Briana White Melt Hearts de Final Fantasy VII no solo en su actuación nominada al premio Aerith Gainsborough, sino que el actor continúa fomentando una comunidad de rebeldes extraños impulsados por la empatía como un streamer basado en la historia. El sitio se puso al día con el blanco después de su mejor nominación de rendimiento para discutir el legado de Aerith, el crecimiento de los juegos rebeldes extraños, los poderes curativos de la vida son extraños y la cacerola ideal de batata.
site: I wanted to congratulate you on your Game Awards nomination!
Briana White: Thank you so much!
What's the story behind hearing the announcement?How did it feel?
Gosh, it felt incredible.It felt like so exciting!
Fue realmente interesante porque, para los joysticks dorados, estaba en una convención cuando se lanzaron esas nominaciones, por lo que estaba completamente enfocado en algo más y ni siquiera pensé en eso. ¡Cuando me enteré de la nominación para los joysticks de oro, estaba como sorprendido y como: "¡Whoa, esto salió de la nada!" Now I got to think about the awards season and all that. It really set everything off.
For the Game Awards nominations, they have a livestream. Fue realmente divertido porque comenzó a las 9 a.m. y inicié sesión en la transmisión a las 9:02, pero a las 10, antes que nada, mi papá me llamaba y estoy como: "Papá, dame un segundo. Estoy ocupado, tengo que ver esta transmisión para poder ver si estoy nominado ", y para cuando había entrado en la transmisión, mi categoría ya había sido anunciada y estaba recibiendo mensajes de felicitación.
So, I didn't actually see myself get announced that I was nominated, but then I went back and watched the VOD later. So, it was very chaotic… in the best sort of way.
Had your dad been calling to congratulate you? Had he heard already?
No, he just happened to call at the exact moment that I needed my phone to be free. [Risas]
With the Golden Joystick Award experience, did you feel like that helped prepare you emotionally for this or was it still just as shocking?
I guess a little bit more prepared. I was a little less like: “Whoa, wait a minute, is that happening? Is it awards season?”
But, at the same time, I didn't expect a nomination for myself. Especially knowing that the Game Awards didn't have a supporting performer category, they just have Best Performance. And that, I really didn't expect that .
My fellow nominees are all incredible. And for some of them, it's not their first nomination.And they've all been in multiple games as these characters as well. It's a lot to be standing next to them, metaphorically.
But I mean, now you're at the point where you have that legacy with Aerith, too. Like we're coming up on almost five years of you voicing her.
Which is crazy to think about.
A veces siento que, porque Aerith fue mi primer papel, a veces todavía tengo un pequeño síndrome de impostor sobre sentir que pertenecería a esa etapa y con estas nominaciones. Solo porque es, quiero decir, es mi primer papel. And even though, yes, I've been doing it now for five years, and I visited her through three games. It still feels like: “Me? What am I doing here?”
How do you combat that Imposter Syndrome?
The thing about Imposter Syndrome is, it's always going to be there for me, I think. But I don't let it affect my behavior.And I think that's the kind of crucial part for me.
Cuando estaba grabando para [ Final Fantasy VII ] Remake , el primer juego, me golpeó con un síndrome de impostor tan increíble porque es un proceso técnicamente desafiante para expresar el ACT pero también para localizar de japonés en inglés. Sería como llorar en mi automóvil pensando: "Esto es demasiado difícil. I can't do this.”
Pero me miraría en el espejo y me diría: "Está bien, así que te sientes así, pero todavía vas a trabajar mañana si te tengan, ¿verdad?" Sí. Sí, lo soy. [Risas]
Entonces, el síndrome de impostor, es casi como, tengo estos sentimientos y los acepto y los reconozco, pero al mismo tiempo, todavía voy a hacer lo que me propuse hacer. Si no pertenezco aquí, bien. But I am here. Voy a hacer lo mejor que pueda. And that's all I can do.
Si no siento que estoy haciendo un buen trabajo, ¿qué necesito hacer para mejorar? Trabajé con entrenadores, y tomé clases, y aprendí todo lo que podría poder, e intenté perfeccionar mi oído. All of those things were super challenging, but they helped me feel more prepared when it came to recording for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth . So that I could really feel a lot more free and just focus on the acting part of it and not so much the technical part of it.
