{"id":17037,"date":"2025-10-30T00:05:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T00:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=17037"},"modified":"2025-10-30T00:05:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T00:05:48","slug":"south-of-midnights-lead-on-hazel-black-women-have-strong-stories-that-deserve-to-be-told","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=17037","title":{"rendered":"South Of Midnight\u2019s Lead On Hazel: \u2018Black Women Have Strong Stories\u2019 That Deserve To Be Told"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div property=\"schema:text\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/product\/south-of-midnight\">South of Midnight<\/a> is one of my favorite games of the year. As someone who has spent many sweaty, mosquito-filled summer days in southern Louisiana, eating countless links of boudin and pounds of crawfish, I knew before even playing South of Midnight that it would be a special game to me. My dad is Cajun, as is his extended (and I mean,\u00a0<em>extended<\/em>, ya\u2019ll) family, and South of Midnight is one of the few games that explores this unique southern culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Of course, South of Midnight fuses a lot more than just Cajun culture and third-person action gameplay. It tells a story intimately in conversation with Cajun and Creole folklore, the Southern Black experience, and the fables of the Gullah people, amongst others. It\u2019s a rich tapestry of storytelling about culture, ancestry, grief, trauma, and perhaps more than any other theme, love. Specifically, the love between a daughter and a mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"jlvid_container\"><iframe title=\"South of Midnight Review: Southern Folklore Done Right | Game Informer\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dgyiHJoBEVw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>At the heart of South of Midnight\u2019s relationship between Lacey Flood and her daughter, the game\u2019s protagonist, Hazel, is the incredible voice performances (though the rest of the game features great work in VO, too). That\u2019s why I jumped at the opportunity to speak to Adriyan Rae, the voice behind Hazel, over a Zoom call to chat about South of Midnight and her first-ever Golden Joystick Awards nomination, for Best Lead Performer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was in my house and my daughter was literally pulling at me, and then my phone started ringing,\u201d Rae tells me. \u201cOn the phone was my manager, and he goes, \u2018I just want to tell you, you\u2019re nominated for a Golden Joystick,\u2019 and I said, \u2018Oh my god, that\u2019s so awesome.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<article alt=\"Adriyan Rae\" title=\"Adriyan Rae\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"39e85ddd-ea96-4781-82e7-8f0bc4a6d7e6\" data-embed-button=\"image_browser_uploader\" data-entity-embed-display=\"image:responsive_image\" data-entity-embed-display-settings=\"{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;content_body&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;},&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_target&quot;:0,&quot;link_original&quot;:0,&quot;image_source&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;embed_source&quot;:0,&quot;image_caption&quot;:&quot;Adriyan Rae&quot;,&quot;embed_caption&quot;:0,&quot;content_warning&quot;:0}\" class=\"align-left embedded-entity\" data-langcode=\"en\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/c96db6ae\/rae_1.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (min-width: 851px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"401\" height=\"600\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.comhttps:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/content_default_mobile_\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/c96db6ae\/rae_1.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (min-width: 315px) and (max-width: 450px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"268\" height=\"400\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.comhttps:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/content_default_mobile_\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/c96db6ae\/rae_1.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (max-width: 314px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"268\" height=\"400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"401\" height=\"600\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/c96db6ae\/rae_1.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Adriyan Rae\" title=\"Adriyan Rae\" class=\"lazyload\" typeof=\"foaf:Image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<p>Adriyan Rae<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<p>Rae recalls that before this nomination, she was recently in a studio that actually had a Golden Joystick award on display. She had no idea she\u2019d be nominated for one in the coming weeks. \u201cIt\u2019s so exciting and fun and it\u2019s just an honor,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful. It\u2019s wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rae is the\u00a0only\u00a0Black woman nominated for a Golden Joystick Award this year, and though Black representation in games has become better over the years, there\u2019s still plenty of work to do \u2013 Rae\u2019s nomination as the only Black woman is a sign of that. \u201cOn one side, it\u2019s sad,\u201d she says. \u201cOn the other side, it\u2019s wonderful, right? It\u2019s based on your perspective. On the side of it being sad, these stories deserve to be told. Black women have strong stories and characters that people can resonate with, and they should be able to have their stories told. On the other side, at least this is progress. This nomination shows that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rae says this nomination shows that a lot of people who didn\u2019t think this story would resonate with folks are wrong. \u201cNow look at us, we must have done something right by making a Black female lead,\u201d she adds. \u201cSo I think that it\u2019s both those things, but I like to err on the side of gratitude.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just grateful for the progress, and I hope it shows the heads in charge of creating games and giving people the budgets to make these things that diversity and representation are very important, and we\u2019re not going to lose by choosing to have those things. It\u2019s a step in the right direction of progress, and I\u2019m grateful to be part of that movement.