Liam O’Brien

Liam O’Brien’s Path from Theater to the Voice Booth

The road to one of voice acting’s most recognizable careers ran through stage productions scattered across the United States. After growing up in Weehawken, New Jersey, and studying at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Liam O’Brien spent years doing theater across the country. It was during a Cincinnati production of Romeo and Juliet that a fateful meeting with Crispin Freeman redirected his trajectory entirely – Freeman introduced him to the world of anime dubbing and voice-over in New York City, setting in motion a career that would eventually span over 400 projects.

Gaara, Ukitake, and the Anime Era

For a generation of English-speaking anime fans, O’Brien’s voice is inseparable from some of the medium’s most compelling characters. His portrayal of Gaara across Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto established him as a defining presence in that franchise – a character whose emotional journey from cold antagonist to steadfast ally demanded genuine range. His work as Captain Jushiro Ukitake in Bleach and Kenzo Tenma in Monster further demonstrated an ability to inhabit morally serious, psychologically layered figures. Beyond being an actor, O’Brien also worked as an automated dialogue replacement writer and directed over 300 episodes of anime for English localization, including extensive work on the Naruto series itself.

Illidan, War, and the Video Game Legacy

The same depth that defined his anime work carried over into an extraordinary slate of video game roles. As Illidan Stormrage in World of Warcraft – a character he has voiced since The Burning Crusade expansion – O’Brien gave one of the most iconic villain-to-antihero voices in the genre’s history. His work as War in the Darksiders series placed him front and center as the lead protagonist, a performance he described as deliberately world-weary and ancient in spirit. Other major credits include Caius Ballad in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Asura in Asura’s Wrath, Gollum in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Yasuo in League of Legends, and Grimoire Weiss in NieR. He also voiced Yasuo, the Warden in For Honor, and appeared as Dr. Strange across multiple Marvel animated series. His behind-the-booth contributions are equally significant: he has served as voice director on The Last of Us, Shadow of Mordor, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, and Evolve, among others.

Critical Role and a New Kind of Performance

The launch of Critical Role in 2015 marked a turning point – not just for O’Brien, but for how audiences engage with voice actors as public figures. The live-streamed Dungeons and Dragons campaign, built around a group of professional voice actors playing together, found an audience far beyond what anyone anticipated. O’Brien played Vax’ildan in Campaign One, Caleb Widogast in Campaign Two, Orym in Campaign Three, and Halandil Fang in Campaign Four – each character a distinct creative undertaking rather than a recycled archetype. The series became a media company: Critical Role Productions funded and produced The Legend of Vox Machina animated series, which began airing on Amazon Prime Video in 2022, with O’Brien reprising Vax’ildan. As co-founder and executive producer, his stake in the enterprise goes well beyond performance.

Direction, Writing, and the Full Scope of the Work

O’Brien’s contributions to voice production extend into writing and direction at a level most actors never reach. His ADR writing credits and directorial work on titles like The Last of Us shaped performances by other actors, with DC Douglas crediting O’Brien’s direction on Resident Evil 5 as central to his performance as Albert Wesker. That dual identity – performer and craftsman – gives his career a dimension that separates it from those who occupy only one side of the microphone.