Volviendo al comienzo de esta relación con Aerith, y su relación con el tipo de industria de los juegos en general, cuando primero recibió la audición para el papel, ¿qué fue ese proceso de investigación como considerar que Final Fantasy tiene tanta tradición y expectativa que viene con él?
Well, when I got the audition material, they told me a codename for the game. They didn't tell me what game it was for. And luckily, because I'm a gamer, I knew already kind of what this was about.
But I also thought there was no way that they would cast me because I've never done anything like this and I'm completely unknown. And her previous English voice actresses are very successful, talented, and famous. You know, Mandy Moore, Mena Suvari, Andrea Bowen, they're legends, right? And I'm not.
Entonces, realmente pensé que iba a entrar en eso, no reservar la audición, pero ¿tal vez me considerarían como un personaje secundario si lo hiciera bien? Which does happen in this industry quite a lot.
I thought I would never book it, and this would be the funnest audition of my life that I'd never be able to talk about. But, I still prepared for it as if I was going to do my best. You know, despite my expectations, I was still going to do my best.
I started with a Google search, like many of us do. Y, por supuesto, lo primero que aparece es [que] Aerith es uno de los personajes icónicos más legendarios de los juegos debido a su muerte en 1997. Sumió a los jugadores de todo el mundo y destrozó los corazones de todos en pedazos. That's part of why I never thought I would become involved with this character because she's that iconic.
I watched Advent Children , which is the movie that is a sequel to the original Final Fantasy VII . And I watched some playthroughs on YouTube, and some story synopsis, and I read as much as I could about her character.
From there, I had to listen to her Japanese voice actress and try to honor her performance. Maaya Sakamoto has been voicing Aerith since the very beginning. Nunca tuvo otra actriz de voz japonesa. Tuve que honrar su actuación porque sabía que, al entrar en la audición, eso sería principalmente en lo que el proceso está involucrado. Escuché la versión de Maaya en mis auriculares, y luego doy mi versión basada en lo que los traductores han escrito en mi guión.
So, I listened to her voice and then listened to all the previous English voice actresses as well. Y luego, solo, me senté aquí en mi configuración de transmisión, y di algunas tomas de la audición y escuché y dije: "¿Podría respirar un poco más?" And so, I listened back, and then I did it again. I just did that probably for a couple hours, maybe. And then I had the audition the next day.
Do you think that mentality of going into it with “Oh, I don't know if I'm really going to get this” helped free you up a bit?
It must have. I mean, I just went in there wanting to have some fun and like make a cool memory. I had no expectations. And that must have helped me.
But I don't, it's so hard to know, even in hindsight. It's so hard to know how I was perceived by others, or if it was really just my voice. No sé. It's one of those impossible questions.
Well, you did definitely make quite a few memories in the last five years with Aerith.
Bastante.
And you touched on the localization process of making the game and how thorough that was. Pero quería saber, como alguien que ama los videojuegos y el anime, ¿cómo se sintió involucrado en el proceso de localización desde la perspectiva detrás de escena?
It was the coolest thing ever. It still is. Porque sé como fanático de estos juegos lo emocionante que es anticipar cómo va a resultar, y finalmente ponerlo en tus manos y luego jugarlo y: "Oh, es exactamente lo que imaginé que sería y mejor".
And so, then to be a part of the process, being able to have the feeling of: “Oh, I know what's happening and people are gonna love it!” That like little giddy like “I know something they don't know” was like just absolutely thrilling!
But a lot of pressure, of course, too, because I can't say anything. So all of that was very blended together into one complex, complicated experience.
Pero en su mayor parte, fue emocionante poder ... he dicho en el pasado "ver cómo se hace la salchicha", pero no quieres ver cómo se hace la salchicha, pero quieres ver cómo se hacen los videojuegos. It's like watching a behind-the-scenes documentary, but you're living it. It was really cool.
That's a little bit of what I wanted to touch on. We're kind of in an era where so many people who are involved in the video games industry grew up loving games themselves. So how does it feel to balance being like a professional in a fandom space and a fan at the same time?
I wonder about that sometimes. I wonder if me being such a hardcore fan does affect the roles that I book.
