Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's award-winning Aerith actor once worried she wasn't "cut out" for the role, but was reassured by a co-star that Square Enix "cast you for a reason"

Aerith is surrounded by fire lanterns in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Despite her relative lack of experience when taking the role, the actor behind Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth's Aerith Gainsborough says her worries were eased when Barret Wallace's actor reminded her that Square Enix "cast her for a reason."

As part of a video series on Square Enix's YouTube channel, actors Briana White (Aerith) and John Eric Bentley (Barret) meet up for a chat – a party chat, if you will. The whole hour is worth watching for the rather wholesome vibes they bring, but a highlight is White reminiscing over how Bentley helped put her at ease.

Briana White & John Eric Bentley | Square Enix Party Chat - YouTube Briana White & John Eric Bentley | Square Enix Party Chat - YouTube
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Bentley recalls a moment in Vancouver post-E3 that allowed the cast of Final Fantasy 7 Remake to chat properly. With most of the recording done at that point, White adds that she was able to ask about the process – "is this normal, is that normal, am I cut out for this?" Given her "lack of experience," the situation was likely rather new.

Getting directly to the point, White says that Bentley simply told her, "They cast you for a reason, and you are allowed to be in that booth, and to bring makes you special to the acting. That just opened up a whole new world for me."

Barely missing a beat, Bentley tells White she took the role elsewhere because she made it her own. And, just a few years later, she has a rather shiny Golden Joystick award for Best Supporting Actor to show for it. Lovely.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's ending proved divisive, but the director of the original JRPG is "very satisfied" with Part 3's story and is confident you will be too.

Deputy News Editor

Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.