Austin Abrams took on Resident Evil without ever playing the game
Austin Abrams took the lead in Resident Evil without ever playing the games or watching the films.
Abrams plays Bryan, an original character created for Zach Cregger's film who did not appear in the video games, according to Deadline. Sony Pictures describes Bryan as a medical courier caught in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival, with the film listed as now playing exclusively in movie theatres.
The reason for the gap in his research was simple. Abrams said he had avoided both the games and the earlier films because he found them too frightening, in the interview published on 19 September by Deadline. He tried Dead Space once and quit at the start in a panic.
That fear followed him onto the set. Abrams described one stunt as "harrowing," involving a run down a snow-covered road while performers playing zombies jumped from roofs and hit the pavement around him, as reported by Deadline. It was scary every time. He said he did not want to ruin the shot or make a wrong move that caused something to go wrong.
Cregger put the risk in blunt terms. The director said the stunt would have killed Abrams if it had gone wrong, according to Deadline. No safety detail was given in the published account.
The film reunites the pair after the horror film Weapons. Abrams said he was grateful that Cregger trusted him to carry the lead role in Resident Evil, as reported by Deadline.
Sony Pictures presents the new film as a reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise. The physical load was heavy. Abrams told Entertainment Weekly that Resident Evil and Whalefall are his most physical roles to date, a shoot that included dodging blood bags.
Cregger and Abrams have also spoken about sceptical game fans and ideas for a follow-up in an interview with The Playlist. The Associated Press, in a review published on 16 September, described Cregger and Abrams as finding just enough humour amid the gore.
What makes this stand out is the mismatch. A self-described horror avoider is now the man running through the zombies.
