Square Enix shared a FFVII Rebirth interview with the Cloud voice actor Cody Christian. In some of the more notable segments, Christian brought up how challenging the recording process can be, especially as he played Cloud at different ages in this installment. He also noted, “The best thing about playing Cloud Strife… is being able to play Cloud Strife, man.”
First, here’s Christian’s official statement on voicing Cloud at different ages throughout FFVII Rebirth and how that affected his performance.
Honestly, I had to do some actual physical changes, kind of lightening up the tone, trying to reach a higher octave. Naturally, my voice sits a little lower, so that was fun to explore.
There were two different age brackets. There was like a younger, younger cloud and then a slightly older version of that. And then the current state that I voice them in.
But outside of physically changing the voice, it was just also changing the mindset depending on where it was in the story. What had happened, what had occurred, what was his life really like, what was his relationships like? Because again, there’s such a duality to the character. And as an actor, something that has excited me the most about portraying him is there’s just so many sides, there’s so many things acting all at once.
We see young Cloud in the village, we see Cloud beginning SOLDIER training… there’s all different phases of his life. So, it’s really just about understanding the context of where he’s at and letting it all come from there.
As for the challenges of playing Cloud in FFVII Rebirth, Christian cited how recording means he isn’t going through the script chronologically. So he needs to anticipate reactions and emotions accordingly. Here’s his comment on that.
We don’t record anything chronologically, so it’s difficult to kind of figure out where you are in that exact moment, what has happened previously, what’s about to happen next. There’s a lot of like questioning, and really making sure you know where you’re at.
And quite honestly, I’d say that was the most difficult process. Because, again, having had the first game come out and people not go on a rampage to try to get me out, I was like: “okay” (laughs). It was so much easier and so much more comfortable.
This is the second such interview released by Square Enix. It previously conducted a similar sort of one with Britt Baron, the voice actress behind Tifa in FFVII Remake and Rebirth.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will come to the PS5 on February 29, 2024, with the exclusivity arrangement ending on May 29, 2024. FFVII Remake is available for the PS4, PS5, and PC, and FFVII Ever Crisis is available on the PC and mobile devices.
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