Liam O'Brien
American voice actor (born 1976)
Liam O'Brien
O'Brien at WonderCon in 2017
Born (1976-05-28 ) May 28, 1976 (age 48) Occupation(s) Voice actor, writer, director Years active 2001–present Spouse
Children 2
Liam Christopher O'Brien (born May 28, 1976) is an American voice actor, writer, and director. He is a regular cast member of the Dungeons & Dragons actual play series Critical Role , playing Vax'ildan ("Vax"), Caleb Widogast, and Orym.[ 1] He has been involved in many video games, cartoons, and English-language adaptations of Japanese anime. His major anime roles include Gaara in Naruto , Naruto Shippuden , and Boruto , Vincent Law in Ergo Proxy , Captain Jushiro Ukitake in Bleach , Lloyd in Code Geass , Kenzo Tenma in Monster , Akihiko Sanada in Persona 3 , and Nephrite in the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon .
In cartoons, O'Brien has voiced characters in shows such as Star Wars Rebels , Transformers: Robots in Disguise , Avengers Assemble , Wolverine and the X-Men , and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. . In video games, he voiced Gollum in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel , Caius Ballad in Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII , War in Darksiders , Asura in Asura's Wrath , Ieyasu Tokugawa in Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes , Illidan Stormrage in World of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm , Yasuo in League of Legends , Grimoire Weiss in Nier and Nier: Replicant ver.1.22474487139... , the Warden in For Honor , and Barker in Titanfall 2 .
He is an automated dialog replacement writer for anime and has provided voice direction for over 300 episodes of anime such as Naruto . He has also voice directed for video games such as The Last of Us , Evolve , Resident Evil 5 , and Resident Evil 6 .[ 2]
Early life
Liam Christopher O'Brien was born in Weehawken, New Jersey ,[ 3] on May 28, 1976.[ 4] He's of Irish ancestry[ 5] His mother, Lois Wiltse O'Brien, worked as an educator as well as a quality assurance trainer and consultant.[ 6] He has a sister named Cara.[ 6] His family were Reformed Christians ,[ 7] and he was "raised by a Christian mother and attended 15 years of Christian schooling", but would later describe himself as agnostic .[ 8] He began acting in high school at St. Peter's Preparatory School , resolving to "just be a starving artist" as he knew the chances of success in the field were low.[ 9] O'Brien moved to New York City to attend the New York University Tisch School of the Arts .[ 10]
Career
In his early career, O'Brien worked in theater on various productions around the country.[ 3] [ 11] [ 12] He met Crispin Freeman while working on a production of Shakespeare's R&J in Cincinnati, Ohio , which helped him get voice-over work back in New York.[ 10] He and his partner decided to leave the city in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and pursued a voice acting career. While he enjoyed theater, he gave up on it as the voice work would better allow him to support and spend time with his family.[ 13]
O'Brien affirms that he often plays characters that are insane or evil geniuses, although he has also voiced comedic characters such as Fukuyama in Girls Bravo . He describes Cumore from Tales of Vesperia as "extremely unhinged". In Darksiders , he voices the lead character War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . He describes his voicing as deeper than his usual voice, and that he portrayed War as a fairly old soul who isn't surprised at the events around him. In the video game-based film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children , he voiced Red XIII .[ 10] In addition to voice acting, he has worked as a voice director and writer on various video games and anime shows.[ 10]
He is also a cast member of the popular web series Critical Role , in which he and other voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons .[ 2] [ 14] Critical Role was both the Webby Winner and the People's Voice Winner in the "Games (Video Series & Channels)" category at the 2019 Webby Awards ;[ 15] the show was also both a Finalist and the Audience Honor Winner at the 2019 Shorty Awards .[ 16] After becoming hugely successful, the Critical Role cast left the Geek & Sundry network in early 2019 and set up their own production company, Critical Role Productions .[ 17] [ 18] [ 19] [ 20] Soon after, they aimed to raise $750,000 on Kickstarter to create an animated series of their first campaign, but ended up raising over $11 million.[ 21] In November 2019, Amazon Prime Video announced that they had acquired the streaming rights to this animated series, now titled The Legend of Vox Machina ,[ 22] O'Brien reprised his role as Vax'ildan.[ 23] In June 2021, O'Brien was added to the cast of Exandria Unlimited , a spinoff of Critical Role .[ 24] [ 25] [ 26] O'Brien is also one of the narrators for the audiobook edition of the novel Critical Role: Vox Machina – Kith & Kin (2021).[ 27] [ 28]
Personal life
O'Brien married voice actress Amy Kincaid in 2002.[ 10] [ 29] [ 30] The couple have two children: a daughter and a son. They live in Los Angeles .[ 31]
He suffers from hyperacusis , a hearing disorder that makes him unusually sensitive to everyday noises.[ 32]
Filmography
Anime
Animation
Key
†
Denotes series that have not yet been released
Film
Other dubbing
Video games
Live action
Audio books
References
^ Spangler, Todd (March 8, 2019). "Critical Role Team, After Record-Breaking Fan Crowdfunding Response, Vows to Make 'The Best Goddamn Cartoon Anyone Has Ever Seen' " . Variety . Retrieved May 11, 2019 .
^ a b "Liam O'Brien" . www.acanime.com . Archived from the original on August 23, 2017.
^ a b Hague, Jim (May 13, 2000). "Catch a rising star; Weehawken native O'Brien enjoying meteoric climb as an actor; stars in Tennessee Williams play in New York - Liam O'Brien doesn't know exactly when the acting bug bit him - it was probably some time during his high school days..." The Hudson Reporter . Archived from the original on November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2016 .
^ "Liam O'Brien on Twitter" . Twitter . Retrieved May 29, 2016 .
^ https://x.com/VoiceOfOBrien/status/1222208205402427392
^ a b "Lois Wiltse O'Brien's Obituary on The Jersey Journal" . nj.com . Retrieved November 1, 2016 .
^ "Between the Sheets: Liam O'Brien" . Critical Role.
^ Liam O'Brien [@VoiceOfOBrien] (December 19, 2019). "Good. I'm agnostic, but was raised by a Christian mother and attended 15 years of Christian schooling. I don't know how anyone can claim to follow Christ's example and support this rampaging orange calf" (Tweet ). Retrieved December 20, 2019 – via Twitter .
^ Marsham, Liz; et al. (Cast of Critical Role ) (October 20, 2020). The World of Critical Role . Ten Speed Press . pp. 27– 108. ISBN 9780593157435 .
^ a b c d e f g h i Dave Ward. "Liam O'Brien Interview" . rpgsite.net . Retrieved May 13, 2016 .
^ "In the Void of the Damned, a Desire to Hold On" . The New York Times . July 1, 1999. Retrieved November 1, 2016 .
^ Sommer, CurtainUp,Elyse. "Small Craft Warnings, a CurtainUp review" . curtainup.com . Retrieved November 1, 2016 . {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link )
^ Marsham, Liz; et al. (Cast of Critical Role ) (October 20, 2020). The World of Critical Role . Ten Speed Press . pp. 27– 108. ISBN 9780593157435 .
^ "Critical Role's Liam O'Brien Talks His Love of Dungeons & Dragons" . Nerdist . September 10, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2016 .
^ "Critical Role" . The Webby Awards. Retrieved April 23, 2019 .
^ "Critical Role - The Shorty Awards" . ShortyAwards.com . Retrieved May 6, 2019 .
^ "Why Critical Role's D&D Streams Are So Popular" . ScreenRant . September 12, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2021 .
^ Hoffer, Christian (June 18, 2018). "Critical Role Teases New Content With Opening of New Studio, Twitch and Youtube Channel" . Comicbook.com . Retrieved August 14, 2018 .
^ Phillips, Jevon (November 6, 2019). "They started out playing Dungeons & Dragons. Now they're coming to Amazon Prime" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2020 .
