Eren Yeager's Voice Actor Dislocated His Jaw to Pull Off One of Attack on Titan's Most Iconic Moments

Bryce Papenbrook, the English voice actor for Eren Yeager, claimed that he literally dislocated his jaw in order to realistically sell one of the most intense moments in Attack on Titan.

Warning: Spoilers for Attack on Titan follow!

Season 2 of Attack on Titan contains one of the most iconic scenes in the entire show. In this scene, Eren speaks with fellow Scouting Legion recruits Reiner and Bertholdt after a long, arduous series of events. This particular moment reveals a major betrayal from the two soldiers, who admit that they are the Titan-shifters who broke through the wall all those years ago, resulting in untold deaths and the tragic demise of Eren’s mother.

If you’re a sub-only viewer, you’ve been familiarized with Yuki Kaji’s masterful take on the line, “You damn traitors!” but Bryce Papenbrook is also a heavy-hitter here. In fact, he was so dedicated to portraying Eren’s sadness at Reiner and Bertholdt’s betrayal that he literally inflicted physical pain upon himself by dislocating his jaw.

Papenbrook revealed this startling information during a panel at Anime NYC this August, drawing confusion from fellow panelist and voice actor Cristina Vee.

“In that moment, he’s more unhinged than ever before. So I literally unhinged my jaw before that take, because I wanted that pain to come through,” he explained.

“What do you mean — physically unhinged? On purpose?” Vee asked, clearly stunned.

“Yeah,” Papenbrook answered. “Like, physically pushing my jaw out of place to force pain into the feeling because of how Eren was feeling in that moment. For Eren, I really wanted to feel what he was feeling, so in Season 1, when he bites his hand, I bit my hand so hard I left bruises.”

Fans were left equal parts shocked and impressed by Papenbrook’s dedication to the job, with one writing on X, “Dub hate is so insanely forced, ‘cause how do people see this and call it bad?”

“He really didn’t have to, but I still love when actors get into the role,” another said.

“And before you ask, yes, it was that serious,” yet another joked. (I have to agree — while I greatly prefer the original Japanese version of the anime, this particular scene necessitated extremely intense emotion from Papenbrook’s part, and he absolutely nailed it here.)

While Attack on Titan has finally completed its journey, there’s still more to come from the beloved anime series, as Attack on Titan 3 the game is set to launch on December 3, 2026, letting players make their own character and fight through the events of the show’s final season.

Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.