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<article data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"6663a28a-bbf1-4d77-b2e5-9b06da9c7865\" data-embed-button=\"image_browser_uploader\" data-entity-embed-display=\"image:responsive_image\" data-entity-embed-display-settings=\"{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;content_body&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;},&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_target&quot;:0,&quot;link_original&quot;:0,&quot;image_source&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;embed_source&quot;:0,&quot;image_caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;embed_caption&quot;:0,&quot;content_warning&quot;:0}\" class=\"align-right embedded-entity\" data-langcode=\"en\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/a25c693e\/rae_2.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (min-width: 851px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.comhttps:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/content_default_mobile_\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/a25c693e\/rae_2.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (min-width: 315px) and (max-width: 450px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.comhttps:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/content_default_mobile_\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/a25c693e\/rae_2.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (max-width: 314px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/a25c693e\/rae_2.jpg.webp\" class=\"lazyload\" typeof=\"foaf:Image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/article>\n<p>She makes sure to shout out the South of Midnight performance and voice director, Ahmed Best (whom you might also know as the voice of Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel films), for helping her tap into what makes Hazel so special to her. \u201cI love him so very much,\u201d she tells me. \u201cI\u2019m just in awe of his talent, in awe of how humble he is, and he\u2019s just a phenomenal director and performer [Best also voices Roux in South of Midnight].<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think what\u2019s so beautiful is that he has this expertise and he can just share it with you without making you feel dumb or less than or like your own expertise isn\u2019t important. He did a really phenomenal job of collaborating and uplifting me and giving me the space to be creative as well. And for that, I\u2019m so grateful, because I think it helps make the characters nuanced and authentic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When I ask Rae about the message of South of Midnight and how it resonates with her in light of this nomination, she explains, \u201cGive people the compassion and grace and love that you would like to receive, and step to them with empathy. I think that\u2019s something that everyone can resonate with, and everyone could use a bit more of in today\u2019s society. When you come from that type of place, no matter where you are and who you are, everybody wants the grace that they give. Everybody wants to feel seen, heard, and understood, and I think that\u2019s what Hazel does along the journey of her becoming and understanding herself. That\u2019s why [South of Midnight] can resonate with so many people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite award-nominated success in her first video game appearance (though she tells me it\u2019s her second because her first was never released), at one point, Rae\u2019s vision for her future couldn\u2019t have been more different. She was in college to be a physician assistant and medical laboratory scientist.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She always loved creating and singing, though, so she\u2019s not surprised life brought her to something like the starring role of South of Midnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After college, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, which is where she was introduced to acting. Though she\u2019s appeared in various TV shows and movies, including\u00a0Chicago Fire,\u00a0The Game, and\u00a0The Vagrant Queen, to name a few, she recalls her first couple of times on set, working for 15 hours, and still being ready for more. \u201c\u2018Okay, what\u2019s next?\u2019 I\u2019d ask and they were like, \u2018No, we\u2019re going home now,\u2019\u201d Rae says. At the same time, during her scientist job, after 10 minutes, she would wonder when her next break was. That job felt like work, she says, and acting didn\u2019t \u2013\u00a0 it felt like her passion. Determined to chase that feeling further, she moved to L.A., telling her then-employer, the Los Angeles non-profit Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, that if she had an audition, she\u00a0had\u00a0to attend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She recalls the audition for South of Midnight being completely unrelated to what the game ended up becoming. The character she was asked to portray was hiding in a bar, wearing a hat, looking for a man who was supposed to help her reach a certain place. There was mystery and intrigue, and crying, too, \u201cbut none of it was like anything in the game.\u201d Regardless, she did something right and landed the role of Hazel.<\/p>\n<p>Between Rae\u2019s unrelated studying of Gullah and Geechee culture at other points in her life, and her late great aunt\u2019s name also being Hazel \u2013 she was a \u201chealer,\u201d too \u2013 this role was more than serendipity. It felt made for Rae. \u201cIt was just so many things that I was like, \u2018This is divinely set up for me to play this character,\u2019\u201d she tells me.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I mention to her that it\u2019s somewhat surreal talking with her, as she sounds just like Hazel. But I haven\u2019t played South of Midnight since its April launch, and it turns out Rae\u2019s natural voice isn\u2019t quite Hazel&#8217;s. I realize that when Rae rises out of her natural Alto range and adds some Southern twang and tells me, \u201cThis is Hazel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When I ask if there\u2019s any more Hazel within her, she answers with a definitive yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat journey to self, the journey of accepting that you may have thought you knew who you were, but you\u2019re ever-changing and ever-growing, that resonated,\u201d Rae says. \u201cHer journey, that\u2019s what\u2019s really stuck with me. As I made Hazel, Hazel made me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rae voices Hazel, of course, and she also provided the mocap for the character.