FF7 Rebirth: Aerith actress on confidence and keeping ending secrets
- Published
Final Fantasy 7 character Aerith Gainsborough's role in the remake trilogy has been a source of speculation
A reply from a job application. A message from last night's date. The bus.
No-one likes waiting.
But how about the world's reaction to your starring role in a recreation of "one of gaming's most iconic moments"?
That's what Briana White, from the cast of Final Fantasy 7 (FF7) Rebirth, is waiting for when BBC Newsbeat catches up with her over Zoom.
The game is the second part of a trilogy that remakes the legendary, influential 1997 Japanese role-playing game (JRPG).
Briana provides the English language voiceover for Aerith Gainsborough, a flower seller with a link to a mystical race that might just save the planet.
It probably isn't a spoiler to say - but look away now if you do want to avoid them - that her fate in the original FF7 is one of the most famous twists in gaming history.
"It's what gamers think about when they think about the greatest gaming moments," says Briana.
"It was a shock, it was a surprise, it was incredibly subversive."
It's no secret that the moment is being revisited in the new game but its prequel, 2020 smash hit Final Fantasy 7 Remake, teased the possibility that Aerith's destiny could change.
And since Rebirth's release last week, players have been racing to get to the end of the game to see whether that departure from the original storyline does occur.
The problem is, not many of them have got there yet.
Briana's comfortable in the voice recording booth now, but moving from conventional acting had its challenges
"It's already been six days," Briana says. "And most people I know are still in chapter three.
"So there's a whole game for them to go through still."
Rebirth is massive. There's a main quest which can be completed in about 50 hours. But it's also packed with side activities and mini-games that can push the play time closer to 100 hours.
So while fans are grinding through trying to reach the ending, Briana is anticipating their response to the finale.
"I'm definitely nervous, waiting to see how people react," she says.
"But at the same time, it's kind of nice," Briana adds, speaking after an "insane" launch week.
"Now it's quiet, because everyone's playing the game," she says. "And I just get to relax and take a breather for a little bit."
That's also given her time to reflect on how she got here.
Unlike many video game voice actors, Briana's a keen player and remembers sitting on her mum's knee as a child playing PC adventure games. Before being cast as Aerith she'd built up a strong following on streaming platform Twitch on her channel The Strange Rebel.
She's also a trained actress, and had performed in traditional theatre, TV and film roles earlier in her career.
But Final Fantasy was her first voice acting role, one she never expected to get and one that she underestimated at first.
Briana says portraying Aerith in the high-profile game series has been life-changing for her
Briana says she "skipped" into the recording booth on the first day, but "the gleam started to slowly melt away" as the reality set in.
Recording and re-recording lines, changing her delivery to eliminate small speech quirks, "those incredibly detailed technical challenges really threw me for a tailspin", she says.
Briana says she was "full of self-doubt" during the Remake project, and remembers sitting on her bed at home and bursting into tears after one especially tough week of recording.
"I just didn't think they had gotten the right person," she says. "My inner critic was saying, 'you don't belong here'."
She eventually managed to block out that voice - "the role was bigger than my inner demons", she says - and when Remake came out performances across the board were praised.
So Briana says she returned for Rebirth feeling more confident, "more playful and more open in the voice recording booth".
Despite the latest game's size, she doesn't feel like it was a lot more work for her overall, because the game expands the core characters to feature a bigger cast of allies and party members.
But the side content in Rebirth, those distractions and diversions that ramp up play time, can get weird. Really weird.
While the main story touches on weighty themes and an epic quest to save the planet, players can also spend time completing obstacle courses as toads, competing in dolphin-riding stunt races and riding chocobos - yellow bird-like creatures that have become a trademark of Final Fantasy.
That's completely normal for a JRPG like this, but Briana admits the tone changes kept her on her toes.
The cast don't get scripts in advance, and so have no idea whether they're going to be in serious mode or "doing something kind of goofy today".
"But that's so much fun when I get to do that," Briana says.
Briana still streams regularly, and plans to play through FF7 Rebirth once fans have had the chance to finish it
The main talking point, though, was always going to be that ending. Developer Square Enix is keen for the new take to stay secret, and even issued a plea for streamers, reviewers and fans to avoid spoilers, external.
Briana admits that it's not stopped people asking her.
"I want to tell them, of course, but I also don't. I want to give them the gift of being able to go into it with fresh eyes not knowing what's happened."
There's a good chance that the finale will prompt strong feelings, and that can put actors in the firing line of social media abuse.
Briana says the Final Fantasy fandom "tends to be pretty respectful" and good at understanding that she didn't write the game.
"I'm not preparing for a huge wave of hate because I just don't think that's going to come my way," she says.
"Is that naive? Is that too optimistic? I really think it's gonna be fun."
Harassment is a risk for video game actors. Earlier this year Last of Us developer Naughty Dog released a documentary about the making of the second game in its critically acclaimed series.
One widely shared clip showed Laura Bailey, who voiced Abby in the game, tearfully recalling threats she received over her role.
But Briana, who says she's "liberal with mute and block buttons" has some strong words for those who take their anger out on actors.
"The people who would harass or belittle anyone involved in the making of the game, because it didn't go the way that you wanted it to - find a better outlet," she says.
"Go scream outside, go chop a tree down, punch a pillow, go to therapy. I mean, there are so many better outlets for anger and sadness."
Briana says she counts herself lucky that she's not had to face waves of negativity, and says being part of Final Fantasy "never stops blowing my mind".
But the big question is will she be back for part three?
"I don't know," she says, laughing. "They don't tell me anything."
"They give me a call, I say 'when?', and I show up.
"So if they don't call, then I won't. But if they do, then I will."
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