Luckily, or maybe not luckily, I don't know. When I asked the casting director: “Oh, you called me in because I'm a gamer, right?” Ella dijo que no. She had no idea that I was a gamer, that I had a YouTube channel, that I was a fan. She had no idea when she called me in.
So, I do wonder sometimes if that affects whether or not people want to bring me in behind the booth. But for the most part, it's just really cool for me. Because when I'm recording, I really only have access to exactly what I need and nothing more. So, I see Aerith's lines, and if I need to see the whole conversation, I'll see the whole conversation. But I don't get a script ahead of time to see like Barret and Cloud having a conversation. If Aerith's not involved, I don't read it.
When I get to play the game, I then get to be the fan too, because there are parts of the game that I have no idea this was going to happen. And so, I do get to have a little bit of that separation. Honestly, it feels for the most part, like I get the best of both worlds.
Are there things you remember, in either Remake or Rebirth , that surprised you most when you played it?
I would say the order of things, in an overarching way. Because we record out of order.
So sometimes, without getting into specifics, the game developers will change the order of some things in order to keep you guessing. Like, “Oh, what's going to happen?” Well, we all know because we played the original Final Fantasy VII that A happens, B happens, and then C happens. But sometimes in the game, they'll do A happens, B happens, D happens … is C still going to happen? And then it does.
Todos grabamos completamente fuera de servicio, en su mayor parte. A veces nos gusta la historia principal, y luego las cosas laterales, o, ya sabes, haremos pastillas de diferentes escenas que todavía no estaban listas para nosotros. So, the order of things is completely fresh to me and a total surprise.
Pero también a veces hay cosas que no sucedieron en el Final Fantasy VII original en las que los susurros terminan involucrados, y esas cosas son sorpresas completas para mí.
Speaking of things that aren't surprising, we touched upon Aerith's iconic death. Los videojuegos a menudo son un escape para las personas, pero también hay muchos temas realmente serios que pueden ocurrir en los videojuegos que pueden ayudar a las personas a superar el dolor y trabajar en algunos problemas más serios.
I think Final Fantasy does a really good job of that, specifically. Porque cuando miras algunos juegos que se elogian como juegos basados en la historia, es casi como si estuviera muy oscuro, y te aleja por completo de tu vida cotidiana en un lugar más oscuro. And that can help you put a film over it, a lens over it, to help you look at dark things from a safe distance.
And that's actually a studied thing that we use in therapy, right? Al igual que, para ayudar a procesar el trauma, a veces pones una lente sobre él para estudiarlo desde la distancia, o pones a alguien más en tus zapatos para poder procesarlo.
Final Fantasy does that because the stakes are really, really high. I mean, the planet is at stake. It's life or death, and death is real. Like, a lot of these characters that we know and love are dying, and so the stakes are really high. But it also balances it out with these really silly, goofy moments, and the little vacation at Costa del Sol.
You get to see these characters that have gone through intense emotional trauma, but then they also get to have a little bit of fun. I really like that about Final Fantasy , because it gives you hope that even if you're going through a dark time, it won't always be that way. Incluso si las apuestas de tu vida son completamente tan altas que solo, no crees que vas a salir al otro lado de la situación en la que te encuentres, incluso en eso, aún puedes divertirte. Todavía puedes hacer una broma, aún puedes hacer una sonrisa y aún puedes pasar el rato con tus amigos. You don't have to wallow in it.
I think that's what I love about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth , specifically, is tragedy is present because that's life. But also, have fun. I think that's a really beautiful message.
¿Has tenido experiencias con, tal vez no solo videojuegos, sino cualquier tipo de medios en el que sucedió algo que te ayudó a procesar algo en tu propia vida?
Yeah, I am really, really fond of Life is Strange for that reason.
I had a very tough teenagehood because I'm someone who feels things very deeply. I was called very dramatic as a child. And hey, she became an actor, we can't be that surprised! Pero debido a que siento las cosas muy profundamente, y especialmente cuando las hormonas están furiosas y todos los demás son tan hormonales, todo se siente como el fin del mundo, incluso si es solo que tu amigo no quería pasar el rato contigo esa noche.
