“[The Adoring Fan] sounded like the dumbest idea I’d ever heard,” Craig Sechler tells me, discussing his experience of being cast inThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. He credits audio director Mark Lampert for helping bring the now iconic sidekick to life. “He was making me go further, ‘Take this one to a place that’s practically ridiculous’. And I did, and he goes, ‘Yeah! That’s it! Yeah!’ And I say, ‘Mark, I don’t understand it, if we do this thing and I do it the way you want me to do it, people are going tohatethis character.’ And he goes, ‘Now, you’ve got it’”.
The Adoring Fan is an obsessive stalker who latches onto you after you conquer the arena in Cyrodiil. No matter how hard you try to get rid of him, he always comes back - maim, burn, or send him into the jaws of Oblivion itself, it doesn’t matter. Combine that curious immortality with his over-the-top personality and Bethesda had a winning combo—a character fansloveto hate. So much so that they still send Sechler fan art, memes, and clips of them killing the Adoring Fan in a variety of fiendishly creative ways. It’s no wonder then that he was brought back to reprise the role forStarfield.
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“We did a day [of recording], and I was quite nervous because I hadn’t done it in a very long time,” Sechler says of his return after 17 years. “My voice could have changed and I didn’t know what the script was and what my lines would be like, or if it would be the exact same character. I was lucky, because it wasn’t. It was almost as if even the Adoring Fan could mature in some way.” Sechler smiles as he remembers the first time reading the script. “I gotallthe good lines!” he laughs. “Everything they had me saying was funny.”
In Starfield, you may get the Adoring Fan as a member of your crew and a permanent companion if you pick the coinciding trait at the start of the game. This means that he can spend the entire journey by your side. However, his role was originally going to be much smaller.
“I did the one day and I considered it a success, but it was a greater success than I thought,” Sechler says. “When they heard the product of that day, their lines, their new character, and my interpretation, they liked it enough to say, ‘Let’s expand his character.’ Which is the greatest thing an actor can ever hear. So, I did a couple more days, and it got even better.”
Now that Starfield is out, the love for the Adoring Fan has reignited. Despite much of that adoration coming from a place of sadism, Sechler embraces it.
“The different ways to say ‘goodbye’ to the sidekick became a thing,” Sechler says. “I was just happy for the recognition. I thought it was great. And even today, with Starfield, I still have people who send me things [to say], ‘What do you think of this?’ And then they tell me they’re going to eliminate or eradicate my character. They say goodbye to their pal in very ingenious ways and it just cracks me up because I laugh my butt off watching. They do it so well.”
The way actors interact with fans has changed a lot over the years. Once upon a time, you could only meet them at conventions, queuing for a quick hello and maybe an autograph signing, or a picture if you forked out for it. These days, everything has changed with social media, and Sechler is embracing this new world thanks to his kids.
“My daughter got me to do this TikTok thing,” Sechler says. “She said, ‘Dad, it’s time for you to get into the 21st century. I’m reading all these things you get from people all over the world to tell you how much they have always loved your stuff. Why don’t you put something out there that gives them a platform where they can come in and take a look at you.’
“My daughter had me do the silliest, cheapest thing with this [Adoring Fan] wig that I wear and it’s got 220,000 views. I mean, it’s really weird. But the best thing is, I get a lot of comments from people, who I call my friends, and this influx of congratulations and kudos and really, super nice things from people who told me how much they’ve enjoyed [my work]. So, now I am in the 21st century. I don’t know what the 21st century thinks of me, but I like it. It’s fun.”
Sechler has met plenty of fans since Oblivion launched in 2006, but thanks to TikTok and the internet he can meet a much wider array of people, something he tells me he cherishes.
“Every single person I meet is wonderful and artistic in their own ways and supportive of me. They have helped me so much,” Sechler says, gesturing to fan art behind him, hanging on the wall in his studio where he films his TikTok videos. “That artwork on the back, I received from a 13 year old girl seven years ago. Her dad sent me seven pieces of artwork that she had done of my characters, and that is still up on the wall with her first letters.
“Her dad drove her up and meeting her was one of the best moments of my life. [My fans] continue to always write and support and I can’t mention them all but they are constantly helping me. They enhance my life.”
However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the world of voice acting. Right now,SAG-AFTRA is gearing up for strikes against the games industrydue to poor wages and the rise of unregulated AI. Actors hope to put a stop to the non-consensual use of their voices that is threatening to strip away jobs. Sechler has been on the SAG-AFTRA committee for ten years, but he just retired withSheogorath and Ron Hope actor Wes Johnsontaking his place. That being said, he still supports the strikes and wishes for their success.
“I’m also working, praying for the health of the entire community,” Sechler says. “So if a strike should happen, and it might still happen, what we all want is for both sides to get what they need. It’s not a question of what you want, but what is the right and best thing.
But you have to get down to brass tacks and talk about things that are exceptionally important, including things I’m barely capable of talking about like AI. But every industry is now facing AI So, we want compensation. That’s one of our main things. We want to be compensated if anyone takes our voice, which is ourselves, our performance, and then does things with it. I’m sure we’re going to wind up with a solution that is favourable to all because this industry is just so great and wonderful, still expanding with so much promise that we don’t want to get in its way.”
The Adoring Fan has left an interesting legacy. Once the annoying character we all loved to boot off cliffs, he’s now a cherished icon of The Elder Scrolls series who has made his mark on Bethesda’s newest tentpole, and so much of that came with Sechler’s performance. We loved throwing him to the wolves, but now we can enjoy throwing him tothe apex parrothawks of space.
