The NetflixResident Evilseries is out now and viewers are able to start exploring a new era of the franchise lore with thesplit 2022 and 2032 timelinesin the show. During the earlier timeline, the show’s central focus is on two brand-new characters with a very familiar last name: Billie and Jade Weskar.
The tie to longtimeResident Evilfranchise villain Albert Weskar was no secret heading into the show, but viewers are definitely in for some surprises and twists along the way. The series uses the 1998 events of the video game franchise as the history and backstory for the season one story arcs and focuses mostly on brand-new characters like Billie, Jade, and a few others.
RELATED:Should Capcom Remake Resident Evil 5 Next?
Obviously the decision to focus on new characters can be a risky one and potentially might frustrate veteran fans of the games, so the pressure was on for the actors and actresses bringing this new era to life. Game Rant recently had a chance to sit down with the actresses that playyoung Billie and young Jadeand talk about their approach to folding these new characters into the franchise lore…
Game Rant:With no existing Resident Evil game characters to draw inspiration from, how did you approach these characters? Did you look to any other characters from Resident Evil as you were coming up with your performance for Young Billie and Young Jade?Tamara Smart (Young Jade):I think that the fun of developing a new character is that you kind of get to build them on your journey to making the show. You get to mold that person and pick out their flaws and develop those relationships. I think we both worked a little bit off of Albert Weskar as well and worked off of the unsaid past in the show because they obviously have had trauma and have always been moving around. So I think that a lot of what our characters say and do and the way that they are is based on how they struggle with that trauma. Billie is kind of introverted and Jade is just angry and lashes out.Siena Agudong (Young Billie):Yeah, we familiarized ourselves with the world through the video games. So I think coming into it we had that sense of horror, intensity, stress, high stakes all the time. And then we got to put ourselves as teenagers into that world, which was really fun to play around with it.
We won’t get into spoiler territory here, but some interesting twists throughout season one definitely seem to set up additional connections and references to other established franchise characters. If the show returns for future seasons it will be very interesting to see how the new and legacy characters connect in each of the timelines.
Be sure to check back for moreResident Evilcoverage in the near future now that the first season has dropped.
Resident Evilis available now on Netflix.
MORE:How Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose Could Explain Rose’s Clone
