Leon Kennedy is a veteran of the zombie apocalypse, and performed by a veteran too. Nick Apostolides returns to the role after voicing Leon in the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 4, as well as the animated series Infinite Darkness. Grace Ashcroft is the opposite—Resident Evil Requiem is very much her first rodeo, and like Ethan in RE7, her first-person segments are a return to the desperate survival horror the series was once known for.
Grace is played by Angela Sant’Albano, who is not only new to the series but to horror games in general. “I watched a ton of gameplay,” Sant’Albano told PCGamesN, “because [Capcom] referred a lot to the fact that they wanted to go back to the horror Resident Evil games. It was my first experience with horror, so I really wanted to make sure that I was capturing that and leaning into that slow, creeping tone that you really need to achieve.”
One way of achieving that while in a mocap studio, wearing those dorky capture suits and helmets, was just like the way we play horror games: in the dark. “We would turn off all the light [in] the studio,” Sant’Albano said, “and we would only operate by flashlight or camera light on our head—I think [Capcom was] very good at trying to make the situation feel as close to what it was without, you know, having a real-life zombie running at you.”
While Sant’Albano watched a lot of Resident Evil gameplay to get caught up, she started playing the games as well, getting hooked on fan-favorite RE4 in particular. “I remember looking up and thinking, ‘I’ve been playing for three and a half hours. Where did the time go?'” she said. “Terrifying—but it’s so immersive, and it’s the most amazing distraction, because you have to be so incredibly focused that time just flies, which I think is great, but also,” she laughed, “a bit of a time suck.”
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