Adriyan Rae On 'Becoming South of Midnight's Hazel
HHW Gaming Exclusive: ‘South of Midnight’s Adriyan Rae Breaks Down Her Golden Joystick Award-Nominated Performance As Hazel
It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes a performance in a video game captivates you. Adriyan Rae’s portrayal of Hazel in Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight is one such example and has earned her a well-deserved Golden Joystick Award nomination.
South of Midnight first garnered my attention when it was first revealed during 2023’s Xbox Showcase. Little did I know it would become one of my favorite games of 2025, thanks in large part to its brilliant storytelling, emotional elements, and its status as an endearing love letter to the deep south and Cajuin culture.
At the heart of the third-person adventure is the relationship with Lacy Flood and her young daughter, Hazel, the game’s main protagonist.
Those performances jump off the screen and into my heart, leaving a lasting impression and cementing South of Midnight’s staying power in my mind and others’ forever.
So, of course, it was a no-brainer when given the opportunity to speak with Rae about becoming Hazel and her performance, leading to something she honestly didn’t expect: a Golden Joystick Award nomination for Best Lead Performer in a game.
Adriyan Rae’s Connection With Hazel
Our conversation on Zoom began with Rae’s connection to Hazel and which aspect of the character’s emotional journey resonated most with her, with the actress revealing that Hazel’s arc and healing abilities left an imprint on her.
“I think the overall arc of her starting off feeling like she knows who she is, and then that being completely wiped away when she starts learning about her actual history, roots, her father’s side, all those things,” Rae said. “And then the journey that she takes to come into herself, and how that is one of… not just awareness, but of healing. So, all of that resonated with me deeply.”
She continues, “For me personally, I knew I wanted to be a healer because I went to school to be a doctor, a physician assistant, and a medical laboratory scientist, so I always felt like I wanted to be a healer. I think that my journey along the way helped me truly identify what type of healer and what type of healing I wanted to do, and it kind of parallels with Hazel.”
Mocap Helped Adriyan Rae Understand Hazel’s Weaving Ability
Rae didn’t just provide the voice for Hazel; she also provided the motion capture for the video game heroine, helping her deliver a grounded, authentic performance.
“Well, luckily, my first interaction with her being a weaver was in the mocap, on the mocap stage,” Rae revealed to HHW Gaming. “So, it’s something about figuring out how she weaves, figuring out how she brings the hooks out, figuring out how she’s rounding things up, and what that looks like. That allows it to have a piece, like, find a place in my body, which allows me to vocally find that place and bring it forward.”
She continued, “I think that the weaving journey is so cool, because you know, she’s literally moving, moving agony, pain, she’s moving those things, and then once she does it, she gets it all away. You can see the growth happen, the flourishing of happiness, love.”
Hazel’s abilities also served as an example of how Rae wants to utilize her career, she revealed to HHW Gaming.
“That’s what literally what I want to do with my career,” said Rae. “That’s literally what I want to do by spreading light and being loved and, it’s miraculous how it just lined up for me to of all the auditions, of all the roles, like, there are so many VO roles that, you know, we get a lot of them, and sometimes I can’t get to all of them, so I think this might have even been where I was like, I got an audition, and I’m tired.”
She continues, “And my friend was like, come on, let’s just shoot it. And I was like, I don’t want to shoot it. I think that, yeah, it’s interesting because of all the things, everything conspired for me to end up auditioning and being in this role.”
The Physical Challenge of Bringing Hazel To Life In South of Midnight
Sticking with the mocap work, Rae also touched on how physically challenging the job was, revealing that she was doing it while expecting, a true testament to the amazingness of women.
“I mean, mocap is mocap is once you’re in the suit, ” she begins. “You know, you’re in the suit, and To get out of it, it’s a lot of stuff just to use the bathroom. It’s a lot just doing mocap, period, is a full-body experience that takes a lot of energy.”
She continues, “And then I was doing that while pregnant in my first trimester, so I… yeah, I was quite fatigued, but the… I think the challenge is just, you know. Being in that suit for that many hours, and getting it done, but it’s nothing that you can’t overcome, or it’s nothing that, once you get going, and once you start being in the scenes, you forget about all of that. You’re just happy to be there, and that’s what I was.”
Working Alongside Ahmed Best Brought The Best Out of Rae
One aspect of the game’s development I was shocked and excited to learn was that Compulsion Games enlisted the help of Ahmed Best for South of Midnight, which also served as his video game directorial debut. He also brought the mysterious character Roux to life in the game. I spoke with Rae about working with Best, and she had nothing but glowing words about the actor, best known for his roles as Jar Jar Binks and Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in the Star Wars franchise. She also shared the best piece of advice he gave during the game’s production.
“The valuable piece of direction was just trust myself,” Rae said. “Ahmed is a legend. He is iconic, he is an expert, but he is also super respectful, humble, collaborative, and that’s the best part about working with him, is that he can bring all of that to you without making you feel less than.”
She continued, “He can bring all of that to you and bring it out of you, because he knows where to find it, and he’s truly just such a collaborative, uplifting individual. I love him to pieces. I would work with him over and over and over again, and I would trust his leadership as a director in anything. He’s phenomenal.”
Learning That Her South of Midnight Performance Was An Award-Nominated One
Finally, Rae admits to me that, when she took on the role of Hazel, she approached it as another cool gig she could share with friends and family.
It turns out her performance was far from just another job; it was nominated for a Golden Joystick Award and fully recognized the importance of this moment.
“I thought, like excuse me, I thought, yeah, we did this cool thing. You guys wanna see? Cool! Alright, la-la-la-la-la! And I was just, like, in my own little world, you know? I always say South of Midnight has a special place in my heart. Super grateful. But no, I never expected to be nominated for things,” Rae revealed.
“I’m so grateful for it. I’m grateful because, you know, to be recognized for all the hard work, and I think that, you know, I’m the face for Best Lead Performer, but there’s other people involved, like Nona, Ahmed [Best], writer Zaire [Lanier], narrative director Farah [Brixi], creative director Anamarie [Musca], a bunch of people at compulsion, everybody is Hazel at the same time.”
Rae continues, “I’m grateful that all of that is recognition to everyone’s hard work.I’m also grateful that, with her being a Black character that’s the lead, it’s a sign of progress. Much more progress needs to be made, but it’s a sign that people are more open to our stories than maybe ever before.”
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