GTA Vice City Characters: Cast, Roles and Voice Actors
Vice City was the first GTA game to put a real actor at the centre of it. Here is every major character - who they are, who they side with, and who voiced them, from Ray Liotta as Tommy Vercetti to Burt Reynolds as Avery Carrington.
Tommy Vercetti: the protagonist
Tommy Vercetti is the character you play, and he is the reason Vice City feels different from the GTA games around it. Where GTA III gave you a silent protagonist, Vice City gave you Ray Liotta - and a character with a temper, a history and a reason to be in the city.
Tommy was a member of the Forelli crime family in Liberty City, and one of Sonny Forelli's best men. That was the problem. As Tommy's power grew, Sonny grew wary of it and sent him to kill a rival - a job that turned out to be a setup. Tommy survived by killing the eleven men who ambushed him, and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for it.
The game opens in 1986 with Tommy walking out of prison after serving the full sentence, still unaware that Sonny arranged the ambush. Sonny sends him to Vice City to oversee a drug deal with the Vance brothers. The deal is ambushed, the money and cocaine are lost, and Tommy is left in a city he does not know with a debt he cannot pay. Everything that follows - the businesses, the alliances, the betrayals - comes out of that one failed deal.
Allies and friends
Lance Vance
Voiced by Philip Michael Thomas, the co-star of Miami Vice - a piece of casting the game leans into deliberately. Lance is one of the leaders of the Vance Crime Family and a drug dealer. When the deal collapses he and Tommy form an alliance, both of them wanting revenge on whoever set it up.
Lance is impulsive, and that is the source of most of the friction between them. Tommy repeatedly has to rescue him from situations his own recklessness creates. Their partnership holds for most of the game, then deteriorates badly in the final act.
Ken Rosenberg
Voiced by William Fichtner. A lawyer and a Forelli associate, Ken is sent to Vice City to oversee the same deal that goes wrong. He is nervous, over-medicated and out of his depth, but he becomes one of Tommy's closest friends. He bails Tommy out when he is arrested, and Tommy returns the favour as the story progresses.
Colonel Juan García Cortez
Voiced by Robert Davi. A former colonel from Central America, now heavily involved in drug trafficking and arms dealing. Cortez organised the deal that collapsed, which gives him and Tommy a shared interest in finding out who betrayed them. He is one of the few characters in the game who treats Tommy as an equal rather than a tool.
Avery Carrington
Voiced by Burt Reynolds. A Texas real-estate mogul who will manipulate any market that stands in his way. Avery and Tommy become useful to each other when Avery needs help acquiring properties, and his missions are how Tommy learns the property-buying side of the game.
Kent Paul
Voiced by Danny Dyer. An aspiring music manager who is also one of the best-connected informants in the city, despite apparently having no criminal record himself. He is usually found at the Malibu Club in Vice Point. He and Tommy dislike each other at first and warm up over the story.
Antagonists
Sonny Forelli
Voiced by Tom Sizemore. The Don of the Forelli crime family, and the architect of everything that goes wrong for Tommy. He set Tommy up fifteen years earlier, sent him to Vice City to keep him away from Liberty City, and spends the game applying pressure from a distance. He is the main villain of the story.
Ricardo Diaz
Voiced by Luis Guzmán. A Colombian drug baron with his own private army and a habit of bribing the authorities to look the other way. Diaz is dangerous, unpredictable, and increasingly paranoid as his drug use escalates. He is a major antagonist for the first half of the game - and the mansion he lives in becomes Tommy's, once the story turns.
Supporting characters
| Character | Role | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Umberto Robina | Leader of the Cuban gang; gives Tommy a chain of missions in Little Havana | Danny Trejo |
| Phil Cassidy | Gun dealer in Little Haiti; runs the heavy weapons shop | Gary Busey |
| Mitch Baker | Leader of the biker gang | Lee Majors |
| Mercedes Cortez | Colonel Cortez's daughter; appears throughout the early story | Fairuza Balk |
| Steve Scott | Pornographic film director; runs the studio on Prawn Island | Dennis Hopper |
| Jezz Torrent | Lead singer of the in-game band Love Fist | Kevin McKidd |
| Candy Suxxx | Adult film actress connected to the studio | Jenna Jameson |
| Auntie Poulet | Haitian gang matriarch; her shack is where the Voodoo is parked | Youree Cleomili Harris |
| Hilary King | Nervous getaway driver Tommy recruits | Charles Tucker |
| Cam Jones | Safecracker used in the bank job | Greg Sims |
| Earnest Kelly | Runs the printing works; a rare genuinely sympathetic character | George DiCenzo |
| Victor Vance | Lance's brother; the deal at the start of the game is with him | Armando Riesco |
| Gonzales | Diaz's right-hand man | Jorge Pupo |
| BJ Smith | Retired football player and talk-radio regular | Lawrence Taylor |
| Congressman Alex Shrub | Politician heard on VCPR | Chris Lucas |
| Maude Hanson | Runs the ice cream factory | Jane Gennaro |
| Donald Love | Real-estate apprentice to Avery Carrington - later a GTA III antagonist | - |
Who belongs to which faction
| Faction | Key figures | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Forelli crime family | Sonny Forelli, Tommy Vercetti (former), Ken Rosenberg (associate) | Liberty City |
| Vance crime family | Lance Vance, Victor Vance | Vice City |
| Diaz's organisation | Ricardo Diaz, Gonzales | Starfish Island |
| Cortez's organisation | Colonel Juan Cortez, Mercedes Cortez | A yacht in Ocean Beach |
| Cuban gang (Los Cabrones) | Umberto Robina, Alberto Robina | Little Havana |
| Haitian gang | Auntie Poulet | Little Haiti |
| Bikers | Mitch Baker | Downtown |
| The Vercetti gang | Tommy's own crew, formed as the story progresses | The Vercetti Estate |
| Civilians and operators | Avery Carrington, Kent Paul, Steve Scott, Phil Cassidy, Hilary King, Cam Jones | Various |
The full voice cast
The cast was unusually star-heavy for a 2002 video game, and it is a big part of why the game's dialogue still holds up. These are the credited roles from the game's official end credits.
