So David Hayter Dislikes Kojima

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

The voice of Snake in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was performed by 24 actor Kiefer Sutherland, not series veteran David Hayter. Now, Hayter has spoken up about why he was not involved with the project and explained that he has no intention to ever work with series creator Hideo Kojima again.

Regarding why he wasn't involved with The Phantom Pain, Hayter told Game Informer that he bumped into a producer for the game at a recording studio and was told Konami was going in a different direction. "That was basically it," Hayter said. He then spoke with Metal Gear English casting director Kris Zimmerman, who reportedly told him, "'We're going forward, but it looks like they are going to try and replace you.' They tried to do that before, and it never worked. They tried to get voice matches, and it never happened."

Hayter further explained that the writing had been on the wall. There was apparently some amount of friction brewing between Hayter and Kojima, with the game designer hoping to find a different actor to perform the lead role, though it's unclear why.

"I had to re-audition for Metal Gear 3 to play Naked Snake," Hayter said. "They made me re-audition to play Old Snake, and the whole time, they were trying to find somebody else to do it. I heard that Kojima asked one of the producers on Metal Gear 3 to ask Kurt Russell if he would take over for that game. He didn't want to do it."

Hayter goes on to say that he cherishes the time he spent working on the Metal Gear Solid series, though he wishes his professional involvement with the series could have ended better.

"I don't have any ill will toward Kiefer Sutherland or anything like that," he said. "The whole thing could have been handled better and a little more respectfully, but I'm not going to cry about it."

Finally, he says he hasn't played The Phantom Pain ("that'll be 60 hours of humiliation") and that a future partnership with Kojima is unlikely to happen. "I've got no particular love for Kojima. I don't feel any need to go back and work with him again."

In 2013, before the launch of The Phantom Pain, Hayter said Konami never asked him to work on the game and never told him why he was passed over.

"If it were my choice, I would do this role forever," Hayter said at the time about Snake. "To hear anyone else's voice coming from Snake's battered throat, makes me a little ill, to be honest."

I assume the talk went like this:

Producer: "David, we're replacing you as the voice of Solid Snake"
Hayter: "You're replacing me as the voice of Solid Snake?"
Producer: "Yes, with fellow Canadian Kiefer Sutherland"
Hayter: "Fellow Canadian Kiefer Sutherland?"

[BorneAgain]

I assume Kojima saw Sutherland and exclaimed, "Finally, a voice actor to surpass David Hayter!"

[FinalGwen]

If they were going to replace him, they should have done it as soon as they started with Naked Snake in MGS3. It's a different character, it kind of makes sense to have a different voice, even if it's played much the same way. But once he's established in the part, it's bloody stupid to replace him with Sutherland. It sounds wrong, and it screws over an actor who's been loyal to the series.

[Fundertaker]

Mar 27, 2016 9:26:54 GMT -5 Confused Mark Wahlberg said:

The voice of Snake in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was performed by 24 actor Kiefer Sutherland, not series veteran David Hayter. Now, Hayter has spoken up about why he was not involved with the project and explained that he has no intention to ever work with series creator Hideo Kojima again.

Regarding why he wasn't involved with The Phantom Pain, Hayter told Game Informer that he bumped into a producer for the game at a recording studio and was told Konami was going in a different direction. "That was basically it," Hayter said. He then spoke with Metal Gear English casting director Kris Zimmerman, who reportedly told him, "'We're going forward, but it looks like they are going to try and replace you.' They tried to do that before, and it never worked. They tried to get voice matches, and it never happened."

Hayter further explained that the writing had been on the wall. There was apparently some amount of friction brewing between Hayter and Kojima, with the game designer hoping to find a different actor to perform the lead role, though it's unclear why.

"I had to re-audition for Metal Gear 3 to play Naked Snake," Hayter said. "They made me re-audition to play Old Snake, and the whole time, they were trying to find somebody else to do it. I heard that Kojima asked one of the producers on Metal Gear 3 to ask Kurt Russell if he would take over for that game. He didn't want to do it."

Hayter goes on to say that he cherishes the time he spent working on the Metal Gear Solid series, though he wishes his professional involvement with the series could have ended better.

"I don't have any ill will toward Kiefer Sutherland or anything like that," he said. "The whole thing could have been handled better and a little more respectfully, but I'm not going to cry about it."

Finally, he says he hasn't played The Phantom Pain ("that'll be 60 hours of humiliation") and that a future partnership with Kojima is unlikely to happen. "I've got no particular love for Kojima. I don't feel any need to go back and work with him again."

In 2013, before the launch of The Phantom Pain, Hayter said Konami never asked him to work on the game and never told him why he was passed over.

"If it were my choice, I would do this role forever," Hayter said at the time about Snake. "To hear anyone else's voice coming from Snake's battered throat, makes me a little ill, to be honest."

