( Spoilers for Unlimited Blade Works below )

Liam O’Brien’s Archer was a bad-ass.

Every moment he was on screen, every line he spoke you could *hear* the Superhero in his voice. I remember watching the dub for the first time years ago and sitting there going, “Yep. They got the perfect guy to voice Archer. I mean listen to him. He’s manly and powerful and just awesome sounding.” And when he hit those Unlimited Blade Works lines, oh man forget about it. If you haven’t heard it, Youtube it some time. It’s something else. In 2006, Archer was everything that is Gar. In fact it was hard to imagine any other take on the character, so amazing was Liam’s performance.

Fast forward to 2015.

“There’s no way I can do what he did.”



That was me, sitting in front of my computer after getting the casting email that told me I was to pick up Liam’s role these nine years later. Arms crossed, brows furrowed. Wracking my brain on how I’d be able to approach such a task as equaling Liam’s take on Archer. It seemed an impossible job. I simply couldn’t bring exactly what he did to the role. So on the day right before recording, I decided. I didn’t have Liam’s voice. I couldn’t replicate his performance. So I wasn’t going to.

I wanted to focus on the *exact opposite* of what made 2006′s Archer so damned awesome to listen to. Here we have a man who clung to his beliefs till the very end, but tragically came to the conclusion his entire life was a lie as he died. A man with an impossible ideal who gave up on himself in his last moments. A man who never found happiness. When he says he accomplished everything he wanted in life, it’s overflowing with bitterness. Yes he saved countless people…but he never did manage to save everyone. He is regret personified.

2015′s Archer is no hero. He’s a broken nihilist.

Sarcasm, cynicism and bitterness are his defaults. Pride and honor are a fool’s whimsy. One may mistake his demeanor in Unlimited Blade Works as confident and in control when in reality…it is apathy. The Grail War means nothing to Archer. It and everyone involved are simply tools for him to full fill one last selfish goal: The destruction of himself. This man who would tell his younger self straight to his face: “Your life and everything you believe in is meaningless.”



THAT’S the Archer I’m going to play.

Wherein Liam was the powerful hero, I want to be the beaten down guy. The one who desperately hates his past and is forced to stare into a mirror and see everything that he was. Here in season one, the director and I have worked together to set a down played, hopeless tone to Archer’s character. Everything from the callous indifference of his attitude to his irritation with Rin’s desire to protect people. This sets the stage for season two and what I want to bring to his character going in.

I want to have him evolve from simply wanting to kill his past self into needing to prove his past self wrong. I want Archer to NEED to slay his past ideals. I want him to throw everything he has at the task…and fail. When he stands there atop that hill of blades and the man that he was is literally fighting an impossible battle against him, I want him to finally realize the truth.



That he was never wrong.

Neither were his ideals.

There is nothing more beautiful and worthy in life than chasing your ideals and pursuing your dreams. This is true for every single one of us. And inevitably much of it is lost or muddled as we age and have to deal with the harsh realities of life. Sometimes we even silence or snuff out that young voice within us that told us to keep going. All of us at some point become jaded or cynical. We tell ourselves that our best isn’t enough. That we’ll never get to where we want to be, so what’s the point?

We forget that our younger selves are always within us. Telling us how much better we are than we were yesterday. How we can accomplish so much more now than when we were that young. How dare we be able to do so much more than that little version of us but refuse because we simply believe we aren’t good enough?

Imagine how angry you as a child would be at you now if you gave up your dreams. What would they say? Probably something like…



“I can’t, but you can! So why won’t you!?”



This is the battle between Shirou and Archer. One disgusted by his grown up self who has given up his dreams. The other disgusted at the naivete of his younger self. And in the end, the younger self teaching the older self a valuable lesson. That even a borrowed ideal can be yours if you value it enough. That in the end, if you tried your hardest and never gave up on your dreams, your life will have had meaning.





“I found my answer. Don’t worry Tohsaka, I’ll do my best from now on too.”







This was written as much from a fan’s perspective as an actor’s. A fan of the original visual novel, the 2006 Anime, Fate/Zero and now Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. I. Love. Fate. And to be able to work on the franchise in such an amazing capacity is a bucket list dream I’d never thought would come true.

If you’re reading this, you have my promise that I’m going to work the hardest I can come season two. You deserve it. The show deserves it. The character deserves it.

And to my younger self that kept yelling at me to stop being dumb when I was lamenting over how I was going to fill Liam’s shoes when I first got the call…thanks. I won’t let you down.