Não apenas o Briana White Derling Hearts, da Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, em seu desempenho indicado ao prêmio como Aerith Gainsborough, mas o ator continua a promover uma comunidade de rebeldes estranhos de empatia como uma serpentina baseada em histórias. O local conversou com White logo após a melhor indicação de desempenho para discutir o legado de Aerith, o crescimento de jogos estranhos de rebeldes, os poderes de cura da vida é estranho e a caçarola de batata -doce ideal.
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!
Foi realmente interessante porque, para os joysticks dourados, eu estava em uma convenção quando essas indicações foram divulgadas, então eu estava completamente focado em outra coisa e nem pensei nisso. Quando descobri a indicação para os joysticks dourados, fiquei como apenas chocado: “Uau, isso veio do 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. Foi muito engraçado porque começou às 9 da manhã e eu entrei no riacho às 9:02, mas aos 10 anos - antes de tudo, meu pai estava me ligando e eu fico tipo: “Pai, me dê um segundo. Estou ocupado, tenho que assistir a esse fluxo para que eu possa ver se sou indicado ” - e quando entrei no fluxo, minha categoria já havia sido anunciada e eu estava recebendo mensagens de parabéns.
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. [Risos]
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.
Às vezes, sinto que, porque Aerith foi meu primeiro papel, às vezes ainda tenho uma pequena síndrome de impostor sobre sentir que pertenço a esse estágio e com essas indicações. Apenas porque é, quero dizer, é o meu primeiro 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.
Quando eu estava gravando para o remake de [ Final Fantasy VII ], o primeiro jogo, fui atingido por uma síndrome de impostor tão incrível porque é um processo tecnicamente desafiador para o ato de voz, mas também para se localizar do japonês para o inglês. Seria como chorar no meu carro pensando: “Isso é muito difícil. I can't do this.”
Mas eu me olhava no espelho e dizia a mim mesma: “Ok, então você se sente assim, mas ainda vai trabalhar amanhã se eles o terão, certo?” Sim. Sim eu sou. [Risos]
Então, síndrome do impostor, é quase como, eu tenho esses sentimentos e eu os aceito e os reconheço, mas, ao mesmo tempo, ainda vou fazer o que me propus a fazer. Se não pertençar aqui, tudo bem. But I am here. I'm going to do my best. And that's all I can do.
Se não sinto que estou fazendo um bom trabalho, o que preciso fazer para me tornar melhor? Trabalhei com treinadores e tive aulas e aprendi tudo o que pude e tentei aprimorar meu ouvido. 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.
De volta ao início desse relacionamento com Aerith e seu relacionamento com o tipo de indústria de jogos em geral, quando você estava recebendo a audição pela primeira vez para o papel, qual foi esse processo de pesquisa como considerar que a Final Fantasy tem tanta tradição e expectativa que vem com ela?
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.
Então, eu realmente pensei que iria entrar nisso, não reservar a audição, mas talvez eles me considerassem como um personagem paralelo se eu fizesse bem? 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. E, é claro, a primeira coisa que aparece é [Aerith é um dos personagens icônicos mais lendários nos jogos por causa de sua morte em 1997. Isso chocou os jogadores ao redor do mundo e rasgou o coração de todos em pedaços. 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. Ela nunca teve outra atriz de dublagem japonesa. Eu tive que honrar seu desempenho porque sabia disso, entrando na audição, isso seria principalmente em que o processo está envolvido. Ouvi a versão de Maaya nos meus fones de cabeça e depois dou minha versão com base no que os tradutores escreveram no meu roteiro.
So, I listened to her voice and then listened to all the previous English voice actresses as well. E então eu apenas fiquei aqui na minha configuração de streaming, e dei algumas tomadas da audição e ouvi de volta e disse: "Eu poderia dar um pouco mais de respiração?" 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. Não sei. It's one of those impossible questions.
Well, you did definitely make quite a few memories in the last five years with Aerith.
Quite a few.
And you touched on the localization process of making the game and how thorough that was. Mas eu queria saber, como alguém que adora videogames e anime, como isso parecia estar envolvido na questão da questão do processo de localização da perspectiva dos bastidores?
It was the coolest thing ever. It still is. Porque eu sei que, como fã desses jogos, é emocionante antecipar como vai acontecer e, finalmente, coloque -o em suas mãos e depois tocá -lo e: "Oh, é exatamente o que eu imaginei que seria e melhor".
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.
Mas, na maioria das vezes, foi emocionante poder ... eu disse no passado "ver como a salsicha é feita", mas você não quer ver como a salsicha é feita, mas você deseja ver como os videogames são feitos. 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?” She said 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 nós gravamos completamente fora de ordem, na maioria das vezes. Às vezes, gostamos da história principal e, em seguida, as coisas secundárias, ou, você sabe, faremos captadores de cenas diferentes que ainda não estavam prontas para nós. So, the order of things is completely fresh to me and a total surprise.