\u00a0<\/p>\n<article data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"844c3a24-2625-4c79-905d-abe9cc76828e\" data-embed-button=\"image_browser_uploader\" data-entity-embed-display=\"image:responsive_image\" data-entity-embed-display-settings=\"{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;content_body&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;},&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_target&quot;:0,&quot;link_original&quot;:0,&quot;image_source&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;embed_source&quot;:0,&quot;image_caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;embed_caption&quot;:0,&quot;content_warning&quot;:0}\" class=\"align-left embedded-entity\" data-langcode=\"en\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/2a9b130e\/rae_mocap_1.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (min-width: 851px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"544\" height=\"600\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.comhttps:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/content_default_mobile_\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/2a9b130e\/rae_mocap_1.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (min-width: 315px) and (max-width: 450px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"363\" height=\"400\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.comhttps:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/content_default_mobile_\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/2a9b130e\/rae_mocap_1.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (max-width: 314px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"363\" height=\"400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"544\" height=\"600\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/2a9b130e\/rae_mocap_1.jpg.webp\" class=\"lazyload\" typeof=\"foaf:Image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/article>\n<p>She was in the first trimester with her now one-and-a-half-year-old daughter when she did her first mocap session. I tell her I played South of Midnight with my own daughter, born on March 28, just days before the game\u2019s launch, on my lap. Though I\u2019m sure the relationship between Hazel and her mother at the core of South of Midnight would have resonated with childless me, it hit even harder as the credits rolled with my daughter on my lap.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt made the journey so much more touching for me because it wasn\u2019t just about me and my mother,\u201d Rae says. \u201cNow, it was like, \u2018What about me and her?\u2019 Us being torn apart [like Hazel and her mother in-game], I can\u2019t imagine. It just really made those emotions so much more visceral, so much more raw, and I think it comes across in the performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<article data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"adc5f12d-cd39-4794-9872-48db03d3946c\" data-embed-button=\"image_browser_uploader\" data-entity-embed-display=\"image:responsive_image\" data-entity-embed-display-settings=\"{&quot;responsive_image_style&quot;:&quot;content_body&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;},&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;link_target&quot;:0,&quot;link_original&quot;:0,&quot;image_source&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;embed_source&quot;:0,&quot;image_caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;embed_caption&quot;:0,&quot;content_warning&quot;:0}\" data-langcode=\"en\" class=\"embedded-entity\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/d75a1118\/rae_child.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (min-width: 851px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.comhttps:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/content_default_mobile_\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/d75a1118\/rae_child.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (min-width: 315px) and (max-width: 450px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.comhttps:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/content_default_mobile_\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/d75a1118\/rae_child.jpg.webp 1x\" media=\"all and (max-width: 314px)\" type=\"image\/webp\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2025\/10\/29\/d75a1118\/rae_child.jpg.webp\" class=\"lazyload\" typeof=\"foaf:Image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/article>\n<p>We joke (though I think we&#8217;d both seriously try) that we&#8217;d move mountains to save our own daughter as we close out the interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not here to tell you to vote for Rae as Best Lead Performer in the Golden Joystick Awards, though personally, she\u2019s got my vote \u2013 I am here to tell you, however, that Rae\u2019s performance as Hazel in South of Midnight is incredible, and it\u2019s for that reason her story will stick with me long after 2025. If you\u2019re so inclined, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/goldenjoystickawards\/#section-golden-joystick-awards-2025-voting\">you can vote for Rae here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For more, read\u00a0<em>Game Informer\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/review\/south-of-midnight\/a-toe-tapping-tapestry\">South of Midnight review<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South of Midnight is one of my favorite games of the year. As someone who has spent many sweaty, mosquito-filled summer days in southern Louisiana, eating countless links of boudin and pounds of crawfish, I knew before even playing South of Midnight that it would be a special game to me. My dad is Cajun, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":17039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-online-games"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>South Of Midnight\u2019s Lead On Hazel: \u2018Black Women Have Strong Stories\u2019 That Deserve To Be Told | Unlock Informed Choices with Us<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We spoke to Adriyan Rae about her journey from medical laboratory scientist to the lead of Complusion Games&#039; 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