What child doesn’t fake to be the characters they love rising up? I nonetheless have distinct reminiscences of working round a discipline throughout recess and performing like Ash Ketchum, throwing imaginary Poké Balls. For most individuals, that schoolyard fantasy ends there. Not for Nick Apostolides, the voice behind Leon S. Kennedy from 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake via this yr’s Resident Evil Requiem. His gig voicing certainly one of gaming’s most beloved heroes has been a child’s want come true.
“I grew to become a die-hard fan in 1998 when Resident Evil 2 got here out,” Apostolides instructed Polygon in a video interview forward of Requiem’s launch final week. “When the primary one got here out, I used to be 12. I wished to sleep over at my cousin’s home, and we have been going to play Resident Evil. My mother thought it was too violent. She stated ‘Nicely what do you do in it?’ I stated, “Nicely, you may blow a zombie’s head off with a shotgun!’ And she or he goes, ‘No, you’re not taking part in that!’ So fast-forward two years later, when the sequel got here out: I didn’t inform my mother! I slipped over to my buddy Joe’s home. We performed that recreation and I fell in love ever since. I’ve liked Leon ever since that second.”
For those who’ve loved Apostolides’ tackle the wise-cracking Leon over the previous few years, you may thank the celebrities for what now appears like a cosmic connection. It’s the results of Capcom taking of venture on a know-it-all fan who believed that his fondness for the character may translate to a efficiency previous and new gamers would love. That’s fairly a danger, however Apostolides is an instance of casting somebody who has grown up with the character going very proper.
Labeling Apostolides as a Resident Evil superfan is promoting him quick, after all. Earlier than first voicing Leon in Resident Evil 2, he labored as an actor exterior of video games. He popped up in some small horror motion pictures and even a Starvation Video games fan movie all through the 2010s. It wasn’t till round 2015 that he realized that online game voice performing might be a pure subsequent step for his profession.
“In the future, I met a lady engaged on a fan movie,” Apostolides stated. “I stated ‘What do you do principally?’ and he or she stated ‘I’m a online game actress… I do movement seize and stunts for Name of Obligation. I do the voices, and yell ‘GRENADE!’ A lightbulb went off in my head. That may be my profession? Video video games? I began pursuing it, and the very first audition I ever acquired was for Resident Evil 2 remake. I ready nicely for that, like another motion movie. That wasn’t alien to me. I poured my coronary heart out to casting and stated ‘I do know every part about this franchise!’”
Picture: Capcom
As if by destiny, Capcom was received over by Apostolides’ ardour and solid him as Leon. It turned out that Apostolides wasn’t simply puffing up his chest with out good cause. As soon as he began the challenge, he shortly realized he was as up to the mark on the character as he so confidently claimed to be.
“At the moment, there was virtually nothing they may inform me about Leon Kennedy that I didn’t already know,” Apostolides stated. “What I used to be most inquisitive about was how they have been going to vary him, if in any respect. He’s the identical man from the unique. It was the identical common arc of a narrative with a contemporary twist to it, with extra grounded dialogue… He’s not simply one-dimensional. He’s not this stoic badass. It’s onerous to place him in anyone field, as a result of he’s multifaceted.”
I had my very own opinions each time they modified up a voice actor for Leon.
Since then, Apostolides has taken that function and made it his personal. After Resident Evil 2, he acquired to voice Leon in Capcom’s glorious Resident Evil 4 remake. That was yet one more childhood dream come true, particularly as he acquired an opportunity to present his spin on one-liners like “Hasta luego!” that he’d liked as a child. When he instructed me about saying that line particularly, he reminisced about loving it a lot as a result of it reminded him of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic “Hasta la vista, child” in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, one other of his childhood favourite media moments.
As a lot as all that could be a fantasy fulfilled for Apostolides, a job like Leon can include some nightmarish scrutiny too. Gaming followers have a historical past of being protecting over their beloved characters and franchises, and the Resident Evil fandom isn’t any exception.
“There was quite a lot of strain going into it, as a result of I used to be a fan myself for 18 years earlier than my audition,” Apostolides stated. “I understood what that meant. I had my very own opinions each time they modified up a voice actor for Leon. If I had reactions, everybody else goes to have reactions. However then you definately notice that you’ve got quite a lot of new followers… Lots of people come as much as me at appearances and say ‘Resident Evil 4 is the primary Resident Evil recreation I ever performed!’ And a few of these children are youngsters. To them, I’m the one Leon they know. And a few of the OG followers additionally respect what I’ve completed as a result of they know I respect the supply materials, and I respect the performances that got here previously.”
Picture: Capcom
Faithfully reliving Leon’s previous glory days is one factor; bringing him into the longer term is one other beast fully. For Resident Evil Requiem, Apostolides had a extra advanced problem on his palms. He’d need to evolve the character in a narrative that takes some liberties along with his common quippy persona. Leon is older and extra weathered in Requiem, compelled to face the trauma he’s at all times harbored after surviving Raccoon Metropolis’s destruction in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Getting that proper can be a matter of getting throughout the load of a second that gave Apostolides chills the primary time Capcom instructed him about Requiem’s “couple tons heavy” return to Raccoon Metropolis.
“I feel in previous video games and a few of the CG movies, his PTSD has been offered within the appropriate approach for these initiatives, however there’s no hiding that right here,” Apostolides stated. “When he’s compelled to return to that and face the demons, that’s going to be on show. The ache, the necessity to reconcile every part that’s occurred and are available to phrases with who and what he’s, and why he’s there. That’s the middle of all of it for me. And simply to see how a 50-year-old Leon nonetheless kicks ass.”
That work appears to be paying off thus far. Early reactions appear to counsel that followers love the path for Leon in Requiem. (Some perhaps slightly an excessive amount of.) Having performed the sport myself, I can see why. Apostolides brings a gravity to the function, taking part in on Leon’s trauma in delicate ways in which stick. In a single scene, he’s struck by a reminiscence of two individuals who he crossed paths with in Resident Evil 2, who grew to become victims when town was blown to smithereens. “By no means once more,” he says in a somber growl whereas looking on the ruins of town he was sworn to guard as a rookie cop. It’s a loaded gun that Apostolides handles with care.
Whereas it’s unclear the place Resident Evil goes from right here, Apostolides’ work as Leon is certain to proceed contemplating the nice and cozy reception to Requiem. Somebody might want to voice him if Capcom ever tries to salvage Resident Evil 6 with a remake, in spite of everything. Why higher than a man who is aware of the character inside and outside? It’s labored for 3 nice video games now.
Apostolides looks as if he’s down for something. He’s simply pleased to have a personality that was a part of his DNA rising up turn out to be a part of his identification as an actor now. And naturally, as somebody who has been serious about the character for almost 30 years, he has loads of concepts about the place he’d wish to see Leon’s story go subsequent if he will get to proceed the experience.
“I’ve at all times thought that if they’d made a DLC or spinoff about Operation Javier, his time coaching with Krauser… It will be a little bit of a tangent, as a result of I don’t assume any zombies have been current… but when that was a DLC, that might be fairly cool,” Apostolides stated.
