Speaking to streamer Valkyrae ahead of her cinematic debut inApple TV’sThe Family Plan, she is curiously dismissive of her own success. She says she landed the role after Apple “just Googled ‘gamer girl’”, and tells me she has never acted before, despite having appeared in several music videos and having voiced Squad Commander Red in last year’sSonic Prime. She cuts a humble figure; genuine, but still slightly surprised perhaps at where her success has taken her. She also stands at a precipice of culture, as a streamer and figurehead in the new age of media stepping into a more traditional sphere of entertainment.
“I feel like a lot of streamers and entertainers like me in the space have such a hardcore audience,” Valkyrae tells me. “I know a lot of my fans are gonna watch this movie just because I’m in it, right? I feel like it’s really good for movies to have people like me because it promotes it. Also, it gives people like me opportunities and opens doors to stuff that I never thought I would be doing before.” She also mentions the vast amount of brand deals available to streamers these days, and the very commercial assets you can offer in breaking through in the gaming space where audiences tend to be more diverse and more committed.
But it’s not just Valkyrae as an asset that The Family Plan benefits from, but her expertise too. Valkyrae plays herself in the movie as aValorantpro, one of the games she’s best known for streaming, and acted as on-set advisor to her less gaming literate co-stars. “I think the reason why they picked us [iiTzTimmy appears alongside Valkyrae] is because we actually know how to play the game, we actually know the call outs. When we’re on set we’re alongside a bunch of actors and actresses, [who’ve] never played the game before. So it was really funny to me, because I tried to teach them, ‘the shift button is to crouch, to shoot you hold this button…’ they had to act like they are a professional gamer.” The gaming footage, as is standard practise in movies, was pre-recorded video, so the pressure on noobs to act like pros is lessened, but the presence of Valkyrae and iiTzTimmy means the fake playing at least looks real.
Obviously, Valkyrae’s presence gives the movie a sense of authenticity - Millennial readers may recall the famous Chamillionaire Ridin' video where he raps about a PlayStation controller, only to be shown holding an Xbox pad instead. But it offers more than quality control. As gaming becomes a larger part of the mainstream and earns a greater respect from the masses, greater care is taken when using gaming as a plot point in movies like The Family Plan. That means greater attention to detail, but also, Valkyrae says, a more positive tone.
“I was so incredibly glad to see how this gaming portion in the movie was portrayed,” she says. “Years ago, I was bullied for gaming, it wasn’t cool to game, it was an embarrassment, especially as a girl. So when we’re filming this, on set I could feel like it was good vibes, everyone was having a good time. The crowd is cheering. It’s a positive thing to be winning in a tournament, is what it felt like, which is kind of how it is nowadays in real life. People love tournaments. People go pro in these games, and they make a career off of it. It’s incredible to see that it’s becoming more mainstream now in a positive way.”
But what about Valkyrae herself? While she stresses that she’d never acted before and that playing herself in The Family Plan made for a more comfortable entry point, it’s clear she has a lot of affection for the craft. So is there more acting in her future?
“I definitely see myself as a streamer, because I am contracted onYouTubeto do so. It’s coming up to five years now on YouTube since I’ve pivoted fromTwitch- I feel like that is the root of me. I’m a streamer. I’m an entertainer, and that’s what I do. But I do push myself to do things that I never thought I would do before because of gaming, and co-hosting an award show, or being in a seven page Vogue Philippines spread, doing voice acting, being in music videos, all these things have happened because of gaming. I feel like it’s important for me to recognise that’s where I came from. And I feel like I’m getting these opportunities because of how genuine and authentic my love for this career has been. I would love to do more. I feel like the door has been opened in so many different ways. If another movie opportunity arises, I will gladly take it and do my best.”
