When Capcom revealed Resident Evil Requiem back at Summer Game Fest 2025, a brand new character took centre stage in the debut trailer: Grace Ashcroft.
Described by director Koshi Nakanishi as "the biggest scaredy-cat in Resident Evil history", Grace plays a pivotal role and shares billing with Leon Kennedy, a much more familiar character.
For actor Angela Sant'Albano, stepping into the shoes of Ashcroft would prove to be her first foray into not only Resident Evil but the video game voice-acting world as a whole. We recently sat down with Angela to talk about her experience performing the role, what excited her about the character and story, and whether she plans to play more of the series now that she's directly involved.
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Note: Some details in the following interview may be considered spoilers for the game. If you're keen to go in blind, come back later when you've experienced it for yourself!
Nintendo Life: Requiem's out now and it's already sold over 5 million copies in less than a week. How's life been for you in the weeks leading up to launch?
Angela Sant'Albano: Oh, it's been wild. I knew Resident Evil was a big deal, but I don't think I quite prepared myself for just how supportive and passionate the fanbase is. You never know going into these things whether people will love the character or not like the character. So yeah, it's been surreal, if I'm honest, that people have responded so well and been so kind and supportive.
This is your first role in a video game. How does the overall experience compare to the work you've done in the past?
Well, it was all performance capture; obviously, we went into a booth to do ADR [Automated Dialogue Replacement], but everything was captured at once. I think once you get beyond the tech side of things, all acting is the same, and you just try to find the truth in the character and their experience.
I'd say performance capture was kind of a blend of theatre and film and stage because it's 360, all the cameras are all around you, but you've also got a camera right on your head, so it's like the audience or the player is right there with you. I'd say it was it wasn't too different and i didn't approach it in any other way.
A lot of your scenes are emotionally very intense. How do you prepare and get in the right mindset to carry out such demanding scenes?
That's a great question, I think again it's just knowing Grace, her backstory and her relationship with her mum. Like with anything, it's just throwing yourself in 150% and seeing what comes and what works. I felt very lucky, because Nick [Apostolides - Leon Kennedy] and I, Jane [Perry - Alyssa Ashcroft] and Emma Rose [Emily], we all had such natural chemistry in real life, and so we could just use that to make the scenes feel grounded and real.
I think Grace is the definition of courageous, because unlike other characters in the franchise who don't really feel the fear, Grace feels it so viscerally, but still chooses to push forward.
There's a little bit of real placement, which maybe isn't the healthiest thing, of imagining someone you love and bringing those kinds of situations closer to me as Angela. Grace is sort of introverted and her main touchstone is her mum. I never really imagined her as a particularly social kid at school, so losing her mum was like losing her whole world. Then later, with Emily, she's the first person that Grace becomes close to and feels protective over in her life, so when she loses her, it's such an immense feeling of loss.
Capcom has described Grace as the biggest scaredy-cat in the series' history, but what kind of qualities does she possess that excited you about the character?
I think Grace is the definition of courageous, because unlike other characters in the franchise who don't really feel the fear, Grace feels it so viscerally, but still chooses to push forward. She's incredibly selfless in moments where she's terrified; she's loyal in protecting Emily, and she's loyal in protecting Leon, too. She's a survivor, she had to survive when her mum passed away and build a life on her own.
Yes, she's afraid, but in no way different to a normal girl thrown into a spooky hospital filled with zombies. So when I approached Grace, I kind of thought, 'How would I, Angela, react to these situations?' She's just very human in a way that really excited me. I hope that when people see Grace, they see themselves, in a way. Yhey see just a normal person chucked into a completely bonkers situation.
I saw recently that you played quite a bit of Resident Evil 4 in preparation for this role. Are you tempted to dive further into the franchise now that you're involved with it?
Oh yeah, definitely. I really want to play Requiem, I've played the first little bit, but I do want to sit down and play it all the way through. I've watched a lot of the cutscenes, but I'd like to play it properly. I kind of want to play RE7; I watched a lot of cutscenes for that one to really understand the horror tone they wanted to get across in Requiem. But yeah, I have a new fascination and appreciation of games, so I want to dive into Resident Evil, but also other genres, too.
You've mentioned previously that you were really keen to play a role in horror. What is it about this particular genre that excites you?
I think I just always saw it as a real challenge, because so much of horror for TV and film, you have to use your imagination, and it kind of takes you back to your childhood where you have to create all of these things from absolutely nothing.
I love Jordan Peele and I love psychological horror, but straight bloody gore? Not for me, I'm too scared!
Maybe I should psychoanalyse myself, but when I've done auditions in the past, I've always loved doing guttural screams and just the intensity of the crying and the screaming, or the crawling back from the monster, I've always loved that kind of high-stakes situation.
But to be honest, I don't really watch a lot of horror. I love Jordan Peele and I love psychological horror, but straight bloody gore? Not for me, I'm too scared!
I recently spoke with Nick Apostolides and he had a lot of great things to say about you. What was it like working alongside Nick, and did it feel comforting to have someone who's more of an RE veteran?
Totally, it was so comforting. Nick was such a mentor for me with performance capture, but also the video game world and the lore. He was so generous with his knowledge and his time, just giving us all little tips on the motion capture suit and the helmet, and all these little things.
He was always so passionate about Leon and telling the story and doing it justice. It was very inspiring for all of us. Also, Nick himself is a real fan of Resident Evil and has been for a long time, so to see that level of passion for the game and excitement for the story so up close, it just made the rest of the cast want to dive in and give it their all. We could really feel the love that he has, and he kept telling us, "Just you wait, this fanbase, they're crazy about RE." And so we were like, "Gosh, we've got to deliver!"
That's a great point: Were you aware of just how popular the series is when you got involved?
I knew about Resident Evil and its cultural impact, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for the fanbase and how much they love the lore and the stories. In a way, I'm glad I didn't know when we were shooting, because I think I would have been a lot more stressed. It's just good to go in a little blind sometimes, you know?
So I think I had a healthy balance of seeing Nick's excitement and knowing that I had to deliver, but also the naivety of not knowing the true scale of just how popular the franchise really is.
Our thanks to Angela for taking the time to speak with us. Resident Evil Requiem is available now for Switch 2.