TORONTO – With the demands of work and two kids, Elias Toufexis has limited time to play video games these days.

But the Toronto-based actor, whose resume includes popular characters in the “Deus Ex” and “Splinter Cell” franchises, will be immersed in the gaming world this weekend as the Canadian Videogame Awards and companion Fanfest take centre stage in Toronto.

The awards are slated for Sunday at Mattamy Athletic Centre, which will also host the Fanfest — billed as a weekend celebration of video games.

“It’s always fun,” said Toufexis, who hosted the awards two years ago and is a presenter this year. “I get to see a bunch of people that I work with and meet a bunch of people who I’ll eventually work with. It’s a tight community in the video game world, but very welcoming at the same time.”

Toufexis, a young-looking 40 who often plays the villain, has appeared on such TV shows as “Bitten,” “Ascension,” “Alpha” and “The Listener,” to name a few. His new project is “The Expanse,” a Toronto-shot sci-fi series set to air later this month on Space.

Chances are you’ve heard his distinctive voice in Lexus and Yellow Pages ads. The voice is commanding and deep, with a hint of gravel.

“I’ve done more television work and film work than I have video game and radio, but the video game and radio work is far more popular for me,” he said. “So I have kind of a cult following almost expressly because of my voice.”

Over the years, video game work has evolved from voicing lines to full performance capture and Toufexis says the protocol becomes more complicated every time out.

The performance capture work can be demanding.

He plays Andriy Kobin in Ubisoft Montreal’s “Splinter Cell” series, taking the persona of a paranoid criminal leader who seems to be constantly being pummelled by good guys in need of information.

“Which is fun to performance-capture,” Toufexis said with a laugh. “I got beat up a lot.”

“It’s always fun to play a character who lies literally with every breath,” he added.

In the gaming world, Toufexis is best know for his role as Adam Jensen, the mechanically augmented protagonist of Eidos’ Montreal’s “Deus Ex: Human Revolution.”

The popularity of the role was shown two years after the game came out when fans lined up four hours to see him at a convention in London, England.

“I know it wasn’t for me specifically. It was mostly because of Adam Jensen,” he said

The “Human Revolution” game was four years in the making, with Toufexis working for several weeks then heading off for months before coming back for another stretch on the game. Developers are constantly polishing the game, which often means callbacks.

He reprises the role of Jensen in “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided,” which is due out next August.

His wife Michelle Boback is also an actor and, coincidentally, won the role of Jensen’s girlfriend in “Human Revolution.”

A fan of story-based games, Toufexis says he enjoys the “Batman: Arkham” series although he has been trying “Stars Wars Battlefront.”

“I last maybe two minutes before I’m killed,” he said.

The 6th annual Canadian Videogame Awards cover some 18 categories.

Game of the Year is between “Alto’s Adventure” (Snowman), “Apotheon” (Alientrap), “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (Ubisoft Quebec), “Bruce Lee: Enter the Game” (Hibernum Creations), “Cryptark” (Alientrap), “Far Cry 4” (Ubisoft Montreal), “Invisible, Inc.” (Klei Entertainment), “Lara Croft GO” (Square Enix Montreal), “Super Mega Baseball” (Metalhead Software), “Runbow” (13AM Games).

Finalists for Console Game of the Year are: “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (Ubisoft Quebec), “Don’t Starve: Giant Edition” (Klei Entertainment), “Dragon Age: Inquisition” (BioWare), “Far Cry 4” (Ubisoft Montreal) and “FIFA 16” (EA Canada).

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On the web: http://www.cvawards.ca/

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