David Hayter Interview - Solid Snake - MGS2
This is an exclusive interview conducted by MGS:TUS, with the legendary voice actor and screenwriter David Hayter. In this interview Hayter gave details about his experience voicing Solid Snake for MGS & MGS2.
MGS:TUS: David, first of all I would just like to thank you for taking the time to do this interview for us! As Mei Ling would say.. "It's an honor to speak to a living legend like yourself." But it all seriousness, it is an honor!
David Hayter: The honor is all mine, and I can tell you, I don’t think Mei Ling was as impressed as she sounded.
MGS:TUS: To start off, for those of our readers who don't know you too well, tell us a little about yourself -- background info., interests, etc..
David: I was born in Santa Monica Calif. I moved around all my life, living in many parts of the US, Canada, Japan and Hong Kong. I was an actor from the time I was nine, when I decided that I had to be involved in the making of movies.
MGS:TUS: Did you ever get to play through Metal Gear Solid 2 yourself?
David: I have played all of the first and second games, and much of the “VR missions”. It is too irresistible to have a game in which you play the lead character and not play it. It is the secret dream of all gamers.
MGS:TUS: What did you think of it? Better than the first, not quite as good?
David: It’s a mixed bag. The game play in the second game is superior to the first, I think, but I think I like the story of the first better than the second. To this day, I am still not sure if any of that stuff at the Big Shell actually happened, or if I was simply appearing in Raiden’s dream/training VR/or something. But overall, I love both games and I think they really set the standard for action, coolness and great voice acting (And here I am talking about the whole cast, and the talents of the English Voice Director, Kris Zimmerman.)
MGS:TUS: Did you find the story at all confusing?
David: A little. The scripts are over five hundred pages long, so it is difficult to tell what the whole story will be until you play the game, so even though I spent a good three weeks recording the voice, I was still surprised by many elements of the game as I played it.
MGS:TUS: Are there any scenes you remember doing that may have been left out of the final version of the game?
David: No. By the time they bring in the English voice actors, they have already basically completed the Japanese version of the game, so they know by then what scenes they will need and which they will not.
MGS:TUS: Is there anything you do to prepare for the voice of Snake, before recording?
David: I like to stay up late in smoky bars, drinking shot glasses full of thumb-tacks. It’s not an easy process, but it sure does give you that gravelly voice.
MGS:TUS: How would you describe the experience of doing voice overs for the Metal Gear Solid series? Is it a very interactive environment between the voice actors?
David: I have a great time doing these projects and playing Snake is very satisfying as he does not take crap in any fashion, and wouldn’t you love to live your life that way? The environment is very friendly, the Japanese Producers (Konami) are very cool and we have all known each other for over four years now. Plus, they now have the technology to record our voices, run them through the computer, and the polygon characters’ mouths move to our voices, as opposed to the first game, where we had to match the mouth movements of the Japanese version. This was very difficult as the Japanese speak twice as fast as us, and use twice as many consonants, so its much more interactive now, and I think you find far more natural performances in the second game from the first.
MGS:TUS: Who (and why) in the MGS series, besides Solid Snake obviously, would you consider your favorite character?
David: Sniper Wolf. Very hot. Very dangerous. She’d be Snake’s girl if she wasn’t so focused on killing him.
MGS:TUS: At the end of the first game, we saw that Solid Snakes name, was also David. Just a coincidence, or was Snake named after you for the English version?
David: People always ask me if the character or the name were modeled after me, but it was all coincidence. We just got to that line toward the end of recording the first game, and we all laughed. In fact, I am still laughing to this day. Okay… Now I’ve stopped. Ahem.
MGS:TUS: As for the new Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which was confirmed at E3, the voice of the Japanese Solid Snake, Akio Otsuka, seems apparent in the trailer, in saying that one would assume they will also be asking you back, have they contacted you about it yet, or have you started any work on it yet?
David: As I said, they do the Japanese version of the game first, though I did have a brief conversation with Konami about a third game while we were re-recording the first game for Gamecube. It sounds baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad-ass.
MGS:TUS: Can you confirm if Solid Snake then is indeed back in the game? Contrary to the rumors that the game will instead feature a younger Big Boss in the 1960's?
David: I can’t confirm anything. Though I do seem to recall that all of us (Liquid, Big Boss, and Snake) have identical DNA. So who knows?
MGS:TUS: Would you be up for MGS3 if called back?
David: The only obstacle for me is my schedule. I am supposed to start directing the feature film “Watchmen” soon and that will keep me pretty busy. But I LOVE doing these games and playing this character. – (I met David Goyer, writer of the “Blade” movies and he said that he thought playing Snake was one of the coolest side-gigs for a writer ever.) If they want me back, I will do everything in my power to work it out. While I was in Toronto during the shooting of the first “X-Men”, I was also doing voice work for the lead role of Tamahome in the Anime series “Fushigi Yui; The Mysterious play”. I flew back to California on my weekends off to record the voice. I would gladly do the same for Snake.
MGS:TUS: Now as for the Metal Gear Solid 1 remake, The Twin Snakes, which was also confirmed at E3, voice recording obviously has started, if not finished on this game. Can you confirm for us the voice actors who have returned for TTS, and the new additions to the cast?
