The Resident Evil movie reboot is set to premiere in just a few months time, and it's clear from what's been shown so far that it is attempting to be much more faithful to the source material than the other Resident Evil movies that have been released so far. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City will be adapting the stories of the first two games in the series, featuring iconic locations, characters, and monsters that fans should recognize from the games.
However, some fans have noticed that some of the actors cast in the film don't look like spitting images of their video game counterparts, and in some cases, have been race-swapped. This is most obviously apparent with the characters Jill Valentine and Leon S. Kennedy, and since the Resident Evil movie reboot is trying to be as faithful to the games as possible, some fans have questioned these casting decisions.
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Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City director Johannes Roberts addressed the controversy in an interview with IGN. Roberts explained that Hannah John-Kamen and Avan Jogia were cast as Jill Valentine and Leon S. Kennedy, respectively, because they "embodied the spirit and energy of the characters." He explained that he didn't just want to cast people that look visually like the characters, explaining that a trap game adaptations fall into is making the movie "feel like a giant cosplay version of the game."
Basically, the actors weren't chosen for their roles because of their appearances, but rather how well they portrayed the characters. Roberts explained that he already knew that Hannah John-Kame would be perfect for the role of Jill Valentine because of her work in Ready Player One and The Stranger, though it was more difficult to cast Leon. Roberts said that the production team saw "so many people" when it came to casting Leon, but that Avan Jogia was able to nail Leon's "balance of humor and weariness."
Leon and Jill aren't the only Resident Evil game characters set to be featured in the film. Other major game characters like Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker will also be appearing in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, along with some lesser-known characters like Chief Irons and Richard Aiken.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City will have plenty of recognizable monsters from the video games as well. Most of these are being kept secret for now, though it has been confirmed that Lisa Trevor will be appearing in the film.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City premieres November 24.
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Source: IGN
