Though Final Fantasy 7 Remake is an amazing claim to fame, White has starred in numerous other projects prior to her first video game role. Here’s some background on the incredible actress who’s once again brought Aerith to life for the Final Fantasy 7 universe.
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Championing The Video Game Icon
Previously, Aerith had seen several actresses take on the role of the historic video game character through a variety of different titles. One of Aerith’s first fully voice-acted roles was featured in the Kingdom Hearts series, performed by several actresses like Mandy Moore in Kingdom Hearts 1 and Mena Suvari for Kingdom Hearts 2. Suvari also reprised her role for the CG animated film sequel Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, while Andrea Bowen was the last to voice Aerith for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 and the Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMind DLC.
Now, for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Briana White champions Aerith for the long-anticipated reimagining of, what many consider to be, one of the greatest video games of all time. Interestingly enough, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is White’s first casting for a video game ever, which is impressive considering the iconic character she plays. Her audition must’ve been very impressive to snag a lead role like Aerith, though that’s not to say she doesn’t have plenty of acting chops already.
Briana White, Before Midgar
Prior to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Briana White has had plenty of experience as an actress with several film credits in both supporting and leading roles. She was the leading role in the independent film Occupants, a horror/thriller film about a documentarian who’s discovered an alternate reality. White was nominated for and won several best actress awards from various indie film festivals for it, and he also had a leading role in the short film Summer in the Waters about a daughter attempting to mend her relationship with her father.
She’s also had supporting roles in big budget films and television shows as well. White was a supporting character in the film Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping starring Andy Samberg and Sarah Silverman, as well as an episode of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders on TV. Donning princess robes, White also portrayed Aurora in a viral episode of Princess Rap Battle as well. Lastly, White has had various credits in commercials for high profile brands such as Acura and Credit Karma.
Briana White has also had plenty of professional experience in the games industry, though from a different angle than acting specifically. She also was the host of many gaming-centered productions like Oculus Rift on Facebook, ArcadeCloud Twitch streams, as well as some of Machinima’s Game Nights and Game the Game shows by Geek & Sundry.
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Strange Rebel Gaming
Along with her traditional acting work, White has also cultivated a huge content creation career. Her “Strange Rebel Gaming” YouTube has over 130,000 subscribers, along with around 20,000 followers on Twitch as well. White creates a variety of gaming-related videos like playthroughs of various titles, trailer reactions with Final Fantasy 7 Remake and other games, as well as other discussion videos. She’s been streaming and making content long before she confirmed her role as Aerith in Final Fantasy 7 Remake and is now doing her own playthrough for the first time on Twitch. This in turn gifted fans with her heartwarming reaction to Aerith in Final Fantasy 7 Remake that went viral. White has also started a series, with co-star and veteran video game actor John Eric Bentley, where they play the original Final Fantasy 7 for the first time.
Aerith was given new life with her depiction in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Briana White’s performance is nothing short of exceptional. Even if this was her first role for a video game, fans will likely still appreciate her fantastic performance.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now for PS4.
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