David Hayter
{{Short description|Canadian-American actor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Hayter
| image = David Hayter by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Hayter at the 2024 Game On Expo
| other_names = Sean Barker
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|screenwriter|producer|director}}
| years_active = 1993–present
}}
David Hayter is a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He is well known as the English-language voice actor for Solid Snake and Naked Snake in the Metal Gear video game series. He wrote the film X-Men (2000), for which he won the Saturn Award for Best Writing. He also co-wrote X2 (2003) and Watchmen (2009).
His additional roles include Sean Barker/The Guyver in Guyver: Dark Hero (1994), and King Shark on The Flash (2016-2019).
Early life
Hayter's father, Stephen, worked in the pharmaceutical industry.{{Cite web|title=Inside information. My father worked in this industry his entire life. #WearAMask|url=https://twitter.com/davidbhayter/status/1328393230732333058|access-date=November 16, 2020|website=Twitter}} David Hayter started acting at the age of nine. He spent most of his childhood living around the world, and moved to Kobe at the age of 15, graduating from its international Canadian Academy in 1987. After this, he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for two years until transferring to the Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto. He stayed there until the age of 20, when he moved to Hollywood.{{cite web|url=http://thisweekingeek.net/news/interviews/twig-david-hayter-special-interview|title=TWiG – David Hayter Special Interview|first=TWiG|last=Crew}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Career
= Early acting career =
Hayter did some live acting in the early 1990s, most notably in an episode of the sitcom Major Dad, but soon became more interested in voice acting and later landed the role of Captain America in the popular 1994 Spider-Man animated series.{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgamesn.com/marvel-heroes-2015/a-chat-with-solid-snake-david-hayter-on-marvel-heroes-voice-acting-and-if-video-game-movies-will-ever-be-good|title=A chat with Solid Snake: David Hayter on Marvel Heroes, voice acting, and if video game movies will ever be good|website=PCGamesN|date=March 10, 2015 }} He also provided the voice of Arsène Lupin III in the English version of the anime film The Castle of Cagliostro and the voice of Tamahome in the English version of the anime series Fushigi Yūgi. He also starred in the 1994, straight-to-video movie, Guyver: Dark Hero, as the protagonist, Sean Barker (a role he took over from the previous actor, Jack Armstrong); Hayter has since gone-on to use the character's name as an alias in various work credits.
= ''Metal Gear Solid'' series =
Hayter began providing the English voice of Metal Gear series protagonist Solid Snake in the 1998 video game Metal Gear Solid, which also served as the series's transition from 2D to 3D. Hayter would go on to play Solid Snake and his progenitor Naked Snake throughout all the succeeding installments (including spinoffs, re-releases and adaptations) up to and including Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010). Hayter also has an extended live-action cameo as himself in one of the fictional TV programs prior to the start of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008); where he wears the "Solid Eye", the technologically advanced eye patch that the main character wears throughout the game. Outside the Metal Gear series, Hayter also voiced the character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008).
His work with the Metal Gear series has also led Hayter to do voice work in other video game projects such as Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Star Wars: The Old Republic. He cited the series as an influence on his screenwriting, stating that "Kojima and I have different styles," "but I've certainly learned things from him, especially about ambiguity and telling a story without giving all the answers."{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/news/anime-expo-david-hayter-critical|title=Anime Expo: David Hayter Critical of Some MGS Moments|date=May 7, 2008|publisher=1UP.com|author=Fitch, Andrew|access-date=March 2, 2012}}
Hayter is one of the few Metal Gear actors to have played and completed the games he's voiced in.{{cite web|url=http://uk.psp.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/kojima-productions-project/747389p1.html|access-date=December 15, 2006|title=UK PSP|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070117025248/http://uk.psp.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/kojima-productions-project/747389p1.html|archive-date=January 17, 2007}} According to Paul Eiding, Hayter gave up half of his own paycheck in order to bring back the cast of the original Metal Gear Solid for the 2004 remake Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}
