Move over Ethan Winters and Grace Ashcroft, there’s a far more ill-prepared protagonist entering the world of Resident Evil in Austin Abrams’ medical courier Bryan.
Director Zach Cregger reteams with his Weapons actor for an original story set during the initial outbreak in Raccoon City, one that sends a guy who doesn’t even have chains on his tires into the snowy mountains to complete an order only to find himself in a world of survival horror.
That Bryan is as unprepared to deal with an outbreak as he is his own personal life creates no shortage of suspense, but it’s also a very tricky role to play in an action-heavy horror movie. Even from the trailer, Abrams’ character is running through crowded streets evading dropping zombies, fleeing from an infected, and wielding guns without any experience.
In other words, Austin Abrams is tasked with playing an extremely clumsy character in an extremely stunt-heavy horror film.
“No, not really,” Abrams told Bloody Disgusting when asked if he developed any tricks to performing stunts safely while inhabiting his incapable character. “Just kind of perform them incompetently. I mean, just doing the best you can to not get hurt because you’ve got to keep working, but no.”
Much of that likely had to do with Cregger, who kept him on his toes: “Well we wouldn’t let you practice a whole lot, at anything. I think that was part of it. For example, you saw the footage where he has to jump over the electric fence? I was like, ‘We’re just going to roll, let’s just see how you do it.’ Don’t work it out, don’t try it, let’s just shoot the rehearsal. I think that’s the take.”
It added to the nail-biting urgency of the film.
Abrams agrees, “When you’re doing it, it’s kind of scary.”
It likely also helped that Zach Cregger opted to approach his take on Resident Evil using as much practical effects work as possible, including a 2,000-lbs monster puppet.
Resident Evil infects theaters September 18.
