Behind the scenes of Final Fantasy 8
Okay, so lots of people have played the game, know the characters, followed the storyline, but what about the people behind the game, the characters, the storyline? In this particular interview we meet the man behind Squall, the main character of the game and crush of plenty of girls worldwide.
Okay Squall (Can I call you that?) Welcome to the studio! Did you make it okay?
Hi, (Squall shakes my hand). Uh... yeah- Squall' fine. Yeah, I got here safely and in one piece. Your cab driver was really friendly.
Wedge? Yeah, he drives my limousine sometimes. He knows what he's doing. So, we're going to go straight to the questions if you don't mind.
Sure, go ahead.
How did you react when you'd been chosen for the lead part?
Really surprised, actually. There was this other guy- you know the one who played Vincent in Final Fantasy seven? I was convinced they were gonna choose him 'cause he did such a good job in that game. There's also the fact that he's better-looking than me. I know a lot of his fans were really annoyed with me for that.
What about Vincent? Did he mind?
Vincent? A little, but we're pretty good friends so he wasn't too upset. Or he didn't seem too upset.
You know Vincent?!
Yeah, I was friends with him way before he was in Final Fantasy seven. We went to the same school and we knew eachother then. Then we drifted apart a bit, but we went to the same acting school too. That's how I got involved in Final Fantasy and stuff. He was the one who told me about the auditions being held for Final Fantasy 8. He's a real nice guy but really quiet, just like the character he played! (Squall laughs a little). I think it took a while to get him to talk to me.
What about you? Are you anything like the character you played?
No! (Squall laughs). Well, a little. I guess I have his determination, or else I wouldn't have got this far. It made his character to hard to play because he's so quiet and sensative and moody, but I'm not like that at all.
Were there any actors that were like their characters?
Sure. Zell was exactly like his character! During filming he'd pull faces during emotional scenes to try and put you off. He had Zell's temper, too. If he screwed up just a little he'd swear and kick the set and everything. He nearly got sacked because he tried to beat up the director for telling him how to do a certain scene. And there's Irvine, too. He was such a ladies man. Whenever he wasn't busy he'd be getting the girls a drink or trying to get their phone numbers or something. He had a major crush on Rinoa.
Ah yeah- there was something in the news about that for a while, wasn't there?
Yeah. They went out for a while, but it didn't work out. He was jealous of all her male fans and she was sick of him flirting with other women.
Speaking of fans- you have a lot of female fans, don't you?
Yeah, (he blushes a little). I was quite surprised, to tell you the truth. I thought they'd all go for Seifer because of the 'bad boy' thing, or Irvine for the 'ladies man' thing, or Zell because... well... he's cool! I never thought in the wildest dreams they'd go for me. I thought of my character as this moody, selfish guy.
What do you think of them? All the female fans, I mean.
I love them all (laughs). Even now I get female fans writing to me even though Final Fantasy eight was years ago.
Ever get any wierd mail?
Yeah, A LOT. I get a lot of women's underwear and stuff like that. I don't really mind; I'm just grateful that I have so many fans! I try to answer every letter, but it's so hard! There're a few people who write to me once every week or so, which is so nice to think that someone takes the time each week to write to me. I get a load of stuff to sign- photographs, clothes, games; all sorts.
Can you sign this for me? (I pull out my copy of Final Fantasy 8)
Yeah sure, you got a pen? (he takes my pen and scribbles on Final Fantasy 8.
"Debs, best wishes, Squall x x x". I'll put this ob B-bay later! (laughs) only joking! Okay, back to FF8. How hard was it to film all the footage needed?
Y'know, it was hard, but easy. It was hard because it took so long to film. There was a vast amount of footage needed and sometimes we'd be working through the night, and there was one particular scene which was filmed whilst raining. The director insisted that it should be natural rain, as it was far more effective, so we spent a while just waiting for it to rain. As soon as we got a phone call that it was raining, we'd hop in the bus and drive straight there. It was quite hard, but on the plus side I didn't have to talk! It was pretty much at the last minute that they told me that it'd be much easier to just put the words up on the screen. It was wierd having to mime the whole thing, but at least I could concentrate on my expressions and body language. There was a lot of training I had to go through before the movie, too. I went to Tae-kwon-do, and we all spent several months in a training camp, too. Seifer was so impressed with his abs that he still goes there now.
I can't help but notice that your scar's gone...
Yeah, it was just make-up (well, they were hardly going to cut their actor, were they?). It took a short while to put it on, but I was one of the lucky ones. Zell had to sit for a fair while whilst the make-up artist drew and painted the tattoo on his face. That was pretty funny because of his short temper, and he'd always come out of the make-up studio in a bad mood. I know that at one point he got so mad that he was considering to get it done for real.
So, you didn't take your scar home. What about your clothes? Are there any props you took home?
I loved my costume so I took that home. It's in my wardrobe- I think the last time I wore it was to some party or something. I took home my gunblade as well, even though it's just a prop. Loads of other people took home items, I know Zell took his hoverboard, and everyone took home a photograph of us all together. It was great fun and memories like that never go away.
What about the rest of the cast? Do you still keep in touch with them?
Yeah, some of them. I still talk to Zell when I can, and Quistis, too- she's a great person. Sometimes I talk to Seifer and when we both go to parties we get drunk together and stuff like that. There isn't anyone who I avoid or ignore- I love them all, and who wouldn't after working on such a long and difficult project like Final Fantasy 8? We all share memories and experiences together and we're practically family.
Okay, so now if you don't mind I'll ask you some of our reader's questions?
Sure.
(I'm not kidding. If you have a question you want to ask 'Squall', post it in the comments/reviews and if it's decent I'll ask it).
Okay... So our first questions are from 'Mrs Leonhart' (Squall laughs at the name)
"Was it hard training the dog to play Angelo?"
Uh... It was already trained, but it was the nicest dog! On stage it did everything it was supposed to, in some ways it was better than the actors! But off stage it was really fussy. I think it liked us because we were always handing it leftovers and scraps.
"Did you and Rinoa ever hit it off in real life?"
Me and Rinoa? I wish! (Laughs). I had a little crush on her, but she didn't like me that much. I did actually make a move to kiss her but she stopped me and told me that she didn't like me in that kind of way. We're good friends, but nothing more.
And she says "I love you as much as Vinnie, Squallie-pooh!"
(Squall laughs) Thanks! (he blows a kiss to the camera).
Our next question is from "ChibiRaccoon". She asks "Of the four females in the game (Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie & Fujin) which is hotter?"
(He winces) That's such a difficult question! They all have their good parts and bad parts. I reckon that the hottest has to be Quistis- she's just so sexy! I think Seifer would agree with me on that one. They're all really attractive women, though.