| Character | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Tommy Vercetti | Ray Liotta |
| Ken Rosenberg | William Fichtner |
| Sonny Forelli | Tom Sizemore |
| Steve Scott | Dennis Hopper |
| Avery Carrington | Burt Reynolds |
| Ricardo Diaz | Luis Guzmán |
| Lance Vance | Philip Michael Thomas |
| Colonel Juan Cortez | Robert Davi |
| Umberto Robina | Danny Trejo |
| Phil Cassidy | Gary Busey |
| Mitch Baker | Lee Majors |
| Mercedes Cortez | Fairuza Balk |
| Kent Paul | Danny Dyer |
| Jezz Torrent | Kevin McKidd |
| Candy Suxxx | Jenna Jameson |
| BJ Smith | Lawrence Taylor |
| Auntie Poulet | Youree Cleomili Harris |
| Taxi controller | Deborah Harry |
| Victor Vance | Armando Riesco |
| Hilary King | Charles Tucker |
| Cam Jones | Greg Sims |
| Earnest Kelly | George DiCenzo |
| Gonzales | Jorge Pupo |
| Congressman Alex Shrub | Chris Lucas |
| Maude Hanson | Jane Gennaro |
| Cougar | Blayne Perry |
| Dwaine | Navid Khonsari |
| Percy | Russell Foreman |
How it ends (spoilers)
Everything below describes the ending of the story. Skip it if you have not finished the game.
Show the ending of GTA Vice City
Tommy builds an empire through the middle of the game, and the businesses he buys generate both income and enemies. In the final stretch, Sonny Forelli arrives in Vice City to collect the money he believes he is owed, and Lance Vance - who has been Tommy's partner for most of the story - sides with Sonny against him.
The final mission, Keep Your Friends Close..., is a defence of the Vercetti Estate. Tommy fights off Sonny's men, kills Lance for the betrayal, and then kills Sonny himself. The game ends with Tommy in control of Vice City and free of the Forelli family - the debt that drove the entire story finally settled.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the main character in GTA Vice City?
Tommy Vercetti, voiced by Ray Liotta. He is a former member of the Forelli crime family who is released from a fifteen-year prison sentence at the start of the game and sent to Vice City to oversee a drug deal.
Who voices Tommy Vercetti?
Ray Liotta, in what is widely considered one of the standout performances of the series. The rest of the cast is unusually star-heavy for 2002, including Tom Sizemore, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, Gary Busey, Lee Majors, Luis Guzmán and Philip Michael Thomas.
Who betrays Tommy Vercetti in Vice City?
Lance Vance. After fighting alongside Tommy for most of the story, Lance sides with Sonny Forelli in the final mission and turns on him at the Vercetti Estate.
Who is the main villain in GTA Vice City?
Sonny Forelli, the Don of the Forelli crime family, voiced by Tom Sizemore. He set Tommy up fifteen years earlier, sent him to Vice City, and arrives at the end of the game to collect.
Is Lance Vance a good guy?
He is an ally for most of the game. Lance and Tommy form an alliance after the drug deal collapses, both wanting revenge on the people who set them up. Their friendship deteriorates as the story goes on, and Lance eventually defects.
Who is Ken Rosenberg?
A lawyer and associate of the Forelli family, voiced by William Fichtner. He is sent to oversee the drug deal alongside Tommy, becomes one of Tommy's closest allies, and bails him out of trouble throughout the game.
How many characters are in GTA Vice City?
Dozens appear, though most only in cutscenes. The official credits list around 31 named cast members across the main, supporting and minor roles, plus over a hundred additional voices for pedestrians and radio.