Voice Actor Spotlight: David Hayter

Best be checkin’ that box, friend…

!!!!

It’s David Hayter, the gravelly voice behind everyone’s favorite stealthy super soldier, Solid Snake!

Born to Canadian parents and holding dual US and Canadian citizenship, David Hayter was born February 6, 1969 in Santa Monica, California. Hayter has lived all over the world, including the US, Canada and Japan, where he graduated from the international school, the Canadian Academy, in 1987.

Hayter adopted the pseudonym of Sean Barker, taken from his starring role in Guyver: The Dark Hero in 1994. The name Sean Barker was often used as credit for Hayter in his early 90′s roles for a few live action performances and a handful of anime roles.

While his early career was more focused on live acting and film, Hayter took a distinct interest in voice acting after making a guest appearance on the show, Major Dad. His first ever VA role, however, was that of Lupin III in the 1979 anime feature Castle of Cagliostro. From here, David went on to provide character voices in Giant Robo, Gundam 0080, X-Men Evolution, Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie, Howl’s Moving Castle and, of course, as Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series, which spans 10 games and a guest appearance on Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

If there’s one thing Hayter can be commended on, it’s his ability and desire to embrace his characters fully, especially Solid Snake. A little known fact about Hayter, and the Metal Gear series in general, is that he is the only cast member to sit and play through each and every game as they’re released. Further, he dressed up as Snake to present the award for Favorite Game at the 2007 Spacey Awards and even made an awesome, self produced tribute to Metal Gear Solid’s 20th Anniversary. Check it out.

David Hayter’s MGS 20 Year Tribute

Another little known fact about David Hayter is that he wrote the screenplay for the 2000 blockbuster, X-Men, and co-wrote the screenplays for The Scorpion King, X2: X-Men United and Watchmen. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why X-Men: The Last Stand sucked. Because Hayter wasn’t involved.

 

But his real passion, his true calling, his life’s meaning is that of voicing Solid Snake. Few people can gain fame and fortune by voicing one character for the bulk of their professional career, but David Hayter is a true master of his trade and has embraced it fully. Should Hayter ever relinquish his role as Solid Snake, the streets would run red with the blood of game producers everywhere, and there would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

If you’d like to learn more about David Hayter, head on over to his IMDB and Wikipedia pages!

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