Matrix Online hires actors to play Morpheus and other characters

According to Gamespy, Warner Bros. Entertainment has employed twenty or so actors to act out scenes within The Matrix Online while playing characters in the game. Writes Gamespy, "a few players on the Method server were treated to a pretty slick sample of it this afternoon: an extended pep-talk by none other than Morpheus himself."

Actors implies scripts. Scripts imply writers. What sort of budget do you reckon is being dedicated to the ongoing generation of live, acted content? Do screen actors guild contracts cover virtual gigs? When the gig's up, do these actors get jobs waiting tables at in-game restaurants?

[Via Boing Boing]