Following the announcement of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in the 2013 Game Developers Conference, Hayter announced that he was not asked to reprise as the main character for this entry.{{cite news|title=Beloved Solid Snake Voice Actor Says He Wasn't Asked to Be in Metal Gear Solid V|url=http://kotaku.com/beloved-solid-snake-voice-actor-says-he-wasn-t-asked-to-461256492|first=Evan|last=Narcisse|work=Kotaku|publisher=Gawker Media|date=March 27, 2013|access-date=March 27, 2013}} This was later confirmed when Konami announced that Kiefer Sutherland would be the character's voice during E3 the same year.{{cite web|url=http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/06/06/kiefer-sutherland-playing-snake-in-metal-gear-solid-v|title=Kiefer Sutherland Playing Snake in Metal Gear Solid V|last=Goldfarb|first=Andrew|publisher=IGN|date=June 6, 2013|access-date=June 6, 2013}} Hayter has since revealed in an interview that he had to re-audition for the role suggesting that the series' creator Hideo Kojima was already considering recasting the part much earlier, with Kurt Russell (Snake Plissken in Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.) having been allegedly offered the role during the development of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004).{{cite web|url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/podcasts/archive/2016/03/25/the-inside-story-of-recording-metal-gear-solid.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326203211/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/podcasts/archive/2016/03/25/the-inside-story-of-recording-metal-gear-solid.aspx|url-status=live|archive-date=March 26, 2016|title= The Inside Story Of Recording Metal Gear Solid|last=Carson|first=Ben|publisher=Game Informer|date=March 25, 2016|access-date=April 11, 2016}}
After Kojima's departure from Konami, Hayter would reprise the role in a Metal Gear Solid-themed advertisement for the 2016 Ford Focus SE aired in 2016.{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-04-08-david-hayter-reprises-metal-gear-solid-role-in-ford-commercials|title=David Hayter reprises Metal Gear Solid role in Ford commercials|publisher=Eurogamer.net|date=April 8, 2016|access-date=April 9, 2016}} In 2018, Hayter provided the character's voice in two video games: Super Bomberman R (which added two playable characters based on both Solid Snake and Naked Snake in an update) and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (which simply reused his performance from Brawl).{{cite magazine
|last1=Hilliard |first1=Kyle |title=David Hayter Is Voicing Snake For His Return In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/e3-2018/2018/06/12/david-hayter-is-voicing-snake-for-his-return-in-super-smash-bros-ultimate |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612211303/https://www.gameinformer.com/e3-2018/2018/06/12/david-hayter-is-voicing-snake-for-his-return-in-super-smash-bros-ultimate |url-status=live |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |magazine=Game Informer |access-date=June 12, 2018 |language=en}}
= Filmmaking =
File:David Hayter 2006-09-21.jpg
In 2000, he wrote the screenplay for the movie version of X-Men, for which he was awarded the 2000 Saturn Award for Best Writing,{{cite web |title=Past Saturn Awards |url=http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing |website=The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films |publisher=Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209012608/http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing |archive-date=February 9, 2010}} and then went on to co-write the screenplay for its sequel X2 with writing team Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. Shortly after his work on X-Men, Hayter was hired to write and direct a project based on the heroine Black Widow.{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a585310/x-mens-david-hayter-wants-to-revive-black-widow-film/|title=Could Marvel revive Black Widow film?|website=Digital Spy |date=July 21, 2014}} However, due to the limited success of similar themed films featuring female vigilante protagonists at the time, Marvel withdrew their offer to Hayter stating, "We don't think it's time to do this movie". Hayter's daughter Natasha, born whilst he was writing the Black Widow script, is named after the titular character.{{cite news|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/5481408/how-aeon-flux-killed-black-widow-and-made-iron-man-2-the-movie-it-is-today|title=How Aeon Flux Killed Black Widow and Made Iron Man 2 the Movie it is Today|work=i09|first=Graeme|last=McMillan|date=February 28, 2010}}
