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Batman Beyond star Will Friedle turned down being part of the original Critical Role cast
Will Friedle turned down the opportunity to be part of the original Critical Role party (but would go on to guest star years later)
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Will Friedle has fought alongside Kim Possible, protected Gotham as Batman, and warmed his way into our hearts as one of the best sitcom older brothers.
It turns out he could’ve added original Critical Role cast member to the list. When Matthew Mercer was putting together the first D&D campaign for Critical Role, he invited Friedle to join their party.
“I was doing a show with Matt Mercer called Thundercats back in the day, and we loved doing it, and he leaned over to me and said, ‘I'm getting a D and D game together,r do you want to play?’ And I went "Ah no, not really. Thank you.’ That became Critical Role,” Friedle reveals during a panel at Animate! Colombus 2025.
However, Friedle would get another chance to participate after Critical Role exploded in popularity.
“Critical Role took off and he came back to me and said ‘Just come and play with us.’ I said, ‘Man I really don't know what I'm doing.’ He said, "That's all right we'll teach you how to play.’ So, knowing nothing of DND, he called me one day and he said, ‘All right, I'm going to come over tomorrow and we're going to create your character.’ And I went ‘Okay, great! This is going to be a fun half hour.’”
Needless to say, Friedle greatly underestimated how much time these things take.
“Seven hours later we're still rolling and I'm dripping with sweat. By that point on I was hooked. So, the first time I ever played was actually on Critical Role with the Critical Role cast and Wil Weaton, who I've known since I was 13. He’s just rolling ones next to me the entire time. That was Weaton. At that point then I was just absolutely hooked.”
While Friedle missed his chance to be part of the original cast, his character Kashaw Vesh has made appearances in numerous campaigns. If you’re going to learn to play D&D, you might as well do it alongside some of the most iconic players in the community.
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