Cody Christian is an American actor and voice actor who voices Cloud Strife in the English version of Final Fantasy VII Remake. His performance earned him a BAFTA Award for Performer in a Leading Role nomination.[2] Outside of the Final Fantasy series, he is best known for his acting roles in Pretty Little Liars and All American.
Biography[]
Background[]
Cody Christian played Mike Montgomery in Pretty Little Liars from 2010 to 2015, and has starred as Asher Adams in All American since it first aired in 2018. Beyond this, he has a variety of other credits and appearances throughout film and television. He had never voice acted for a video game before Final Fantasy VII Remake.[3]
Cody Christian did not play the original Final Fantasy VII, but had seen gameplay clips on YouTube[4] and had a brother who grew up with the series.[3]
Final Fantasy series[]
Cloud, as a character, is very rich and complex. There’s an abundance of emotional layers to explore and portray. We forget that this is still a kid, a human, with very human thoughts and experiences in this fantasy world. As an actor, it’s a joy to depict such a character.
Cody Christian, Comic Book interview[4]
Cody Christian was first called in for an unnamed project with an unnamed role, and was on a Skype call in Japan while in a room with the voice directors and engineers. They first had Christian pretend he had a giant sword and play act a special attack.[3] Further on in the process, when he knew he was auditioning for Cloud, he prepared by watching Steve Burton's performance in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.[4]
Beyond studying Steve Burton's take on Cloud in Advent Children, Christian did extensive research into the character. He got some insight from his brother and his brother's friends, some of whom were forum managers involved more heavily in the gaming industry. Christian also watched Cloud in other appearances, and played as Cloud in Super Smash Bros. to learn his moves and attacks in battle.[3]
Steve Burton later shared a message informing fans that he was no longer playing Cloud. He expressed his gratitude to Square Enix, for the opportunity to play Cloud, and wished Christian good luck in the role.[5] Christian was immensely grateful for the gesture, and later commented on how it gave him confidence that he was at the time lacking.[4]
Christian's performance as Cloud earned him a BAFTA nomination for Performer in a Leading Role.[2] In 2024, Cody Christian won the Golden Joysticks Award for Best Lead Performer for his role as Cloud in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.[6]
Portrayal[]
Cody Christian drew inspiration from Steve Burton's take on Cloud while wishing to breathe new essence into him, in order to ensure his performance felt familiar to fans, but pave a way for moving forward. Christian drew from Burton's performance in humanizing Cloud. In particular, he felt it important to carry over Burton's portrayal of Cloud's vulnerability and being a "guarded hero plagued by his past trauma".[4]
Christian portrayed Cloud as someone who is misunderstood and seeking an identity, his being hurt by past trauma making him scared to love and connect as he had before.[4] Christian enjoyed working with Cloud because of the depth of his character development, describing Cloud as one of the "juiciest characters" he has worked on.[3]
Roles[]
| Title | Release | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy VII Remake | 2020 | Cloud Strife |
| Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade | 2021 | Cloud Strife |
| Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier | 2021 | Cloud Strife (archived audio) |
| Chocobo GP | 2022 | Cloud Strife (archived audio) |
| Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | 2024 | Cloud Strife |
Citations[]
- ↑ (n.d.) . "Cody Christian". From Hollywood Life. Archived from the original on May 28, 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ankers, Adele (2021, March 2). "BAFTA Games Awards 2021 Nominations Announced". From 'IGN'. Archived from the original on May 28, 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Regan, Tom (2022, April 10). "Lending Voices to a Legend: How Cody Christian & Britt Baron became Cloud & Tifa". From Fandom. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Aguilar, Matthew (2020, September 2). "Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Cody Christian Talks Putting His Own Spin on an Iconic Character". From Comic Book. Archived from the original on May 28, 2021.
- ↑ (2019, June 12). You may have heard, I will no longer be voicing the amazing cloud strife. Much luv & respect to @SquareEnix for the opportunity.. forever GRATEFUL! And so grateful to all of the FANS..thank you so much for the ♥️ & support. My best to @ReallyCody I’m sure he will do a great job! [Tweet]. Twitter.
- ↑ Jones, Ali (2024, November 1). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2024 winners". From GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on November 21, 2024.
External links[]
- Cody Christian on Wikipedia
- Profile on IMDb
- Twitter profile
- Interview with Deadline on portraying Cloud Strife