Jay Klaitz Interview: Lester, Florida, and Satire in GTA 6

Another actor who doesn’t appear often but still occasionally shows up at conventions and fan meetups is Jay Klaitz, who played Lester Crest in GTA 5 and GTA Online. It’s even rarer to learn more about him through interviews. So it’s worth taking the opportunity to check out the key takeaways from his recent conversation.

• Favorite colleagues — the main trio (Ned Luke, Shawn Fonteno, and Steven Ogg), whom he genuinely bonded with. He also mentions Rod Edge, Vice President of Perfomance Production at Rockstar Games.
• He knows nothing about whether characters from Grand Theft Auto V will appear in GTA 6.
• He advises the next game’s stars to have fun. Acting is a very demanding job, so that never hurts. He also suggests trying to maintain privacy to avoid situations like Ned Luke’s, who faced the downside of popularity.
• He debunks theories that he played Cal Hampton. (They likely arose due to the similarity between the two characters — at least visually.)
• If Lester were to return in GTA VI, he’d like to see him become more of a villain than fans remember. He imagines Mr. Crest as the Professor X of the Grand Theft Auto series, likely with an AI companion he’s romantically involved with. (Apparently, Jay may have forgotten how Lester’s story ended.)
• He wouldn’t be surprised if satire in Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t as pronounced as it was 13 years ago. Still, he notes that the world has changed even over the past year.
• As a Florida native, he considers the state a great setting full of variety. Major cities differ greatly from each other: Miami, Jacksonville (where he was born), and Orlando. He thinks it would be cool to see an in-game equivalent of Disney World.
• However, he’s unlikely to spend $100 (or whatever the game will cost), as he simply doesn’t have the time. He’s currently focused on family life — Klaitz has two children.