The Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness Cast Is Gorgeous In Real Life
The "Resident Evil" universe just keeps expanding, and Netflix has a few new offerings to add to the post-apocalyptic media franchise. Starting in 1996 with the first "Resident Evil" Japanese survival horror game, the Capcom franchise has grown to have over 25 video games on various platforms, six live-action films — with another set to be released on November 24, 2021 called "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" — as well as animated films, books, comics, and even a play or two. Now Netflix is taking "Resident Evil" into television with both a live-action and animated series.
While the highly anticipated live-action series is still awaiting an official release date, the CG-animated series "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness" officially hit the streaming platform on July 8, 2021. Set between the events of "Resident Evil 4" and "Resident Evil 5," the story follows well-known protagonists Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield as they navigate a conspiracy involving a mysterious attack on the White House. The first season has four episodes, and there is no word yet on a Season 2.
Watching the series, it's easy to see how naturally talented the voice cast is. But as you only see their animated characters, it might surprise "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness" fans to find how just how attractive and charming the actors are in real life. So check out the faces behind your favorite "Resident Evil" characters here.
Nick Apostolides plays Leon S. Kennedy
Leon, a federal agent working for the Division of Security Operations, is a character who has been in the "Resident Evil" franchise for a while now, and the actor who voices him in "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness" has quite the history as well. Nick Apostolides has an extensive resume of both voice roles and live-action acting. Starting in live-action films, Apostolides got many roles in indie films, generally horror, with appearances in "Murder University," "The Suffering," and "When She Showed Up," and it wasn't until 2017 that he jumped over to voice work.
His first role — Frank Bowers in the "Life is Strange" prequel game, "Life is Strange: Before the Storm." Apostolides continued to work on the series, later voicing a character named Charles Eriksen, the father of a young boy named Chris Eriksen, in both "The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit" and "Life is Strange 2." Wasting no time, Apostolides got his foot in the door with the "Resident Evil" franchise soon after, voicing none other than Leon in "Resident Evil 2." This in turn led to an appearance in "Monster Hunter: World," a game for Capcom's other main franchise, as part of a crossover between the two worlds.
Along with acting, Apostolides has a passion for other aspects of the entertainment industry as well, doing a lot of stunts, motion capture work, and even hosting, which earned him an Emmy nomination in 2018 for "American Ruin." People should definitely keep an eye (or ear) out for Apostolides in the future, as it doesn't look like he will be slowing down anytime soon.
Stephanie Panisello voices Claire Redfield
Another carryover from the voice cast of the video game "Resident Evil 2," Stephanie Panisello voices Leon's co-lead, Claire, an agent of the human rights organization TerraSave that investigates bioorganic weapons. Panisello started her voice acting career back in 2012, playing the character Stratos in the video game "Phantasy Star Online 2." This was shortly followed by roles the "Final Fantasy" franchise, in "Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII," "Mobius Final Fantasy," and "Final Fantasy XV."
Her first venture into television voice work came with the children's webseries "The Railways of Crotoonia." Since then, her only other series work was a show called "Camp Halohead," based on the Wonderful Halos Mandarins," until "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness." Like Apostolides, she also does hosting, motion capture, and more, with her resume listing skills in gun handling, print and runway modeling, and singing.
While her work with the "Resident Evil" franchise is arguably her biggest role yet, other video games that Panisello has appeared in include "Shadow of the Tomb Raider," "Gears 5," "Persona 5 Royal," "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," and the upcoming game "Larcenauts." According to her Instagram, Panisello also has a love of everything outdoors, including hiking and swimming, and she often shares photos of herself in the recording studio, making it clear just how much she loves her job.
Jona Xiao is Shen May
Jona Xiao voices Shen May in "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness," a federal agent who comes to the White House to investigate the attack. The actress has a thriving career in both live-action and voice work, and it's highly likely that you've seen the actress's face in a television series from the past few years. Starting acting at a young age, Xiao appeared in comedies like "Victorious," "2 Broke Girls," and "Kroll Show," before moving to crime procedurals with appearances on both "Bones" and "Rizolli & Isles." Her first multi-episode character arc was in 2016, playing Julie Yang in four episodes of Season 3 of "Halt and Catch Fire," shortly before joining Season 4 of "Being Mary Jane" as Natalie Wu. At this point, Xiao started booking supporting parts in movies with major stars like "Keeping Up with the Joneses" and "Gifted," along with the 2018 Chinese-Japanese co-produced anime called "Flavors of Youth."