^ Whitten, Sarah (March 14, 2020). "How Critical Role helped spark a Dungeons & Dragons renaissance" . CNBC . Retrieved June 30, 2020 .
^ Whitten, Sarah (April 19, 2019). " 'Dungeons and Dragons' Kickstarter breaks record with $11.3 million campaign" . CNBC . Retrieved June 11, 2021 .
^ Spangler, Todd (November 5, 2019). "Amazon Orders Two Seasons of Critical Role's Animated D&D Series" . Variety . Retrieved November 5, 2019 .
^ Burton, Bonnie (March 7, 2019). "New Dungeons & Dragons animated series breaks Kickstarter record" . CNET . Retrieved June 11, 2021 .
^ a b "Critical Role Stars Lift the Lid on Their New Show, Exandria Unlimited" . Gizmodo . June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021 .
^ a b King, Chris (June 10, 2021). "Critical Role's next campaign launches this month with a new Dungeon Master" . Polygon . Retrieved June 10, 2021 .
^ a b "Critical Role's next show is Exandria Unlimited" . VentureBeat . June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021 .
^ Hall, Charlie (November 16, 2021). "Read an excerpt from the first Critical Role novel, Vox Machina — Kith & Kin" . Polygon . Retrieved November 22, 2021 .
^ "Critical Role: Vox Machina–Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp" . Penguin Random House (Product page). Retrieved November 22, 2021 .
^ Liam O'Brien and Sam Riegel (December 1, 2012). "All Work No Play" (Podcast). Event occurs at 3:17. Retrieved December 8, 2014 .
^ Liam O'Brien Interview - AfterBuzz TV's The Voice Of . July 14, 2015. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2016 – via YouTube.
^ "Between the Sheets: Liam O'Brien" . Critical Role.
^ "Between the Sheets: Liam O'Brien" . Critical Role.
^ "Wolf's Rain (TV)" . Anime News Network .
^ Santos, Carlo (October 12, 2005). "Girls Bravo" . Anime News Network . Retrieved March 26, 2015 . Liam O'Brien is a riot and a half as Fukuyama in this volume, and his character ought to go terrorize more girls just so we can hear that smarmy delivery.
^ a b "Cherry Blossoms" . Boys Be... . Episode 1 . Manga Entertainment. 2006. Event occurs at 22:40 director and writer credit, 22:45 character credit. Retrieved July 8, 2014 .
^ a b Slayers Evolution-R . Episode 1. Funimation.
^ Slayers Evolution-R . Episode 9– 13. Funimation.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax "Liam OBrien (visual voices guide)" . Behind The Voice Actors . A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. Retrieved October 18, 2017 .
^ "Neon Alley Reveals Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan: Demon Capital Dub Cast" . April 4, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2016 .
^ "New Sailor Moon Dub Cast Revealed at Anime Expo" . Anime News Network . July 5, 2014.
^ "Gundam the Origin I's 1st 7 Minutes English-Dubbed & Subtitled" . Anime News Network . Retrieved May 13, 2015 .
^ " 'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin – Sorrowful Artesia' Anime Episode Gets English Language Trailer" . The Fandom Post . March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015 .
^ "Second 'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin' Anime Episode Titled" . The Fandom Post . March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015 .
^ "Viz Media Reveals More English Dub Cast for Sailor Moon R Anime" . April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2015 .
^ "Rift" . Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement . Episode 1 – via Funimation.com.
^ "Air Duel". Baki . Episode 10. USA: Netflix. Event occurs at Closing credits, English Language Cast.
^ "Mr. Oliva". Baki . Episode 13. USA: Netflix. Event occurs at Closing credits, English Language Cast.
^ "Being Ultraman Isn't Bad". Ultraman . Episode 3. USA: Netflix. Event occurs at Closing credits, English Language Cast.
^ "Twitter" . Twitter. Retrieved March 31, 2019 .