La vida es extraña hace un gran trabajo al honrar lo que significa ser un adolescente de maldito y abierta, hemorragia, en todas partes sin patrocinarlo, y sin endulzarlo, y sin hacer que parezca que estás afuera. Porque en el exterior mirando a la adolescencia, puede ser muy: "wow, necesitas calmarte. Relajarse. It's not that big of a deal.” When you're on the other side of it. But when you're in it, it really feels like it is a big deal. And Life is Strange did a really good job of that.
When I finished that game, I really did feel like it healed something in me. It broke me because it's a very intense game as well, but it healed something in me to know that, yeah, it almost is a universal experience.
I'm glad you touched on feeling things really big, because something I did want to talk to you about is your gaming channel. You cry a lot over there. I think it's hard to be vulnerable like that. And especially hearing that you felt kinda insecure about that as a teenager. How did you reclaim being vulnerable and crying in public as an adult?
It's crazy that you bring that up because it's true. I sorta made a career out of being the crying girl on the internet, which I did not set out to do. To me, it was never an option to be any other way. It's just who I am.
When I first started my YouTube channel, I played lots of different games trying to figure out what kind of gamer I would be on the internet. There's gamers who play Minecraft and there's gamers who play Uncharted . Era el tipo de jugador que, probé muchas cosas diferentes, y finalmente cuando jugué a las personas desconocidas realmente resonó con el hecho de que podía hablar sobre los personajes y las relaciones entre ellos y por qué esta y esa escena fue tan impactante. People really liked that aspect of my gameplays.
So, that is what led me to The Last of Us , which is an incredibly dark and emotional game. At the same time I was playing Life is Strange which, like I said, just cracks me open in the best sort of way. Jugar esos dos juegos al mismo tiempo fue una experiencia tan intensamente emocional que creo que consolidó el tipo de contenido que la gente quiere ver de mí. Which was fine, because that's who I am.
I sort of fell into being a story-based gamer from there. Because that's who I am, that's what people wanted to see. They want to see authentic reactions, they want to see people feeling things.
Oftentimes, I'll get comments like: “I'm a 52-year-old man, I haven't cried in 20 years, but I cried watching your content.” Y tomo eso como una gran fuente de orgullo, que mi contenido podría ayudar a las personas, como hablamos anteriormente, a tener sentimientos desde una distancia que los hace sentir seguros para tenerlos. Creo que hay algo realmente hermoso en eso, que mi contenido podría ayudar a abrir un poco el corazón de alguien y hacer que se sientan seguros para tener sus sentimientos.
I love your philosophy about what a Strange Rebel means to you. Could you talk about that a little bit?
I had always grown up feeling a little out of mainstream. I was never very popular, I was never very normal. And I always very much wanted to be normal, but, somewhere along the line in high school, I grew out of that.
I had a friend, actually, who was completely, loudly, and unapologetically weird. In the best sort of way. Siendo un niño de teatro en la escuela secundaria, todos abrazamos esto como: “No somos normales y no pertenecemos a la corriente principal, ¡y eso es genial! That's so much more fun than being normal.” And I think that's where I picked up this like: “Being average, being normal… that's not something you should want.”
I took this idea of being a rebel to mean going against the mainstream, but not in a bad way. Not in a way that's “wears all black and is angsty and mean”. I don't want to be a rebel in that I want to hurt other people. I want to be a strange rebel. I want to be a rebel in a way that makes the world a little bit better. I want to be a rebel in the fact that I do cry on the internet and I don't feel bad about that.
It's easy to be mean to others. It's easy to close your heart off when you've experienced bad things. But it's strange and beautiful to do the opposite of that. I want people to embrace being rebelliously compassionate and rebelliously kind. That's sort of where Strange Rebel comes from and that's really a huge part of my mission.
I wanted to ask about the channel and how you've seen that community grow since Final Fantasy ?
Es asombroso. I mean, when I started out on the internet all I ever heard was that it's a terrible place. That's all I ever heard. I heard about harassment, and women being chased off platforms, and I heard about toxicity in gaming. But, what I found on the internet is that most people are really good and kind, and they just want to share their passions.
