Viva Seifert

Seifert and her brother Joe Gideon in 2009

In 1999, Seifert and her brother, Joe Gideon, formed the band Bikini Atoll along with two other members, Ché Albrighton and Bastian Juel. In the band, Seifert was a keyboardist.[5] In 2004, they were signed to the Bella Union label, and they released their debut studio album, Moratoria, which was received positively by critics, with The Independent describing it as "...an awesome, soul-searching slice of sprawling Americana."[6] In 2005, they released their second studio album, Liar's Exit, which received positive reviews.[7] In 2006, Bikini Atoll disbanded, and further activities were ceased.

After the split of Bikini Atoll, Seifert and her brother formed the duo Joe Gideon & the Shark.[8] They have released two studio albums; Harum Scarum in 2010 and Freakish in 2013, the latter of which was released through Bronze Rat Records.[9]

Seifert in Her Story (2015)

In 2015, Seifert was cast in the video game Her Story, a crime fiction video game by Sam Barlow, where she portrays the role of Hannah Smith;[10] later on in the game, it is suggested that the character has a twin named Eve,[11] also portrayed by Seifert. Along with acting in the game, she also had a hand in the soundtrack, performing the ballad "The Twa Sisters" and helping alter the music.[12][13]

After previously working with Barlow on the cancelled game Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun,[14] he contacted her for the role after observing her work, stating that Seifert was "very good at picking up a line and intuitively pulling a lot of the subtext into her performance".[15] She was offered the part after several edits were made to the script, which initially was 300 pages long before being shortened to 80.[16] Filming for Her Story occured in Seifert's residence, Cornwall, and lasted five days.[17] She stated that the role was difficult to portray, commenting that shooting was "intense" and "rather exhausting"[12] and said that she felt pressure after realizing "the whole game is hinging" on her acting.[16]

Upon release, Her Story opened to instant and critical success, with critics praising the game as well as Seifert's performance. Justin Clark from GameSpot wrote that Seifert's performance "anchored" the game,[18] and Andy Keller of PC Gamer stated that her performance was "understated, realistic, and complex".[19] Joe Donnelly of Digital Spy believed her acting had the potential to inspire similar roles,[20] and Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times praised her acting.[21] Rich Stanton of The Guardian lauded her performance, saying that "what seals the deal is a wide-ranging performance from Viva Seifert that funnels her character’s inner life into hundreds of intense vignettes" and further credited her for creating "a fictional character with something of the same allure: clearly very intelligent, clearly not telling the whole truth, and full of physical quirks. ... Seifert’s delivery is usually matter-of-fact and emotionally convincing."[22] Chris Kohler of WIRED said "Seifert's performance is so captivating that I couldn't imagine this game working any other way."[23]

For the role, Seifert won the Game Award for Best Performance in 2015,[24][25][26] where she was mistakingly credited for having appeared in The Witcher 3, which spawned several internet memes and earned the organization criticism.[27][28] At the 5th New York Game Awards, the New York Videogame Critics Circle awarded Seifert the Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game.[29] In 2019, Polygon listed the character on the "70 Best Video Game Characters" of the 2010s,[30] additionally stating that Seifert played the role of Hannah "superbly".

In 2018, Seifert voiced the character Merethiel in the video game RuneScape.[31] In the same year, she made a guest appearance as Rachel on the British television series Delicious. In 2019, she starred in the short film Miss White as the titular character.