^ a b c "Liam O'Brien - SBV Talent" . sbvtalent.com . Retrieved May 13, 2016 .
^ "Spark of Rebellion". Star Wars Rebels . October 3, 2014. Event occurs at 43:07. Disney Channel.
^ "Miles From Home". Ultimate Spider-Man . Season 4. Episode 3. February 28, 2016. Disney XD.
^ "Bats/Movie Camp Out". Pickle and Peanut . Season 1. Episode 17. June 20–27, 2016. Disney XD.
^ "Liam O'Brien" . TV Guide . Retrieved January 23, 2018 .
^ Spangler, Todd (October 8, 2021). "Critical Role's 'Legend of Vox Machina' Series Premiere Date Set on Amazon Prime Video" . Variety . Retrieved October 8, 2021 .
^ "WATCH: Critical Role Performs a Scene from The Legend of Vox Machina" . CBR . October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021 . The players from the original campaign are all reprising the roles of their RPG characters, and they will also serve as the executive producers for the new animated series.
^ Romano, Nick (August 22, 2024). " 'The Legend of Vox Machina' first look: 'Season 3 is going to leave a mark' (exclusive)" . Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024 .
^ "Behind the Voice Actors - Redline" . January 17, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2019 .
^ "Tiger & Bunny The Movie: The Rising 'New Driver' English Dub Clip Streamed" . February 22, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015 .
^ "First Clip From Marvel's Hulk: Where Monsters Dwell" . October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016 .
^ @GKIDSfilms (October 30, 2024). "Say meow and ribbit to the English cast of GHOST CAT ANZU! 🐱🐸Meet the whole village in theatres starting November 15. Get tickets now: http://brnw.ch/21wO0zG" (Tweet ) – via Twitter .
^ Dimps ; Polygon Magic . Seven Samurai 20XX . Sammy Studios . Scene: Ending credits, 5:09:44 in, CAST.{{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link )
^ "Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006 Video Game)" . Behind The Voice Actors . Retrieved June 23, 2023 .
^ BioWare . Dragon Age: Origins . Electronic Arts . Scene: Closing credits, 6:20 in, Additional Voices.
^ Team Tachyon ; Now Production . Undead Knights . Tecmo . Scene: Ending credits, 4:42 in, Cast.{{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link )
^ Volition Inc . Red Faction: Guerrilla . THQ . Scene: Closing credits, 5:05 in.
^ Capcom . Lost Planet 2 . Capcom. Scene: Ending credits, 4:20 in, Voice Over Talent.
^ "Final Fantasy XIII (2010 Video Game)" . Behind The Voice Actors . Retrieved January 3, 2024 .
^ Capcom . Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes . Capcom. Scene: Ending credits, 0:16 in, CAST.
^ a b "The voice of Yasuo and many more: Interview with Liam O'Brien - Articles - Team Dignitas" . team-dignitas.net . August 6, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2016 .
^ "Fable III Game Credits" . Microsoft Game Studios . Retrieved November 21, 2014 .
^ Toylogic Inc. Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139.. . Square Enix . Scene: Ending credits, 23:46.
^ "Binary Domain (2012 Video Game)" . Behind The Voice Actors . Retrieved July 24, 2021 . A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link )
^ "We're the Yasuo team. AMA! • /r/leagueoflegends" . reddit.com . December 3, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2016 .
^ Dealzon (May 22, 2014). "Voice cast for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor revealed" . Destructoid . Retrieved May 13, 2016 .
^ Skylanders Trap Team - Luminous Voicelines , retrieved February 6, 2024
^ Traveller's Tales . Lego Dimensions . Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment . Scene: Closing credits, 4:45 in, Voiceover Talent.
^ "Credits - DIMENSIONS LEGO.com" . lego.com . Retrieved November 1, 2016 .
^ Avalanche Studios . Mad Max . Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment . Scene: Credits, 5:40 in, Talent.
