'I Can't Not Hear His Voice in My Head' — Matt Dinniman Reflects on Writing Dungeon Crawler Carl With Jeff Hays in Mind

The Dungeon Crawler Carl books started as just another LitRPG series, but have recently started exploding into a major franchise. Its rapid acceleration into the mainstream is mostly due to Matt Dinniman's fantastic story, but it's also very tied to the success of the audiobooks and the incredible voices of narrator Jeff Hays.

The Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks are some of the best audiobooks you can listen to right now, and that's thanks to Hays bringing key characters to life. With the official TV adaptation on the horizon, it's unsurprising that Hays was officially cast to play the role of Princess Donut.

"I think Fuzzy Door would have a riot on their hands if they hadn't cast Jeff in something," said Dinniman during an SDCC interview with IGN. "He's so associated with that sound and that voice. Anybody else would be jarring."

While Jeff Hays' Princess Donut voice is certainly iconic (and now included in a flash game), it's only one small part of the larger casting choices Fuzzy Door Studios will have to make. For those who have only experienced Dungeon Crawler Carl via audio, there are literally hundreds of character voices that audiences now associate with Hays' interpretation.

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"I can't not hear his voice in my head whenever I write," said Dinniman about Hays. "He does such a good job encapsulating the characters that I don't need to change anything in order to match the voice."

Jeff Hays is the first official casting choice for the Dungeon Crawler Carl TV series and it's still very early days in terms of production. It was only recently confirmed this year that the adaptation would be coming to Peacock, but we do know that the series is going to be live-action instead of animated. With Hays officially cast as Princess Donut, it's definitely possible he'll be pulled into other roles that will rely heavily on CGI to be brought to the screen.

"I'm excited that I'm going to have a part in helping the TV show be just a little bit better," said Hays about his role. "I was like, 'Look, just give me that one and you know, do what you want with the rest.'"

Although we don't have any sort of release date set for the TV show, the eighth book was just published earlier this year for both print and audio. If you haven't already read the series, there's plenty of time to catch up before the adaptation comes to streaming.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Audience Development Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and 10 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different pop culture topics -- from TV series to books and the latest Pokémon games.