Meryl Voice Actor on David Hayter Not Playing Snake in MGS 5: “What the F**k is Going on?”

Debi Mae West appeared on the recent IGN Up At Noon to discuss any and all things related to Metal Gear Solid, especially with Metal Gear Solid V and the recent controversies its faced with the design of Quiet. West is famous for her role as Meryl Silverburgh in Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

While she expressed confusion as to Quiet’s design, West was genuinely surprised when she found out that David Hayter would not be reprising his role as Solid Snake in the fifth game, eloquently asking, “What the f**k is going on?”

“I had no idea. I don’t get it. Honestly, I don’t know if anyone knows this story but when we did the first Metal Gear, they were going to re-record it and David actually asked for some money because he deserved it. We all deserved it and they didn’t want to pay us any more than the regular voice over rate. He challenged them to match his voice and they couldn’t. And that’s the thing – he is that character. So I don’t understand…is Kiefer gonna try to sound like him…I mean, I get that their voices are in a very similar place…”

On asked whether that incident might have had an impact on Konami’s decision to drop Hayter, West responded, “I don’t know if it’s…I mean, he’s done how many games, four? It can’t be because this is from 14-15 years ago. I mean, I don’t know.”

So yes, be assured that the reasons for Hayter not playing Snake are still very much up in the air. Metal Gear Solid V will be heading to PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, with new gameplay footage to debut soon. So stay tuned.