^ O'Brien, Liam (September 13, 2015). "@courtenaytaylor @MadMaxGame @jason_spisak @WillingBlam @Bloodmime My main role is Gut Gash. So handsome" . Twitter . Retrieved September 27, 2017 .
^ "Join Us At BlizzCon 2019" . blizzcon.com . Retrieved December 20, 2019 .
^ Capcom . Street Fighter V . Capcom. Scene: Closing credits, Voice Actors.
^ @VoiceOfOBrien (May 16, 2017). "So, who's picking up @InjusticeGame today?" (Tweet ). Retrieved May 16, 2017 – via Twitter .
^ "Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017)" . behindthevoiceactors.com . June 17, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2022 .
^ "Obsidian #Deadfire on Twitter" . Twitter . Retrieved June 11, 2018 .
^ "The Veteran Porter Voice - Death Stranding (Video Game) - Behind The Voice Actors" . Behind The Voice Actors .
^ "DOOM³ (2019) PlayStation 4 credits" . MobyGames .
^ "All you need to know - Return to Monkey Island" . legendofmi.com . Retrieved February 5, 2024 .
^ In-game credits
^ "Mabon - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)" .
^ "The Phoenix Incident, Where Truth Battles Fiction - ACED Magazine" . acedmagazine.com . April 8, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2017 .
^ Jozef, Steve (April 8, 2016). "Phoenix Lights Thriller The Phoenix Incident Doesn't Shine Very Bright" . Phoenix New Times . Retrieved February 14, 2017 .
^ "The Phoenix Incident Builds An Interesting World; But Lacks Meaningful Characters - A Review" . bleedingcool.com . April 7, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2017 .
^ "Critical Role's Liam O'Brien Talks His Love of Dungeons & Dragons - Nerdist" . nerdist.com . September 10, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2017 .
^ Knox, Kelly (January 16, 2018). "Your First Look at the Official Art for the Second Critical Role Campaign" . Geek & Sundry . Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2018 .
^ "All Work No Play: Hot Tub Spectacular (S1, EP8)" . Critical Role . November 18, 2018. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020 .
^ Granshaw, Lisa (August 29, 2018). "Exclusive: Watch Critical Role's first Handbooker Helper episode and find out what's coming next" . Syfy Wire . Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019 .
^ "Critical Role Ends Live Broadcasts Due to Coronavirus" . ComicBook.com . March 17, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2021 .
^ Bloom, David. "Critical Role Pushed To New Path For Its Pandemic Programming" . Forbes . Retrieved June 25, 2020 .
^ Wilson, Andy (July 30, 2020). "YouTube, Late-Night & More: In Praise of Lo-Fi Television" . Bleeding Cool News and Rumors . Retrieved January 6, 2021 .
^ "Critical Role's Next Candela Obscura Chapter Brings In Aabria Iyengar as GM" . ComicBook.com . November 7, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023 .
^ "The Antiquarian" (YouTube ) . Candela Obscura . Series 3. Episode 1. November 30, 2023. Critical Role. Retrieved February 2, 2024 .
^ "HYPE! Candela Obscura: The Circle of The Crimson Mirror Premieres February 29th!" . Critical Role (Press release). February 20, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2024 .
^ Carter, Chase (February 21, 2024). "Critical Role celebrates Candela Obscura's first anniversary with a fourth chapter and three new cast members" . Dicebreaker . Retrieved February 21, 2024 .
^ Teh, Cheryl (July 11, 2024). "Critical Role is branching out further into the podcasting business and putting 2 heavyweight cast members on a new, experimental show" . Business Insider . Retrieved July 11, 2024 .
^ MOONWARD OFFICIAL TRAILER (Trailer). Critical Role Productions . July 24, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024 .
^ "Critical Role: Vox Machina–Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp" . Penguin Random House (Product page). Archived from the original on March 26, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021 .
^ McCauley, Tara (September 28, 2022). "Critical Role Cast Reprise Their Mighty Nein Roles for New Audiobook" . CBR . Retrieved October 20, 2022 .
Further reading
External links
International National Artists