Last week saw Activision officially unveil Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. As a direct sequel to the original Black Ops, the reveal featured a few familiar faces. However, not all of the voices were familiar. Notably, while the character Frank Woods will take part in the story, his original voice actor–James C Burns–isn’t on board. Why Activision chose to bring in a different actor remains a mystery, but Burns himself seems unhappy about the decision.
Speaking during a recent YouTube stream, Burns voiced his disappointment at being recast. He’s “so bummed” about not reprising his role as Frank Woods, telling fans he would’ve “fucking crushed this thing.” A clip from the stream made the rounds on Reddit with Burns lamenting,
I’m sure the story’s going to be fucking brilliant. It’s just that if I could have brought all that I know… I got 80,000 pounds of weight to bring to this thing. Not a knock on whoever they got in there, but he doesn’t have the background I have with Woods. I’ve got 11 years with this guy, man, and I have all this backstory and all this front-loaded stuff…
So that’s my frustration. I would have fucking cru–not that this guy’s not going to do a good job. I’m sure he is. He’s a professional actor. I’m sure he’ll do fine. But… I would have fucking crushed this thing. That’s my frustration. I wish I had a shot at it… I would have done a great job. I’m so bummed I didn’t get a chance at it. That’s all.
Fans are questioning the recasting, too, especially since Black Ops Cold War isn’t a reboot. It’s a follow-up to the first tale, meaning Burns’ interpretation of Woods should fit right in. Eurogamer notes that Burns raised the same question during another part of the video. The actor reportedly said, “I don’t understand either, especially when they have a guy imitating me. It’s one thing to bring a new character in, right, and have him create a whole new Woods. But they didn’t. They brought a guy in who’s kind of stealing my… imitating my thing.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War hits PS4, PC, and Xbox One on November 13th. The new title will release on next-gen consoles on their respective launch dates.
