David Hayter is a Canadian-American voice and screen actor, as well as a screenwriter. He was born on February 6th, 1969 and began acting when he was just 9 years old.

David Hayter and me at Video Games Live 2006.

Though David had several rolls between his start as a voice actor in the 80’s and through the mid 90’s, it was in 1998 that he got a really big break, when he landed the roll as Solid Snake in Konami‘s Metal Gear Solid for Sony PlayStation. Since then, he has been Solid Snake (or Naked Snake, Big Boss, etc.) in every Metal Gear Solid sequel/prequel.

David: “Paul, we’re having trouble with Metal Gear.” Paul: “On it.”

David’s talents go beyond voice acting and acting, however, as he was also the writer for 2000’s hit X-Men film and co-writer for The Scorpian King, X2: X-Men United, and 2009’s Watchmen.

David and I took one more picture for good measure.

I met David for the first time in 2006 when I went to my friend Tommy Tallarico‘s Video Games Live concert at the Hollywood Bowl in California. Tommy introduced us and that’s when I really saw the passion that Mr. Hayter has for his work. My impression on David from that day was that he was truly a fan of every project’s source material that he ever was a part of.

David: “Paul, this is Snake…we’re going after Metal Gear.”

We took a couple of pictures together that night, exchanged some business cards, and then decided to make a couple of videos. Being a big Metal Gear Solid fan, it was awesome to hear his work in person. It’s been great knowing David, because he’s a great guy, a cool friend, and personally, I always appreciate people in the industry that are here because they love it and are not just about the money. Here’s to whatever David does in the future and in the mean time, you can check out his most recent works in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.