Capcom has made no secret of the fact that it has been trying to up the ante when it comes to the horror elements in Resident Evil Requiem. This also meant that the voice actors had to nail their roles in depicting their characters’ reactions to the strange events around them. Following its release, Angela Sant’Albano—who plays Grace Ashcroft—has spoken about her experience with the role, and how she prepared to depict the scariness in an interview with PCGamesN.
According to Sant’Albano, Capcom spoke about wanting to “go back to the horror Resident Evil games.” However, much like her character, Sant’Albano also didn’t have much experience with the Resident Evil franchise at large. This meant that she had to revisit the older games by watching gameplay videos.
“I watched a ton of gameplay, because [Capcom] referred a lot to the fact that they wanted to go back to the horror Resident Evil games,” she said. “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.”
To further tap into the horror aspects, Sant’Albano also revealed that Capcom would provide the actors with “visual stimulus.” This would include things like turning off lights in the studio and relying on flashlights.
“We would turn off all the light [in] the studio, 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,” she said, before revealing that Capcom would also provide the actors with images of the in-game horrors that their characters would face. “Maybe it has this sore, and the sore is particularly gory on the left hand.”
Owing to a lack of experience with the horror genre, Sant’Albano also spoke about the support she got from fellow voice actor Nick Apostolides—who plays Leon S. Kennedy. She noted that, thanks to his experience with not only playing Leon in the franchise, but also being a fan of the overall franchise, Apostolides was able to help her out when it came to filling out gaps in her knowledge.
“Nick is wonderful, and we very quickly became friends,” she said. “He was really helpful – no matter how much of a crash course you do, there are a lot of things that can come up. […] He, being a part of the franchise for a long time and a big gamer himself, was able to educate me on gaps in my knowledge.”
Resident Evil Requiem is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. The title was released just last week, and for more details, you can check out our review, where we gave it a score of 9 out of 10. If you’re a Nintendo Switch 2 player, take a look at our reviews of the recently-released ports of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village. And while you’re at it, take a look at what director Koshi Nakanishi has said about the Switch 2 port for Requiem.
