South of Midnight "shows these stories are wanted, needed, and necessary" explains Hazel actress Adriyan Rae

It's almost awards season for the video game space. Between late November and early April, many of the biggest shows and ceremonies are hosted, with the Golden Joysticks happening in around a month and then being shortly followed by The Game Awards and such, before typically ending with the BAFTA Games Awards in the spring.

As part of the upcoming show, we recently had the pleasure to speak with Adriyan Rae, who many of you will know and recognise as the person behind South of Midnight's protagonist, Hazel. Rae is up for a Best Lead Performer award, against some famous names from the industry like Troy Baker for his efforts as Indiana Jones and Jennifer English as Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Rae is also the only black nominee in the category this year, and when talking about that and what it means for her to be recognised in this ceremony, she explained the following.

"This will be my first award I ever won. I've been nominated for another award, but man, what would it mean? The world. Not because, not because of like, oh, look at me. But because for this role specifically, my late aunt, the whole personal journey of it all," Rae explains in reference to the divine-like circumstances that led to her casting as Hazel.

"And then the diversity inclusion, the representation that South of Midnight brings, for me to win something in that, to put that in an even bigger platform, even more people... And the story resonated with that many people just shows these stories are wanted, needed, and necessary, and we should tell more of them and we should portray them authentically with black female leads and diverse leads, not just the same type of leads that you always see, and it's okay because it will resonate with people. So that's what will mean the world to me because in the bigger picture and this thing is way bigger than me, it would, it would really push the movement forward."

Don't miss our full interview with Rae below where she also tells us about her previous work on what sure does sound like one of the past iterations of BioShock 4. And don't forget to vote for Rae in the Golden Joysticks either.