Hayter also wrote an adaptation of the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and David Gibbons. Noted for being a harsh critic of translations of his works to film, Moore said of the script "David Hayter's screenplay was as close as I could imagine anyone getting to [a film version of] Watchmen. That said, I shan't be going to see it. My book is a comic book. Not a movie, not a novel. A comic book. It's been made in a certain way, and designed to be read a certain way."{{cite magazine| url=http://www.ew.com/article/2005/10/21/watchmen-oral-history | magazine=Entertainment Weekly | first=Jeff | last=Jensen | title=Watchmen: An Oral History | date=October 21, 2005}} Hayter and writer Alex Tse shared credit on the finished screenplay. Tse drew "the best elements" from two of the project's previous drafts written by Hayter.{{cite news | author=Gregory Ellwood | url=https://variety.com/2006/film/markets-festivals/world-awaits-watchmen-1200339571/ | title=World awaits Watchmen | publisher=Variety | date=July 18, 2006 | access-date=September 23, 2006 }} The script did not keep the contemporary atmosphere that Hayter created, but instead returned to the original Cold War setting of the Watchmen comic.{{cite news | url=https://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=19672 | title=Exclusive: Zack Snyder talks Watchmen | publisher=Empire | date=October 5, 2006 | access-date = October 5, 2006 }} Warner Bros. was amenable to the 1980s setting, and the director also added a title montage sequence to introduce the audience to the events of alternate history United States in that time period.{{cite news | author=Patrick Lee | url=http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=38891 | title=Snyder: Watchmen Remains True | publisher=Sci Fi Wire | date=November 9, 2006 | access-date=November 9, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070901191605/http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=38891 |archive-date = September 1, 2007}}
On September 7, 2012, it was announced that Hayter would pen the screen adaptation Caught Stealing, and would star Patrick Wilson and Alec Baldwin.{{cite news|title=The Hollywood Reporter|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/toronto-2012-patrick-wilson-alec-368741|access-date=September 9, 2012 | first=Pamela|last=McClintock|date=September 7, 2012}}
On September 13, 2012, Hayter began filming on his directorial debut, Wolves.{{cite web|title=Dark Horizons|url=http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/24928/casting-news-mchattie-upham-rockwell|access-date=September 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915050625/http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/24928/casting-news-mchattie-upham-rockwell|archive-date=September 15, 2012|url-status=dead}}
On July 8, 2013, Hayter was hired by Lakeshore Entertainment to write the film The Sword, based on the Image Comics series.{{cite web|last=Sneider|first=Jeff|title='Watchmen' Writer David Hayter to Adapt 'The Sword' for Lakeshore|url=https://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/watchmen-writer-david-hayter-adapt-sword-lakeshore-101661|publisher=The Wrap|access-date=August 12, 2013|date=July 8, 2013}}
=Television=
On August 7, 2013, it was announced Hayter was developing a television show on Fox tentatively titled World War III, about a fiction global conflict that chronicles "a perfect storm of world events places us in the center of a global battle which may bring the world as we know it to an end." Hayter will be writing the series' story bible and pilot episode, as well as producing and serving as showrunner.{{cite web|last=Marnell|first=Blair|title=Fox Starts 'World War III' With David Hayter|url=http://www.craveonline.com/tv/articles/548901-fox-starts-world-war-iii-with-david-hayter|publisher=Crave Online|access-date=August 12, 2013}}
On September 28, 2018, Hayter announced he was co-writing and producing the Netflix series Warrior Nun, based on the 1994 comic book series Warrior Nun Areala, with Simon Barry serving as series creator and showrunner.{{cite web|last=Hayter|first=David|url=https://twitter.com/DavidBHayter/status/1045721641785774080|title=I am so proud... To finally announce this secret, badass show I've been co-writing. WARRIOR NUN|access-date=July 7, 2020|date=September 28, 2018}} Season 1 debuted on Netflix on July 2, 2020.
