. Wil Wheaton voiced a radio personality in both San Andreas and Liberty City Stories.
Why didn’t Rockstar cast bigger celebrities for the lead role?
Dan Houser explained that after Vice City, where Ray Liotta fame occasionally pulled players out of the experience, Rockstar consciously chose to cast lesser-known actors in the lead role. They wanted players to see the character, not the celebrity behind them. This philosophy carried forward into GTA IV and V as well.
Final Thoughts
The voice cast of GTA San Andreas is one of its most underappreciated achievements. It takes a specific kind of creative judgment to build a roster of 174 actors blending Hollywood stars, hip-hop legends, and character performers and have it come together as a unified, believable world.
Young Maylay gave GTA one of its most human protagonists. Samuel L. Jackson gave it one of gaming’s most memorable villains. And dozens of supporting performers filled out a world that felt like it had been lived in long before the player arrived.
That combination of authenticity and craftsmanship is a big reason people are still talking about, playing, and modding GTA San Andreas more than twenty years after its release.
