Jeff Hays Cast as Princess Donut in Dungeon Crawler Carl TV Series

Peacock's upcoming live-action television adaptation of Dungeon Crawler Carl made its highly anticipated first casting announcement at San Diego Comic-Con, confirming that voice actor Jeff Hays will portray Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk. During a spotlight panel on July 23, 2026, series author Matt Dinniman and showrunner Chris Yost revealed that Hays has officially joined the production, which is being developed by Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door and Universal Global Television. The television series, based on Dinniman's wildly popular LitRPG books, will follow the titular Carl and his ex-girlfriend's talking cat as they try to survive a post-apocalyptic intergalactic game show.

Bringing Hays on board to voice fan-favorite Princess Donut is a massive win for the franchise's dedicated fanbase. Hays is already the beloved voice of the Dungeon Crawler Carl universe, having narrated and produced the audiobooks for all eight installments and voicing almost every single character in the process. With the audiobooks racking up over 140 million listening hours on Audible, fans consider Hays the definitive voice of Princess Donut, making his transition to the television series both a natural fit and a welcome surprise.

While the rest of the live-action cast, including Carl himself, has yet to be announced, bringing on the audiobook’s original narrator suggests Peacock is aiming for continuity with fans, many of whom know these characters through Hays’s widely celebrated performance.