Mas, às vezes, às vezes há coisas que não aconteceram no Final Fantasy VII original em que os sussurros acabam se envolvendo, e essas coisas são surpresas completas para mim.
Speaking of things that aren't surprising, we touched upon Aerith's iconic death. Os videogames geralmente são uma fuga para as pessoas, mas também existem muitos temas realmente sérios que podem acontecer em videogames que podem ajudar as pessoas a trabalhar com o luto e a trabalhar com alguns problemas mais sérios. Você pode abordar esse equilíbrio entre os videogames como uma fuga, mas também sendo uma fonte de empatia?
I think Final Fantasy does a really good job of that, specifically. Porque quando você olha para alguns jogos que são elogiados como jogos baseados em histórias, é quase como se estivesse muito escuro, e isso o tira completamente da sua vida diária Humrum em um lugar mais sombrio. 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? Como, para ajudar a processar o trauma, às vezes você coloca uma lente para estudá -la à distância, ou coloca outra pessoa no seu lugar para poder processá -lo.
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. Mesmo que as apostas da sua vida sejam tão altas que você apenas, você não acha que vai sair do outro lado de qualquer situação em que em que está, mesmo nisso, ainda pode se divertir. Você ainda pode fazer uma piada, ainda pode quebrar um sorriso e ainda pode sair com seus 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.
Você já teve experiências, talvez não apenas videogames, mas qualquer tipo de mídia onde algo aconteceu nela que o ajudou a processar algo em sua própria 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! Mas porque sinto as coisas profundamente, e especialmente quando os hormônios estão furiosos e todo mundo é tão hormonal, tudo parece o fim do mundo, mesmo que seja apenas seu amigo não quis sair com você naquela noite.
A vida é estranha , um excelente trabalho de honrar o que significa ser apenas um adolescente sem patrociná-lo, e sem a adolescente, sem apagar-a, e sem a colcha de açúcar, e sem fazer parecer que você está do lado de fora. Porque, por fora, olhando para a adolescência, pode ser muito: “Você precisa se acalmar. Relaxar. 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 . Eu era o tipo de jogador que tentei muitas coisas diferentes e, finalmente, quando joguei pessoas Uncharted realmente ressoaram com o fato de que eu poderia falar sobre os personagens e as relações entre eles e por que essa e essa cena foi tão 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. Jogando esses dois jogos ao mesmo tempo foi uma experiência tão intensamente emocional que eu acho que cimentou o tipo de conteúdo que as pessoas querem ver de mim. 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.” E tomo isso como uma enorme fonte de orgulho, que meu conteúdo poderia ajudar as pessoas, como conversamos antes, a ter sentimentos à distância que os faz se sentirem seguros para tê -las. Eu acho que há algo realmente bonito nisso, que meu conteúdo pode ajudar a abrir um pouco o coração de alguém e fazê -los se sentir seguros para ter seus sentimentos.
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. Sendo um garoto de teatro no ensino médio, todos nós meio que abraçamos isso como: “Não somos normais e não pertencemos ao mainstream, e isso é ótimo! 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 ?
É incrível. 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 se alguém se esforçar para assistir ao meu conteúdo e me deixar uma mensagem que diz: "Eu amei isso", quero prestar de volta o respeito que eles estão me mostrando para me dar a hora do dia e dar a eles a hora do dia, pelo menos lendo -o e dando a eles como eu puder. 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.
Quero dizer, agora, fazemos parte de uma discórdia realmente incrível, movimentada e próspera, onde temos noites de cinema, temos um clube de culinária, acabamos de iniciar um clube do livro, fazemos hangouts de vídeo todos os meses, jogamos jogos juntos duas vezes por semana. Estamos lá um para o outro. 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. Eu tenho um gerente da comunidade, Jeff, que faz um trabalho incrível executando todos esses eventos e planejamento, como, temos um triatlo de jogo anual, onde todos jogamos e competimos para arrecadar mais dinheiro. 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.
Eu queria perguntar antes de sairmos se houver alguma coisa em sua vida agora que está trazendo alegria, seja jogos que você está jogando, coisas que você está assistindo, pessoas em sua 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!
É tão bom. 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 , ela perdeu algumas gerações de jogos em que você aprende a controlar a câmera com a outra vara, então o controle da câmera é realmente difícil para ela. But maybe one day.
But still, they're very proud and very supportive, even if they can't play my game.
Para mais informações sobre Briana White, confira seu desempenho indicado ao prêmio de jogo como Aerith Gainsborough em Final Fantasy VII Rebirth , sua estranha comunidade de mídia social de jogos rebeldes e seu prato de Ação de Graças de Ação de Graças no site oficial de Ruth Chris.