David: I can’t really confirm anything on that, but I will say that I played a role in getting as many of the original character-actors back as possible. It is a really superior group of voice-talent. The game wouldn’t be the same without them
MGS:TUS: What was it like working with Silicon Knights again, what part, from your perspective, did they play in the making of Twin Snakes?
David: Please forgive me, I am not sure who that is. I may know those folks under a different name. Everyone is so sneaky in Snake’s world.
MGS:TUS: As Hideo Kojima has mentioned in a few recent interviews, some scenes for Twin Snakes will be slightly changed, and or added onto, like the Gray Fox scene we saw in the E3 trailer. Can you tell us some other scenes that have been changed a little or added onto?
David: Can’t talk about that, sorry. But it’s cool stuff, no doubt.
MGS:TUS: Were there any additional or edited scenes in Twin Snakes, that you thought should have been left untouched?
David: Not at all. Everything we did for the remake just made the game better.
MGS:TUS: Are there any scenes that your really looking forward to see?
David: Nothing specific, really. Playing the games is a very cool experience for me, as it is usually almost a year from the time we record to the time I actually get the game, so it is a lot of fun to go back and see the scenes we did as if it were the first time. I love doing the scenes with Otacon, especially when Snake is getting particularly frustrated with Otacon’s wimpiness. We have a lot of fun with that stuff, like a modern-day “Abbott and Costello.”
MGS:TUS: Also, another question that has been on fans minds, many people -- my self included, think you could pull off Solid Snake very well if it was ever made into a movie (Which I hear Hideo is now saying may very well happen sometime). If you were asked, would you consider the role?
David: I have actually spoken to a number of studio folk about writing a Metal Gear movie. It has always been my contention that I would only do it if they made an animated version, so that I could still play Snake. It would be very weird to create a movie which I am so close to, and then watch Bruce Willis or somebody else play Snake.
MGS:TUS: Who (besides yourself) could you see in the role of Solid Snake in a movie?
David: Bruce Willis?
MGS:TUS: Now, on the Hollywood side of things, im sure everyone knows of the screenwriting you've done for X-men and X-men 2. How would you best describe the experience of working on those movies?
David: Amazing. The whole experience changed my life, and taught me all about the world of making the kinds of movies that I really love. A huge fantasy-movie filled with action and adventure is the main reason why I go to the movies. To be a part of that world is indescribable.
MGS:TUS: For those though that may not know, can you describe what exactly it is that a screenwriter does?
David: I just told you it was indescribable. Okay, I’ll try...
A screenwriter is (usually) the first person hired on a movie. They write the action, visuals, dialogue, character arcs, and basically everything else about the movie, until a director comes in, changes everything and puts an altered, edited, and translated version of your story up on the screen. This can be immensely frustrating, unless you are working with a Director like Bryan Singer, who fleshes out a writer’s vision like very few others.
MGS:TUS: What other movies have you been involved in?
David: In addition to the two “X-Men” movies, I was a writer on the “Hulk” (uncredited), “Scorpion King”, “The Chronicles of Riddick” aka “Pitch Black II”, the upcoming “Cowboys and Aliens” for Sony, and “Watchmen”, which I plan to direct. I was the lead actor in a low-budget sci-fi movie called “Guyver II, Dark Hero”, in which I played the Anime-hero, The Guyver. And I produced and starred in a little independent film called “Burn.”
MGS:TUS: Did you get to do much interacting with the cast's of those movies?
David: I spent every minute on the set of “X-Men” though I was not able to be on-set for “X-2”, I also spent some time with the Rock and Kelly Hu on “Scorpion King.”
MGS:TUS: After seeing the end of X2, X3 seems a for-sure. Have any talks begun on it yet?
David: Idle talk, here and there.
MGS:TUS: What are some of the less-known projects you've worked on in the past that we may not have heard about?
David: Apart form all that stuff I mentioned, I played Yakov Smirnoff’s Russian son in a ‘93 episode of “Major Dad.” I am sure you all remember that fondly.
MGS:TUS: Who are your favorite actors that you've been able to meet, and or work with so far?
David: Ian McKellan, The Rock, Kelly Hu, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman; Basically everyone I’ve every met. They’re all very cool.
MGS:TUS: Who are some of the actors you would like to get a chance to work with?
David: I want to work with great actors; Kevin Spacey is a great example, though there are a thousand others.
MGS:TUS: Is there any advice you would give someone, who's interested to breaking into voice acting, or screenwriting?
David: You must stick with it. There is no other path to success. You must be prepared to fail utterly for ten years before anything happens for you, and you must never stop believing in your talents and worth as a creative force. It is not easy, but I firmly believe that if you are determined enough, stubborn enough, you will make it. It may not happen the way you think it will, but at the very least you will live a creative, original and exciting life. And that’s the real point here… isn’t it?
MGS:TUS: Again, David thanks for you're time, and good luck with your future projects. Are there any closing comments you would like to add for our readers?
David: Eat your vegetables, read as many books as you can, and watch your neck – ‘Cause Snake may be creeping up behind you…
-- Interview by Brian Barnes-Spencer, 2003
