Austin Abrams Used SHAUN OF THE DEAD to Shape His RESIDENT EVIL Character

Not every horror hero needs to stare down a monster like they’ve been training for this moment their entire life. Sometimes screaming your head off is the far more believable response.

That’s the approach Austin Abrams brought to Resident Evil, where his character Bryan is thrown into zombie-fueled insanity without the slightest idea how he’s supposed to deal with it.

Rather than playing him as another slick action hero, Abrams embraced the panic, confusion, and occasional ridiculousness of an ordinary guy having a very bad day.

It’s something Abrams also brought to Weapons, and for his latest horror collaboration with Zach Cregger, he found some inspiration in Shaun of the Dead.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about Bryan’s impressively piercing screams and his reactions to the nightmare unfolding around him, Abrams explained:

“I wanted to look like the antithesis of the ‘cool action hero’ as much as I possibly could because that feels the most interesting. I haven’t seen it done as much. Shaun of the Dead lives in that realm as well. There’s a joy in being able to see this guy react naturally to all this crazy shit, and it’s just really interesting to watch.”

That approach makes Bryan easier to connect with because he isn’t equipped for a zombie apocalypse. He’s trying to survive while figuring out what the hell he’s even looking at.

Abrams added: “I always thought, How would this dude actually react to this? I just wanted it to feel really real-world. Whereas, if you have someone more experienced, it’s going to be a little less interesting to watch.”

Fans already know the creatures and mythology of Resident Evil, but Bryan doesn’t have decades of video game knowledge to help him identify what’s coming after him.

That became especially important during an early encounter involving a dog, which sent Abrams down an amusing path while trying to figure out how Bryan would process something so completely outside his understanding.

“One of the parts I really enjoyed is earlier on with the dog. How do you even process a moment like that? What would you think that is? There was a period of time when I was like, Is this an alien? Does he think that these are aliens?

‘That would probably confuse or frustrate audiences if my character was thinking it was aliens [because many of them already know what it is from the games]. But thinking about what it could be was a fun rabbit hole to go down while playing it.”

It’s a smart way to approach a Resident Evil protagonist. Bryan isn’t trying to look cool while monsters tear everything apart around him. He’s confused, terrified, and reacting like someone who has absolutely no clue what kind of nightmare he just walked into.

Using Shaun of the Dead as a reference also makes plenty of sense. Part of the fun of watching a regular person collide with something completely insane is seeing all the messy, awkward reactions that come with it.

Abrams seems perfectly happy to scream his way through the nightmarish apocalypse, and Resident Evil is more entertaining for it.