On January 31, 2022, it was announced that Hayter would be writing and producing a television adaptation of the 2000 video game American McGee's Alice.{{cite web |title='X-Men' Scribe David Hayter Boards TV Adaptation of EA's 'American McGee's Alice' Game (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/x-men-scribe-david-hayter-boards-tv-adaptation-of-eas-american-mcgees-alice-game-exclusive-1235083248/ |website=Hollywood Reporter |date=January 31, 2022 |access-date=January 31, 2022}}
Filmography
=Anime (English dubbing)=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year | Title | Role | class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Moldiver | Hiroshi Ozora | |
| rowspan="2"| 1996 | Rakusho! Hyper Doll | Reporter | as Sean Barker |
| | They Were Eleven | Doricas Soldam IV | as Sean Barker | |
| rowspan="2"| 1997 | Street Fighter II V | Additional Voices | as Sean Barker (Animaze dub) |
| | Black Jack | Leslie Harris | as Sean Barker | |
| 1998–2000 | Fushigi Yûgi | Tamahome / Taka Sukunami / Yoshui | as Sean Barker |
| rowspan="2"| 1998 | Giant Robo: The Animation | Shoji Gen | as Sean Barker |
| | Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie | Kurama | as Sean Barker | |
| 1999 | Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket | Bernard Wiseman | as Sean Barker{{Cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/buried-treasure/2007-08-16 |title = Buried Treasure - Gundam 0080| date=July 8, 2023 }} |
| 2000 | data-sort-value="Castle of Cagliostro, The" | The Castle of Cagliostro | Arsène Lupin III | as Sean Barker (Manga dub) |
| 2000–01 | Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure | Additional Voices |
=Animation=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year | Title | Role | class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | Spider-Man: The Animated Series | Captain America | TV series; 8 episodes |
| 2006 | Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel | Solid Snake | |
| 2013 | Metal Gear Solid 2: Digital Graphic Novel | Solid Snake | Motion comic adaptation of the Metal Gear Solid 2 graphic novel included as extra content in Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection |
=Video games=
=Live action=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
! Year ! Film ! width="65"| Director ! width="65"| Writer ! width="65"| Producer ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
| 1998
|Burn |{{no}} |{{no}} |{{yes}} |Unreleased on home media. Uploaded on David Hayter's Youtube channel on May 2, 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeVZmlmojf8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/qeVZmlmojf8 |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Burn (1998)|website=Youtube|date=May 2, 2019|access-date=August 1, 2020}}{{cbignore}} |
| 2000
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| rowspan="2"|2002
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |TV movie |
| data-sort-value="Scorpion King, The" | The Scorpion King
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2003
|X2 |{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2009
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
| 2010
|Chasm |{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |Short film |
| 2014
|{{yes}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |Directorial debut |
| 2015
|data-sort-value="Christmas Horror Story, A" | A Christmas Horror Story |{{no}} |{{no}} |{{yes|Executive}} | |
| 2020
|{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{yes|Supervising producer}} | 2 episodes |
| TBA
|Untitled Voltron live-action film |{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} | |
==Acting roles==
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Film ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1993
|Misha Sarotsky |Episode: "From Russia with Like" |
| rowspan="2"|1994
|Sean Barker | |
| Long Shadows
|Ed's secretary |TV movie |
| 1996
|data-sort-value="Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century, The" | The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century |Voice |Episodes: "Stalemate" and "Total War" |
| 1997
|Cop #1 | |
| 1998
|Burn |Tom Rice | |
| rowspan=2|2000
|Wild on the Set |Narrator |TV series |
| X-Men
|Museum Cop | |
| 2014
|Toby McTeague | |
| 2016–2019
|data-sort-value="Flash, The" | The Flash |4 episodes |
| 2022
|Additional Voices | |
=Webshow=
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Official website}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{BTVA person}}
- [http://www.nerdsociety.com/2009/12/01/interview-david-hayter-geeks-out-with-nerdsociety/ David Hayter Geeks Out with NERDSociety] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504171234/http://www.nerdsociety.com/2009/12/01/interview-david-hayter-geeks-out-with-nerdsociety/ |date=May 4, 2010 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060217162208/http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/686/686519p1.html 10 Questions: David Hayter] at IGN
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080723125309/http://thisweekingeek.net/node/128 This Week In Geek Interview with David Hayter]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140107112137/http://raffertymillsconnection.podbean.com/2010/03/22/interview-david-hayter/ Audio Interview (2010) with The Rafferty/Mills Connection podcast]
- [https://archive.today/20130117124712/http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/2009/03/david-hayter-interview.php David Hayter Discusses Watchmen at AMCtv.com]
{{Metal Gear}}
{{Saturn Award for Best Writing 1991–2010}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayter, David}}
Category:American male child actors
Category:Canadian male child actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:Canadian male film actors
Category:Canadian male television actors
Category:Canadian male voice actors
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Canadian male screenwriters
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male video game actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:Male actors from Ontario
Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios people
Category:American people of Canadian descent
Category:American people of Belgian descent
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:20th-century Canadian male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:21st-century Canadian male actors
Category:21st-century Canadian screenwriters
Category:21st-century Canadian male writers
Category:Toronto Metropolitan University alumni