Critical Role’s Robbie Daymond provides some unique insight into his character Dorian, along with some new details about his character’s origin and what he hopes will come next in Dorian’s journey. Earlier this week, ComicBook.com had the chance to speak with veteran voice actor Robbie Daymond about his extended guest stint on the popular series Critical Role. Daymond captured the hearts of Critters everywhere with his delightful performance at the table, with many fans hoping that Daymond would stay on permanently. In our second half of the interview, we spoke with Daymond about his interactions with the doomed Bertrand Bell, if he had a favorite memory during his time on Critical Role, and what’s next for the character. The first part of the interview can be found here.
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So, I feel like Dorian was probably the most genial towards Bertrand Bell, Travis’s first character. In those first few episodes, when Bertrand was around, I feel like Dorian and Bertrand probably had the best relationship. So, did you expect Bertrand’s death at all?
Robbie Daymond: Ooh, expect it? No, it wasn’t scripted… But, I felt like, I don’t know how long this guy’s going to be around. When Travis brought Bertrand in, he was like, “This is my character.” And we’re like, “Okay.” [said in a sarcastic tone]
I saw some of the writing on the wall as it was happening. And I was like, “Man, he’s going to kill this guy, for sure.” So, I hope it’s not too meta, but as I was playing, I was like, “I really like Bertrand, let me not distance myself from him.” As you would distance yourself, perhaps from someone that you knew was going to be leaving your life. So I snuggled up to Bertrand to see what things are like.
When it happened and he kicked the bucket and I was like, “No, it’s on me! Why does it have to be on me? I let him go.” But it’s one of those things where it just ended up being such a fun dynamic. I love the archetype of sort of the crusty old has-been who’s got one last shot at glory. I love that, so it was easy to bond with Bertrand and Travis. I really enjoy sitting next to Travis.
It cracked me up because I watched that episode with my wife while she was in active labor. And about halfway through that episode, my wife turns to me and she goes, “I really like Bertrand, I think he’s going to be a great character.” And I had to put my poker face on, because I knew what was coming.
I mean, if you’re playing a joke character, there’s no place like Critical Role. If you’re going to do it, they’re going to lean into it and roleplay it to make it 100% real. So, that makes everything better. I think that’s the appeal of it. So, your wife was right on track.
So, let’s talk about Dorian’s family. Obviously his family loomed large over Dorian’s departure from the campaign. There’s obviously more of a story at play. So how much do you know about Dorian’s family and the history there, and were you surprised to see Dorian’s brother show up in the campaign?
Robbie Daymond: Absolutely, I was surprised to see Cyrus come in. He was always more of a motivating factor for me than a character that I thought would be brought to life. When we conceived of the character when we were working on Exandria Unlimited, I was sending backstory stuff to Aabria [Iyengar] and Matt [Mercer], because obviously we’re bringing something into their world that becomes canon. One of the things I wanted to create was a traveling nomadic tribe of air genasi that functioned as a council for any other air genasi that were having any problems anywhere in the world.
So, that’s where the idea of the Silken Squall popped up. They’re this tent city that floats around continent to continent and anyone can come in and be there. But I thought i would be fun to play someone who’s part of that traveling tribe, but never got to see the places they visited because they were so cloistered because of their upbringing.
And here’s a secret, this is a little bit born out of my wife’s past experience. She used to be a tour assistant for a very, very famous, pop star. My wife traveled all over the world with this star on one of their first tours. So she’s been to like 80 countries, but seen only four of them because her life was in hotel rooms. We talked about how sad that was many times and I thought about playing a character like that. Someone who’s been outside of Marquet, but only been able to sneak into the city a handful of times… Plus, I knew coming in there’s so much lore in Critical Role, so I wanted to play a character that was cloistered, naive, shut off, and not really familiar with the other races and classes and political systems outside of just general knowledge.
So, we created a pretty rich backstory for Dorian’s family that Matt and Aabria just masterfully folded into the campaign at large and Dorian’s story.
Were there any relationships or interactions that you wish you could have explored more between Dorian and the other player characters from the cast?
Daymond: Not knowing Dorian’s future in this world, I don’t want to project very much, because I don’t want to talk about things that could someday be explored.
It’s hard to say. I have no idea what the future is for Dorian. But I’ll say this, it was tough to leave because…not as Robbie, but as Dorian, because he felt like he wanted to get to know these people so much better. Obviously, there were bonds with Fearne, and Orym, and Chetney, and Bertrand, and Imogen, and everyone at the table. But because of play style, there were characters I didn’t interact with as much. I wish I’d had got more face time with Ashton and had more opportunities to bond with them. Laudna and I had some moments, but I wanted to find out more about her. I think Dorian is a sponge and he just wants to soak up everything and everyone around him.
Were you surprised about how positive fans were about your time on Critical Role? You were the longest tenured guest that the show has had and a lot of people were hoping that you would stay forever.
Daymond: Flattered, unbelievably flattered. I’ve been around fandoms for over a decade now, and one thing I know is that, regardless of how positive they can be, change can be scary, especially when a new person comes in and potentially changes the dynamic of something that they love.
And my only hope was that my presence enhanced the world in some way. I didn’t want to do a detriment to it because I really enjoy these people and wildly respect what they’ve built. I was honored to have been brought in to play a small part in that. So am I surprised? I’m absolutely touched, this is the least amount of haters in any fandom I’ve ever encountered. So, the Critter hug is real and I feel it, and I’m honored by it.
So was there a particular moment that you had during the past year with Critical Role?
Daymond: Oh man, you’re a dad, you know that’s like asking who your favorite kid is!
They’re all so special. I mean, winning over Chetney was a huge one for me. Always being sort of disgusted and terrified by Laudna, anytime that pops up. I love how spicy Imogen and I are. That was one of the things I would’ve liked to develop more because there was a real bonding and a real conflict, not between Laura and Robbie, but between the two characters that I feel was just in its infancy.
Working with my first DM, Aabria, working with the character challenges that she gave me. Working with Aimee across the table and two chaotic entities just bumping into each other in space. All of these people have provided infinite memories for me to hold onto. There’s not a favorite. The whole thing has been a big ball of favorite.
So what do you think is going to be next for Dorian? Obviously he had a pretty clear direction that he was going in, what do you think is going to happen when he returns in Exandria Unlimited?
Daymond: I created Dorian to be a wanderer. That was part of his appeal to me and part of the aspects of my life that I wanted to sort of re-explore. I don’t know what his future is, and I don’t know what’s going to happen to him and his brother, but I do know that he is going to face whatever it is head on. He’s going to embrace it completely, almost to the point that maybe you should be scared for him.
So I hope whatever Dorian encounters, it enriches his life. I think that’s the whole reason why he took such a huge step to break away from the confines of his past and try to find himself. So, I hope that the fans enjoy his adventure, whatever it may be. And I hope he has a real chance to figure out who he really is in this big wild world of Exandria.
Do you have any final words for the Critters?
Daymond: Oh man, thank you. The open arms of the Critter hug is truly extraordinary and I couldn’t be more appreciative of their support. Thanks for watching. All we want is to connect with you guys. So thank you.
