Matthew Mercer

Matthew Mercer – Life, Career, and Memorable Quotes

Discover Matthew Mercer — American voice actor, game designer, and iconic Dungeon Master behind Critical Role. Learn about his biography, major roles, contributions to tabletop gaming, and inspiring quotes.

Introduction

Matthew Mercer (born Matthew Christopher Miller, June 29, 1982) is an American voice actor, game designer, and master storyteller. He is perhaps best known as the Dungeon Master and creative lead of the Critical Role series, where his ability to weave narratives, play many characters, and lead collaborative storytelling has won him global acclaim.

Beyond Critical Role, Mercer has voiced characters across animation, anime dubs, and video games, and has contributed to role-playing game design through campaign settings.

In this article, we’ll cover his early life, career highlights, creative philosophy, legacy, memorable quotes, and what lessons his journey offers.

Early Life and Background

Matthew Christopher Miller was born on June 29, 1982, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Los Angeles, California.

As a child, he struggled with stuttering, a condition that persisted into early life. His father, who also stuttered, arranged for him to see a speech therapist; through practice and therapy, Mercer reduced the frequency of his stutter so that only certain words now trigger it.

He attended Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, California. Dave Heatwave.

Originally his birth name was Matthew Christopher Miller, but he adopted “Matthew Mercer” as a stage name. The change was partly motivated by the fact that his birth name was too similar to another actor already registered in SAG-AFTRA, so he chose a name that members of his family had used historically.

Mercer also had some experience with The Groundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe, which helped him grow as a performer.

Career and Achievements

Rise in Voice Acting

Mercer began his career doing background voices (walla) and minor voice roles in anime dubbing and voiceover work. Over time, he became a prolific voice actor in animation and video games. Some of his well-known credits include:

• Anime / Animated: Levi Ackerman in Attack on Titan, Kiritsugu Emiya in Fate/Zero, Jotaro Kujo in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Yamato in Naruto, Trafalgar Law in One Piece, Hit in Dragon Ball Super, and Leorio in Hunter × Hunter.

• Video Games: Leon S. Kennedy in Resident Evil 6, Chrom in Fire Emblem, Jack Cooper in Titanfall 2, Cole Cassidy in Overwatch, Yusuke Kitagawa in Persona 5, and Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

His versatility across genres and media has made him a sought-after voice talent.

Critical Role & Game Design

One of Mercer’s biggest contributions is as Dungeon Master of Critical Role, a web series launched in 2015 in which professional voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons and role-play collaboratively.

As Critical Role grew in popularity, Mercer and his cast formed Critical Role Productions. He serves as Chief Creative Officer for the company. Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount (2020), Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn (2022), and Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep (2022).

He also worked as game designer and consultant on role-playing materials, contributing to the mechanics and lore behind the worlds played.

Recognition & Awards

Mercer has been recognized within the voice acting community. For example, at the 2017 Behind The Voice Actor (BTVA) People’s Choice Awards, he was named Voice Actor of the Year for his role as McCree (now Cassidy).

Beyond awards, his influence in fandoms, role-playing communities, and narrative media is significant.

Personality, Style & Creative Philosophy

Matthew Mercer is widely admired for his creativity, adaptability, and deep commitment to collaborative storytelling. Observers often highlight his improvisational skill: weaving plot threads, adapting to players’ surprises, and maintaining narrative cohesion.

He is also praised for the psychological dimension he brings to character voices—varying aspects like breathiness, pitch, and tonal quality to signal moral stances or emotional states.

Mercer has spoken about the challenges of voice acting in games, especially when actors lack full context for scenes. He stresses the importance of understanding motivation and tone even when scripts are incomplete.

He has been open about personal challenges: he identifies as heterosexual but has acknowledged past attraction to men, and he has spoken about experiencing body dysmorphic disorder and struggles with self-image.

Mercer also values inclusivity and dialogue between creators and audience, using social media and community engagement to blur lines between spectatorship and creation.

Legacy & Influence

• Critical Role has become a touchstone in the “actual play” movement for role-playing games, inspiring many fans to take up DMing, streaming campaigns, or writing their own worlds.

• Mercer’s campaign setting books and published lore have contributed to expanding the official D&D multiverse.

• His voice work spans iconic franchises, so his vocal presence is widely recognized across different fandoms.

• He has influenced how narrative games are approached—encouraging emotional nuance, deeper character work, and player agency.

• Through public openness about creative and personal struggles, he has humanized the role of the professional storyteller in modern media.

Selected Quotes by Matthew Mercer

Here are some of his more notable quotes (from interviews, social media, voice acting sources):

“Role-playing games have been a huge part of my life … a huge part of my training as a performer — learning social skills, meeting friends, and being a generally competent person — so I owe a lot to role-playing games.”

“A lot of games and voiceover projects, they’re not giving the actor a lot of context. The actor, no matter how good they are, might not be able to deliver a performance that fits the action.”

“I consider myself a better storyteller than a Dungeon Master.”

“Thanks to Twitter, Reddit, web media, and social media, we have … the opportunity now to kind of blur that line between the people who produce the content, the people that watch it, … make it a real community.”

“You can’t watch a movie or a show and the next day say, ‘I want to make that.’ You have to go to school.”

These quotes reflect his humility, commitment to craft, openness, and the belief in building creative communities.

Lessons from Matthew Mercer’s Journey

1. Craft takes practice
   Mercer’s belief that you don’t become a creator just by watching shows underscores how skills come from deliberate effort and learning.

2. Context matters — for actors and creators
   Insufficient context in scripts is a real challenge; the better you understand characters, the more authentic your performance.

3. Narrative is a shared act
   Through Critical Role, Mercer emphasizes that storytelling is not a monologue but a dynamic, co-creative process.

4. Vulnerability can foster connection
   By openly discussing personal challenges (stutter, self-image), Mercer gives permission to others to accept imperfections.

5. Expand your craft across mediums
   Mercer shows how voice acting, game design, DMing, and publishing can interweave into a multifaceted creative life.

6. Community enriches art
   He actively engages with fans and creators, seeing audience feedback as part of storytelling’s evolution.

Conclusion

Matthew Mercer stands at the intersection of voice acting, game design, and storytelling. His work as a Dungeon Master and creative lead in Critical Role has redefined what engaging, emotionally rich role-playing can be. Beyond his many roles, his philosophy on craft, narrative, and community continues to inspire creators and fans alike.