David Hayter and Paul Eiding Have Some of the “Craziest Stories” in the Industry!

From makeshift recording studios to unintentionally writing an X-Men film, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to some of your favourite games and films, as June Supa-Stars Paul Eiding and David Hayter shared with fans during their joint Perth panel.

Paul Eiding looks back on voice work in the ‘80s

“It was marvellous; it was the halcyon days, especially for voice actors – there was tonnes of work to be done. Saturday morning cartoons were marvellous because you did one, and you got paid whatever the scale was, and then when it would re-run, you’d get paid the same amount. It got a little more difficult once casting directors started realising they could get big names to come in and do Saturday morning cartoons.”

Who discovered Hugh?

David: “I was there when we discovered Hugh Jackman, so you’re welcome. It was me and the director and producer of X-Men, and there was just a moment where he was reading for us and he turned towards the camera and we all kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, that’s the one.’ I don’t want to say I’m an Australian hero, but…”

David Hayter’s unlikely path to the big time

“The job on X-Men was very bizarre. I got hired to answer the phones on the movie and then I suggested a scene to the director and he was like, ‘Yeah, good – go write that for me.’ And then he started having me do rewrites. 13 months later, I got sole credit on the movie and suddenly I was a screenwriter. It’s one of the craziest Hollywood stories.”

Favourite games?

Paul: “As far as games that I like, one of my favourite games back in the day was one that I played with my daughters. I have two daughters, who are now 30 and 28, and their favourite game, the only game they ever played, is Dance Dance Revolution, and I used to kick their butt. Neither of my daughters have played any game that I’ve worked on, but every guy they’ve dated has.”

David: “I really love Ōkami. That game is so beautiful, and I grew up in Japan and so it’s so Japanese. I love the Assassin’s Creed games; I love Red Dead Redemption.”

Auditioning for Metal Gear Solid

David: “In 1998, I got called in by Kris Zimmerman. There was this weird little house in Hollywood on Orange Street that had been converted sort of into a recording studio, and up on the walls were the artwork from Yoji Shinkawa… it was all recorded in the living room, and when a motorcycle would drive up to the stop sign outside, you would hear it and everybody had to stop.”

Can we expect anymore Star Wars gigs from David Hayter?

“I would cut off my left foot to write, direct, star in any Star Wars thing. Star Wars is the reason we’re all here; it’s the reason I got into the business in the first place.”

Paul Eiding did 14 characters in Fallout 3 (sort of)

“Here’s the deal with that game, Bethesda called and they wanted me to do the game and I said, ‘Great!’ I love those folks. They showed me the scripts and all the different things that they wanted me to do. I said, ‘Do you want a different character for each one of these?’ They said, ‘Well, just have a different attitude. That will change the voice enough.’ So I had a different attitude for each character. The real reason they wanted me not to change the voice totally, was because if I did that then they would have to pay me, because each one would be a different character. They are all different characters, but because the voice just has a different intensity, it’s still, as far as they were concerned, one character. It’s fine, they’ve been very kind to me.”

Lead image: David Hayter and Paul Eiding at Supanova Sydney. Pic by Ewan Ly.