I assume the talk went like this:

Producer: "David, we're replacing you as the voice of Solid Snake"
Hayter: "You're replacing me as the voice of Solid Snake?"
Producer: "Yes, with fellow Canadian Kiefer Sutherland"
Hayter: "Fellow Canadian Kiefer Sutherland?"

Producer: "And he's going to receive 3 time the ammount you were!"
Hayter: "Receive?"

[kidglov3s]

Mar 27, 2016 10:15:00 GMT -5 FinalGwen said:

If they were going to replace him, they should have done it as soon as they started with Naked Snake in MGS3. It's a different character, it kind of makes sense to have a different voice, even if it's played much the same way. But once he's established in the part, it's bloody stupid to replace him with Sutherland. It sounds wrong, and it screws over an actor who's been loyal to the series.

After a lengthy (key word for me and MGSV: LENGTHY ha!) period of adjustment I've warmed up to the gameplay and I've actually been having a lot of fun slicing throats and dying every three minutes, all the while finding Kiefer Snake the most out of place thing in the world.

[Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast]

Don't be a Hayter!

[weaselboy]

If I had to be associated with and voice that sexist claptrap I'd be cross.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

If it makes Hayter feel any better, the real Kojima died years ago and the current Kojima is a clone controlled by nanomachines.

Oh, and everything is a VR simulation

[Alexander The So-so]

Man, I don't know the full story (which I feel I should, given I'm such a huge Metal Gear), so can someone tell me: when and how did Kojima start this downward spiral of creative difficulties?

It just seems like I keep hearing about how, ever since MGS3, he was determined to end the series and move on, but Konami kept pulling him back in. And I'm not surprised to hear this: MGS4 felt very much like a finale that wrapped up loose ends, while conversely, Peace Walker and MGSV felt very phoned in and weak from a narrative standpoint. And now this: what is there to be gained from showing such disrespect to a well known voice actor who has supported the series from day one and who was willing and prepared to do a good job in the role?

Can someone please provide me with sources, or an in-depth explanation? I'm really curious about the backstage saga the Metal Gear series has experienced.

[Kevin Hamilton]

"Dave are you there? Dave is something wrong?! Dave? Dave?! DAAAAAAAAVE!"

[xCompackx]

Mar 27, 2016 11:09:58 GMT -5 Alexander The So-so said:

Man, I don't know the full story (which I feel I should, given I'm such a huge Metal Gear), so can someone tell me: when and how did Kojima start this downward spiral of creative difficulties?

It just seems like I keep hearing about how, ever since MGS3, he was determined to end the series and move on, but Konami kept pulling him back in. And I'm not surprised to hear this: MGS4 felt very much like a finale that wrapped up loose ends, while conversely, Peace Walker and MGSV felt very phoned in and weak from a narrative standpoint. And now this: what is there to be gained from showing such disrespect to a well known voice actor who has supported the series from day one and who was willing and prepared to do a good job in the role?

Can someone please provide me with sources, or an in-depth explanation? I'm really curious about the backstage saga the Metal Gear series has experienced.

I'm not sure I believe that Kojima wanted to end at MGS 4 since there was still a pretty long period between MGS 3 and Metal Gear. I feel like we were always going to get Peace Walker and MGS V.

As far as creative difficulties, well... I think you could attribute that to Konami giving more freedom after Metal Gear Solid became a hit and then it probably got to a point where all of this storyline stuff got way too complex.

[Raskovnik]

I liked Sutherland way more than Hayter and wish he had somehow gotten the role sooner. He brought actual gravitas to the part, and I don't give a shit who thinks MGS is goofy or cheesy and therefore something like actually good voice acting wouldn't be preferable. I cannot imagine Hayter doing the "You're all diamonds" scene and having it be nearly as poignant as it was. It did way more to establish for me why Big Boss is a man worth following in two minutes than the entirety of Peace Walker and Hayter's shitty, comical voice acting did and the voice work was a big part of that.

[A Platypus Rave]

Mar 27, 2016 10:15:00 GMT -5 FinalGwen said:

If they were going to replace him, they should have done it as soon as they started with Naked Snake in MGS3. It's a different character, it kind of makes sense to have a different voice, even if it's played much the same way. But once he's established in the part, it's bloody stupid to replace him with Sutherland. It sounds wrong, and it screws over an actor who's been loyal to the series.

Also doing it in the way they reportedly did, with Hayter not knowing he was replaced until he ran into a random producer at the recording studio. That's just some straight Bullshit.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

Mar 27, 2016 16:11:43 GMT -5 Raskovnik said:

I liked Sutherland way more than Hayter and wish he had somehow gotten the role sooner. He brought actual gravitas to the part, and I don't give a shit who thinks MGS is goofy or cheesy and therefore something like actually good voice acting wouldn't be preferable. I cannot imagine Hayter doing the "You're all diamonds" scene and having it be nearly as poignant as it was. It did way more to establish for me why Big Boss is a man worth following in two minutes than the entirety of Peace Walker and Hayter's shitty, comical voice acting did and the voice work was a big part of that.

