Dungeon Crawler Carl Creator Says There’s Only One Choice For Princess Donut (And He’s Right) [EXCLUSIVE]
When it comes to television adaptations, Peacock’s Dungeon Crawler Carl is easily the most exciting. The upcoming series is based on author Matt Dinniman’s books of the same name, a novel that started out as a self-published LitRPG but has since taken pop culture by storm. Dungeon Crawler Carl is now a full-fledged series complete with webcomics, graphic novels, and audiobooks. The audiobooks are particularly beloved thanks in no small part to the skills of voice actor Jeff Hays. Hays has narrated all of the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks to date, bringing to life the story’s wide array of characters — including what some would argue is the main character, Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk, the prize-winning show cat that was the pet of Carl’s ex-girlfriend. Donut is a massively beloved character and fans were thrilled when it was announced that Hays will be voicing her for the Peacock series, but according to Dinniman, he was also the only choice.
Speaking with ComicBook at San Diego Comic-Con, Dinniman explained that for him, there is no one else who could be the voice of Princess Donut. For him, Hays is Donut — and that’s something that he was very aware really mattered to fans.
“Well, as far as I was concerned, the discussion was we have to get Jeff to do this,” Dinniman said. “Yeah, we have to get Jeff to do this. And if there were any additional discussions beyond that in terms of like other actors or actresses, then they didn’t even tell me because I was, you know, I just wanted Jeff. Because he is the voice of Princess Donut and he has been for years now.”
He continued, “It’s always difficult to get an adaptation off the ground so you want the existing audience, existing fans, to be on your side as much as you can. And to do that, you have to listen to their concerns. And one of their biggest concerns was the voice of Donut.”
For Hays’ part, he’s happy to get to continue to be Donut’s voice, telling ComicBook that she’s the best character he’s ever given voice.
“She’s probably the best character I’ve ever voiced,” Hays said. “I’ve narrated more than 200 audio books. So, you know, who knows how many different characters that means I’ve actually voiced. But Princess Donut stands out on top as the best written one, I think.”
There is No Donut Without Hays
For fans, news that Hays is officially going to be Princess Donut for the Peacock series is the best news possible because, for fans, even though Dinniman wrote and created Donut, there simply is no character without Hays. Dinniman was correct in his assessment that the biggest fan concern for the adaptation was the voice of Donut and by casting Hays in the role he has very much made his own has alleviated a lot of concerns and skepticism. After all, Dungeon Crawler Carl is a massive world in that it blends fantasy and sci-fi with elements of video games and, into all of that, layers in the exploration of the trauma that both Carl and Donut have experienced at the loss of everything and everyone they ever knew when the world was destroyed. It would be far too easy for someone voicing a sapient cat to miss the nuance of the character and their situation, but Hays is experienced and has shown he not only does it well but with reverence.
That reverence for the nuances of the Dungeon Crawler Carl world appear to be front and center in other aspects of the creation of the Peacock series as well. Dinniman also revealed that his one requirement for whoever took on Dungeon Crawler Carl to adapt it needed to have read the books and have understood them. That ultimately led them to Chris Yost, who is writing and executive producing the series. Yost it turns out is a perfect fit because he has not only read the books, but he’s a huge fan who deeply understands the story. This means that, between Hays and his established brilliant work bringing Donut to life in the audiobooks and Yost being a fully invested fan to being with, the Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation is in good hands and we’re more eager than ever to see it hit the screen.