I started my channel reading every single comment that was left on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, whatever platform. I'd read every single comment, every single message that someone sends me. And I pretty much still do to this day, which is a lot harder now, but I really make an effort to do that. Porque si alguien hace todo lo posible para ver mi contenido y luego dejarme un mensaje que dice: "Me encantó esto", quiero devolverle el respeto que me están mostrando para darme su hora del día y darles la hora del día al menos leerlo y darles un gusto si puedo. I've found that when I engage with them, that only comes back to me tenfold. Because they're good people, and I like them. I like them as people.
Quiero decir, ahora, somos parte de una discordia realmente sorprendente, bulliciosa y próspera donde tenemos noches de cine, tenemos un club de cocina, acabamos de comenzar un club de lectura, hacemos lugares de reunión todos los meses, jugamos juntos dos veces por semana. We are there for each other. We meet up at conventions with each other. People in my Discord have found love. I mean, a couple people in my Discord have gotten married after finding each other in my Discord!
I cannot state enough just how proud I am of being able to bring people together in that way because they no longer feel alone. What better thing could I do in this life than bring people together? To celebrate each other, be there for each other, support each other in hard times, and share each other's passions. And all in an amazingly respectful way.
They're so generous. We've raised over $50K for charity, just in my Discord in the past four years.
The fact that Final Fantasy is a huge part of my channel, I do think that that really brings in a good audience. A good group of people that care about the world through the amazing stories that Final Fantasy tells.
But really, I don't care much for numbers, how many subscribers I have, or how many views I get on a video. What I care about is the fact that people have found others like them, that give them faith in humanity, that give back to others. They're not alone in this universe anymore. That's everything to me. That's so much more important than everything else.
Community building is huge, and it sounds like you've curated a wonderful community.
I try, but I don't do it alone. Tengo un gerente comunitario, Jeff, que hace un trabajo increíble que ejecuta todos estos eventos y planifica, como, tenemos un triatlón de juegos anual donde todos jugamos y compitimos para recaudar más dinero. We've even had a custom Dungeons & Dragons Strange Rebel Gaming themed one-shot! We've done so many amazing, incredible things because of Jeff.
I mean it when I say I haven't done it alone. Every person who joins the community is as much a part of the community building as me. And I try to throw that back to them as much as I can. And people say: “Thank you for making the Discord.” No, thank you for being a part of it! It's not me in there chatting all day, it's you all.
Quería preguntar antes de irnos si hay algo en tu vida en este momento que te traiga alegría, ya sea juegos que estás jugando, cosas que estás viendo, a las personas en tu vida. What's fueling you right now?
Well, the holidays are coming up, and I'm a big family person. So, being able to see my family is everything to me. I'm excited to see everyone.
Actually, after this, I'm making a sweet potato casserole that can feed 30 people.
Do you do the marshmallows on top?
No. So, I used to work at a restaurant called Ruth's Chris [Steak House] that has the hands-down best sweet potato casserole ever! Because it's, if you look at the ingredients, it's basically cake, but with a sweet potato base. The top is brown sugar and pecans and butter and then it crisps up in the oven, so it's like a crust. It's almost like an upside down sweet potato cake.
It's mind-blowing. If you've never had it, you must!
Es tan bueno. I am not welcome at Thanksgiving without it. I am not allowed to show up without this sweet potato casserole, every single year for like seven years now. People demand this sweet potato casserole. I just get better at it every year.
I love family. Family's really important to me, that keeps me going. Like I said, my dad was calling me the other day. My parents are very proud of me right now, which is really nice to hear!
And your mom's a gamer, too! How does it feel to have that family legacy now being in video games yourself?
It's crazy because my mom's a gamer and I keep asking her to play my game, and she won't do it!
The games for her are like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask , so with the Z-targeting, the camera's really manageable. Final Fantasy , perdió algunas generaciones de juegos en los que aprendes a controlar la cámara con el otro palo, por lo que el control de la cámara es realmente difícil para ella. But maybe one day.
But still, they're very proud and very supportive, even if they can't play my game.
Para obtener más información de Briana White, consulte su actuación nominada al premio de juego como Aerith Gainsborough en Final Fantasy VII Rebirth , su extraña comunidad de redes sociales de juegos rebeldes y su plato de Acción de Gracias de Ruth en el sitio web oficial de Ruth Chris.
