‘Resident Evil’ Star Ella Balinska on Training for the Live-Action Series: “A Lot of That Fighting Style is Grappling”
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The Netflix live-action series Resident Evil, out July 14, tells the hauntingly familiar story of a deadly virus causing a global apocalypse, and Ella Balinska stars as Jade Wesker, delivering a performance that showrunner Andrew Dabb tells THR is “fantastic, emotional … [she] carried our entire future storyline on her shoulders,” adding: “She was more than game to tackle any of the stunts we threw at her and we threw a lot at her. She kicked ass. You’d never know this was Ella’s first hour-long series.”
The actress, 25, who was born and raised in London, moved to Hollywood upon booking a lead in the 2019 reboot of Charlie’s Angels. She also starred in Blumhouse’s 2020 Sundance darling Run Sweetheart Run, which was bought by Amazon and is slated for an October release. Next year, Balinska (also a brand ambassador for Cartier and Clé de Peau Beauté) shoots Hugo Keijzer’s sci-fi thriller The Occupant. She spoke with THR about her love of gaming and the training she did for Resident Evil.
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What was the transition like going from previous roles in the UK before landing a lead role in Charlie’s Angels? How did you prepare?
I did a show on Sky One, which is sort of like the age HBO equivalent in the UK. It was one of those roles where I was really able to cut my teeth and make all the mistakes and try all the things out — it gave me a great platform to put all of my training into practice.
When I came [to L.A.] to shoot essentially a blockbuster movie, it just felt quite seamless. Being cast opposite Naomi Scott, Kristen Stewart, and Elizabeth Banks, it was weird for me because there was an element of comfort. I was like, ‘Well if I’ve been cast, then my portrayal of the character is exactly what they want.’ I was able to really enjoy myself.
Resident Evil originally was a video game and has spun off numerous films. How does the Netflix show fit in with the franchise’s history?
I will say this iteration of Resident Evil is an extension of a lot of the history, so it isn’t a reboot, it’s a new interpretation, another chapter in the Resident Evil timeline. Now, with the experience of a virus, we were able to incorporate a lot of those things into the script.
How did you prepare for Resident Evil as an actress and as an athlete doing your own stunts?
Resident Evil for me was very minimal preparation because I’m familiar with the franchise. I am a gamer myself; I played the games when I was younger, so I knew all about the history and DNA of Raccoon City, as it were. