Since 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake, Nick Apostolides has been portraying Leon S. Kennedy, perhaps the most popular character of the entire franchise. Just ahead of the franchise turning 30, Apostolides returned to the role of Leon in Resident Evil Requiem, providing motion capture and voice for the iconic character following the RE2 and RE4 remakes.
In Resident Evil Requiem, a much-older Leon returns to Raccoon City 28 years after the destruction of Raccoon City, as seen in the original RE trilogy. This time, he is joined by FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft (Angela Sant’Albano) to investigate a series of bizarre deaths involving survivors of the incident in Raccoon City. The game was an instant hit, selling over five million copies in less than a week to set a new franchise record and garnering universal praise.
We spoke with Apostolides about returning to the role of Leon S. Kennedy and how his performance differed in Resident Evil Requiem.
Horror Geek Life: Obviously, Resident Evil Requiem recently came out and, as we all know, it’s been an incredible success. Incredibly high sales, it’s getting all kinds of 10 out of 10s. I know this isn’t your first rodeo playing Leon, but during the production of the game, was there a lot of pressure in this one, or were you kind of feeling confident that this one was going to be something special?
Nick Apostolides: There’s always a lot of pressure with these games because of the character. He’s got such a reputation long before I was even a part of them. It’s just about doing the character justice and this version of him was not a remake. This was all new territory. I just needed to make sure that I was taking into consideration everything that he’s been through.
He was 26 the last time I played him in the games, in the Resident Evil 4 remake. There’s been almost 25 years of lore in between these experiences. I had to take into consideration everything he’s been through, all the PTSD, all the ways that he’s been portrayed. It’s all canon. It’s all there. I had to build upon that and say, okay, where is he now at age 49? What does it mean to go back to Raccoon City?
It was a challenging one. Of all the three times I’ve played him in the games, I think this one was the most challenging for me.
HGL: Yeah, I was going to ask about that. In just the span of a few years for you, basically, you’re playing him on his first day on the job, and his first brush with monsters. Then you’ve got to fast-forward so many years, and now you’re hardened and much older.
Nick Apostolides: Yeah, and I think it was separated with filming by about eight to nine years. Yes, in eight to nine years in my life, I’m playing a guy with a 25-year span. More than that, like a 28-year span. It’s pretty crazy.
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HGL: I guess going back to when you first got the role, I was curious. How exactly did you land the role of Leon in the first place? How did it feel the first time when you found out, yes, you’re going to play Leon Kennedy?
Nick Apostolides: It was crazy. I auditioned like anybody else. I self-submitted myself for that role. I didn’t even have an agent. Went in, I poured my heart out. I told them what the franchise meant to me, what the character meant to me as a fan. I think I auditioned three times before I was offered the role.
Then I was offered the role, and my knees went weak, and I couldn’t believe it. They said, “No, you’re going to be Leon Kennedy if you want to be.” I said, “Absolutely, let’s do this.” Life just took a turn from there. I haven’t looked back.
HGL: I was curious if you’ve been a fan since the character’s been around for so long now. You’ve been a fan of the franchise going back then?
Nick Apostolides: Yeah, I was a fan of Leon since the day he came onto the scene, 1998. That’s how long I’ve been a fan of the character in the series. We’re going on 28 years.
HGL: Looking back like that, did you look at the previous portrayals of Leon for inspiration? I know you’re making it your own performance with the remakes.
Nick Apostolides: I wasn’t looking for direct inspiration, line readings, and such. It was more just making sure that his personality was in line with Capcom’s vision for the remakes. Of course, RE2 Remake was marketed as a reimagining of the whole story. But I think Leon’s DNA has never changed.
He’s the same guy, just with a slightly different personality. A little bit more jokey. I just needed to make sure that I did him justice because he was already a legacy character before I stepped in. I just wanted to do him justice. That’s all.
HGL: The original Leon from the 1998 game, Paul Haddad, sadly passed away back in 2020. Did you ever interact with Paul? Did you find out what he felt about your performance in Resident Evil 2?
Nick Apostolides: Yes, Paul reached out to me. He reached out, I believe on Facebook, shortly after I was announced. He just gave me the nicest congratulatory message. He said if he ever wanted to chat, I’d be up for it. He gave me his phone number, and we started chatting.
We had quite a few nice phone calls. He just wanted to say, ‘I’m proud of you. I’m happy to pass the torch on. I’m happy to see what you do with this character moving forward.’ He was just the nicest, most genuine guy. That goes to show why his version of Leon just shined. He had the hearts of so many fans. He still does. It’s just because of who he was.
HGL: Over the course of the three games you’ve done, do you have a particular favorite line you’ve done as Leon?
Nick Apostolides: I say this a lot, and I think it is true. In the original Resident Evil 4, a game that’s my favorite game of all time, Leon says a line when he kicks a red barrel, and he blows up Mendez. That’s the first major boss fight of that game. He kicks this red barrel and he’s about to shoot it. He does this ’80s one-liner, and he says, ‘Hasta luego.’ I always loved that from the original.
When I got to say it in the remake, I just thought that was awesome. I said, ‘You’re going to let me say this?’ They said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to put it back in the game.’ I think that just takes the cake for nostalgia purposes.
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HGL: That’s a good one. I guess on the other side of the coin, whether this is difficulties with the mocap or the delivery with saying a certain line, but would you say there was a hardest scene that you had to record as Leon?
Nick Apostolides: That’s really hard to say. That’s a good question. Nobody really asks me that. Wow. You stumped me. A lot of them are challenging. I think some of the scenes that require very specific blocking, like heavy action scenes, those are often tough because so much has to happen. You’ve got to hit your marks. Timing has to be perfect. The performances have to be perfect.
Then on top of all of that, you’re dealing with the tech. You’re wearing the camera, you’ve got the battery packs on. Sometimes everything is perfect and you’ve done this two-minute scene, it’s perfect. Then you bump into something, and your battery pack loosens, and your camera feed pops out, and the sound team says, “Hey, we lost your feed. We’ve got to do it again. I think the technology aspect of motion capture is the hardest part because you always have to be aware of it.
On top of everything you’re doing, being present in the scenes, you’ve got all this technology strapped to you. If something goes wrong, that’s it. We’ve got to do it again.
I don’t know about any one scene, but there have been quite a few where all those little bumps that you’re taking and falls and jumps and climbing, it really gets in the way of the creative process, but it’s part of the process, so you’ve got to deal with it.
HGL: I guess beyond the video games, I know you’ve done voiceovers for Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness. I know there’s a new live-action movie coming out this year, but I’m not sure about the animated side of the franchise. I was wondering if you happen to know about any new animated projects you might be involved with at this time.
Nick Apostolides: Not that I’m involved with, no, but I’m always excited to see what Capcom rolls out. It is the 30th anniversary this year, so I don’t think Requiem is the last thing we’re going to see this year for any kind of content. I hope they roll out some more. I’m excited personally.
HGL: Awesome. I guess before we wrap up here, you personally, beyond Resident Evil, do you have any other roles, whether in video games or film or anything that you can tell us about you’ve got coming up?
Nick Apostolides: There’s not much in the industry that you can say before it comes out. I’ve got a couple things in the works, actually. I’ve got two to three projects, some voice stuff for games, and some live-action stuff that I’m looking forward to later on this year. We’ll see. Stay tuned.
Resident Evil Requiem is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
