Joseph David Kucan is an American

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra (acting), extra for a particular role or part in a scr ...

for various gaming companies and films. He is a resident of

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. He is well known for his role as Kane from the ''

Command & Conquer ''Command & Conquer'' (''C&C'') is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' influential strategy game '' Dune ...

'' series.

Career

Kucan started working with

Westwood Studios Westwood Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in 1985 as Brelous Software, but got changed after 2 months into Westwood Associates and was renamed to Westw ...

in 1992. He was originally hired to direct the voice talent, but as CD-ROMs became more popular, he began to experiment with recording

full motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...

. In the ''

'' saga, Kucan portrays the series' most iconic character, Kane, the messianic/prophetic leader of a pseudo-religious mass movement with

transhumanist Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies that can greatly enhance longevity and cognition. Transhuma ...

ambitions called The Brotherhood of Nod. He is also featured in '' Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars'' and the subsequent expansion pack '' Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath'' for both PC and Xbox 360, where he reprises his role as Kane. This was the first entry in the series he did not direct. In 2008, Kucan was inducted into the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008 as the longest recurring actor in any video game franchise to date for his portrayal of Kane. He reprised his role once again as Kane in '' Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight'' which marked the conclusion of the Tiberian series and thus the role of Kane. In 2020, the role of Kane was again taken up by Kucan for the remasters of the original Command & Conquer and Red Alert. New trailers, advertisements, and remastered in-game cinematic videos were recorded in HD specifically for the official project released June 5, 2020. In 2013, Kucan, along with his partner, Ann-Marie Pereth, and brother, Daniel Kucan, founded A Public Fit Theatre Company based in

Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Games

* '' The Legend of Kyrandia - Book One'' (1992),

Virgin Games Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwoo ...

(voiced Brandon) * '' The Legend of Kyrandia - Book Two: The Hand of Fate'' (1993),

(voiced the narrator, implied to be Brandon) * '' Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos'' (1993),

(voiced Nathaniel the Herbalist / Phillip) * '' The Legend of Kyrandia - Book Three: Malcolm's Revenge'' (1994),

Virgin Interactive Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwo ...

(voiced Brandom) * ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

'' (1995),

Hasbro Interactive Hasbro Interactive was an American video game production and publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company. Several of its studios were closed in early 2001 and most of its properties were sold to Infogrames (now Atari SA) whi ...

* ''

'' (1995),

(played Kane and directed cut-scenes) * '' Command & Conquer: Red Alert'' (1996), Westwood Studios (played Kane and directed cut-scenes) * '' Lands of Lore II: Guardians of Destiny'' (1997), Avalon Interactive (directed cut-scenes) * ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

'' (1997), Virgin Interactive (voiced Crazylegs Larry, wrote the script and directed voice-over) * ''

Dune 2000 ''Dune 2000'' is a real-time strategy video game, developed by Intelligent Games and released by Westwood Studios in 1998 for Microsoft Windows. It was later ported to the PlayStation in 1999. It is a partial remake of ''Dune II'', which is lo ...

'' (1998), Westwood Studios (directed cut-scenes) * '' Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Retaliation'' (1999), Westwood Studios (directed cut-scenes) * '' Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun'' (1999), Westwood Studios -

EA Games Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

(played Kane and directed cut-scenes) * ''

Nox In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tropo ...

'' (2000), Westwood Pacific (directed voice-over) * '' Command & Conquer: Firestorm'' (2000), Westwood Studios - EA Games (played Kane and directed cut-scenes) * '' Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2'' (2000), Westwood Studios - EA Games (directed cut-scenes) * '' Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge'' (2001), Westwood Studios - EA Games (directed cut-scenes) * '' Emperor: Battle for Dune'' (2001), Westwood Studios - EA Games (directed cut-scenes) * '' Command & Conquer: Renegade'' (2002), Westwood Studios - EA Games (voiced Kane and directed cut-scenes) * '' Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat'' (2002), Westwood Studios * '' Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars'' (2007),

EA Los Angeles Danger Close Games (formerly DreamWorks Interactive LLC and EA Los Angeles) was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in March 1995 as joint venture between DreamWorks SKG and Microsoft (later moved to Mi ...

(played Kane) * '' Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath'' (2008), EA Los Angeles (played Kane) * '' Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight'' (2010), EA Los Angeles (played Kane) * ''

Command & Conquer Remastered Collection ''Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection'' is a remaster of the first two titles in the real-time strategy video game series ''Command & Conquer'' with rebuilt graphics and sound improvements, and bonus materials. It was developed by Petrogly ...

'' (2020), Petroglyph Games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kucan, Joseph D. Living people American male film actors American male video game actors Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) American male voice actors American casting directors Westwood Studios