I actually agree with you. I just wish Venom Snake had more to say. Maybe Kiefer was paid by the word or something.

[Deleted]

I was always under the impression they mo-capped Sutherland for Boss' actions in V, and that was the tipping point for them going with an action star like Sutherland. Assuming what he's saying is true (and I have reason to wonder, I'll get to that in a bit), that'd be strange. Like a previous poster said, it was already established that Big Boss' voice was David Hayter, and the MGS series strives for continuity when it comes to characters.

I don't believe for one second he doesn't have ill will towards Sutherland, Konami, Kojima, etc. I had to unfollow him on Twitter during the development of MGS V because his timeline was a constant tweet/RT bitchfest about MGS V and any/everyone involved. I'm a fan of the guy as an actor, but it just came off pathetic.

He's totally right that Konami/Kojima could have handled it better, but for him (and any fans) to think that the blame for the messy breakup and any unprofessionalism is one-sided is ridiculous.

Mar 27, 2016 11:52:34 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Mar 27, 2016 11:09:58 GMT -5 Alexander The So-so said:

Man, I don't know the full story (which I feel I should, given I'm such a huge Metal Gear), so can someone tell me: when and how did Kojima start this downward spiral of creative difficulties?

It just seems like I keep hearing about how, ever since MGS3, he was determined to end the series and move on, but Konami kept pulling him back in. And I'm not surprised to hear this: MGS4 felt very much like a finale that wrapped up loose ends, while conversely, Peace Walker and MGSV felt very phoned in and weak from a narrative standpoint. And now this: what is there to be gained from showing such disrespect to a well known voice actor who has supported the series from day one and who was willing and prepared to do a good job in the role?

Can someone please provide me with sources, or an in-depth explanation? I'm really curious about the backstage saga the Metal Gear series has experienced.

I'm not sure I believe that Kojima wanted to end at MGS 4 since there was still a pretty long period between MGS 3 and Metal Gear. I feel like we were always going to get Peace Walker and MGS V.

As far as creative difficulties, well... I think you could attribute that to Konami giving more freedom after Metal Gear Solid became a hit and then it probably got to a point where all of this storyline stuff got way too complex.

I don't remember exactly where, but I remember reading in an interview that Kojima had ALL intention of ending it with 4, but regretted how heavily story-driven and light on gameplay it was, hence why Peace Walker and V pulled back on it so much

["Gentleman" AJ Powell]

SUCH A LUST FOR VOICE ACTING! WHOOOOOOOOO?!

Oh, and honestly, as much as I enjoyed his grumble, Sutherland definitely bought more to the part.

I just wish he'd said more. I realise that it could've been intentional in regards to certain plot details, but still.

[lucas_lee]

I preferred Sutherland to Hayter, I dunno why Hayter was so shocked that Kojima wanted to replace him for the voice of Big Boss. As for why Sutherland wasn't used as much it fit the character of Venom Snake and I noticed the little subtle differences between him and Big Boss in terms of speech patterns. If anything I'm more pissed they didn't use Kiefer for Big Boss throughout the entire series. Hayter will always be a great Solid Snake but as Big Boss he was terrible IMO

[A Platypus Rave]

Mar 29, 2016 8:38:25 GMT -5 lucas_lee said:

I preferred Sutherland to Hayter, I dunno why Hayter was so shocked that Kojima wanted to replace him for the voice of Big Boss. As for why Sutherland wasn't used as much it fit the character of Venom Snake and I noticed the little subtle differences between him and Big Boss in terms of speech patterns. If anything I'm more pissed they didn't use Kiefer for Big Boss throughout the entire series. Hayter will always be a great Solid Snake but as Big Boss he was terrible IMO

The transcript there says that Kojima tried to replace him as Solid Snake too.

[kidglov3s]

Mar 29, 2016 8:38:25 GMT -5 lucas_lee said:

I preferred Sutherland to Hayter, I dunno why Hayter was so shocked that Kojima wanted to replace him for the voice of Big Boss. As for why Sutherland wasn't used as much it fit the character of Venom Snake and I noticed the little subtle differences between him and Big Boss in terms of speech patterns. If anything I'm more pissed they didn't use Kiefer for Big Boss throughout the entire series. Hayter will always be a great Solid Snake but as Big Boss he was terrible IMO

Why in the world didn't they get a different guy to play Otacon's dumbass father. That character is terrible and the voice acting makes it worse.

[The Kevstaaa]

Mar 27, 2016 10:54:17 GMT -5 Confused Mark Wahlberg said:

If it makes Hayter feel any better, the real Kojima died years ago and the current Kojima is a clone controlled by nanomachines.

Oh, and everything is a VR simulation