Clearly Xiao is very talented in everything she does, as she only started exploring voice acting in 2020 with the short "Short Circuit" before booking a major role in the Walt Disney Animation Studios film "Raya and the Last Dragon," playing the character Young Namaari. Now in 2021, Xiao's future is looking bright. Along with voicing the character Shen in "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness" for Netflix, Xiao is also playing Daisy in the second season of thee Starz crime drama "Hightown," so be sure to check that out as well. Xiao also frequently use her platform, particularly her Instagram, to speak out about issues she strongly cares about, such as mental health and the recent rise in crime against Asian Americans.
Ray Chase voices Jason
Voice actor Ray Chase has a huge list of past credits, the most recent of which is Jason in "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness," a captain of the U.S. Army Special Forces. Chase has worked on video games, anime, cartoon series, audiobooks, commercials, you name it. With so many roles on his resume, it's impossible to cover them all here, but there are a handful of voice parts that might be more recognizable than others. For starters, he voiced Noctis Lucis Caelum in "Final Fantasy XV," along with Dr. Keith Kazama Flick in "B: The Beginning" and Puri-Puri Prisoner and Dr. Genus "One Punch Man." Chase seems to be a big fan of anime and video games himself, becoming a regular at conventions both for his career and as a regular guest. He also loves interacting with his fans, posting fanart and responding to people on his personal Twitter.
Chase has won a handful of Behind the Voice Actor Awards for his work in "Final Fantasy XV," the critically acclaimed anime film "Your Name.", and 2018's "NieR: Automata." More recently, the voice actor had notable roles in quite a few popular anime, playing Eren Kruger in "Attack on Titan," Professor Cerise in "Pokémon Journeys: The Series," and Ryoumen Sukuna in "Jujutsu Kaisen." That's not even touching on his video game work in popular franchises like "Borderlands," "Kingdom Hearts," and "The Last of Us," but you get the point. It also looks like Chase has made an impression with Netflix, not just because of his work in "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness," as he has already voiced Takeshi Kovacs in the Netflix anime film "Altered Carbon: Resleeved," Gendo Ikari in redubs of the "Neon Genesis Evangelion," along with a few other projects, with more likely on the way.
Doug Stone is Wilson
Doug Stone, who voices the Secretary of Defense Wilson in "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness," has been working as a voice actor since 1972, with over 200 roles and counting. Considering this long list of past work, it's really hard to pick out what his most impressive performances are, but there are a few that stand out from the rest due to the prominence and lasting legacy of the project.
Stone started his career working in classic animation, with voice roles in fan-favorite shows like the 1980s version of "Alvin & the Chipmunks," 1993's "All-New Dennis the Menace," and "The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat." For fans of classic anime, you might be excited to learn that Stone had roles in the English dubs of the original "Akira," "Ninja Scroll," "Ghost in the Shell," "Kiki's Delivery Service," and "My Neighbor Totoro," while one of his biggest roles is arguably Psycho Mantis in the video game franchise "Metal Gear Solid." Stone also played Matt Trakker in the "M.A.S.K." series that ran from 1985 to 1986, as well as various roles in the popular "Cowboy Bebop," "Naruto," and "Mobile Suit Gundam" franchises over many years.
If there's a popular anime out there, Stone is likely to have played a role in it. If you don't believe it, see for yourself on his IMDb. With so much experience in the industry, Stone consistently gives interviews and offers advice about how to break into voice acting, helping out people who aspire to have a career as successful as his. Now 70 years old, Stone is still going strong, and fans of the talented voice actor are excited to see what's next for him.
Kellen Goff plays the Zombies and Additional Voices
While his part in "Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness" as the zombies and additional voices might sound inconsequential, Kellen Goff plays a very important role in setting the tone for the horror animated series. The actor may look young, but he's already made quite the name for himself in the voice talent world. Developing an interest in voice acting at age 13, Goff quickly got to work, and at 26 years old, he already has over 170 credits to his name (KellenGoff.com). Most notably, Goff voiced Fiddlesticks in the popular online video game "League of Legends," as well as Overhaul in "My Hero Academia" and Diavolo in "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind." He's also lent his voice to another extremely popular video game franchise, playing both Funtime Freddy and Fredbear in "Five Nights at Freddy's."
Goff has also worked on the same projects as some of his colleagues on this list, playing Porco Galliard in "Attack on Titan" and Gouketsu in "One-Punch Man," while he also voices Blue Gilly in "One Piece," Hoodlum in "Akudama Drive," and most recently, Free in the second season of Netflix's "Beastars." This is only a small portion of the many roles Goff's taken on and made his own over the years, but considering his young age, there are likely even bigger parts to come. It also looks like Goff intends to explore live-action acting more, with a couple of small roles in 2021 hinting at shifting interests.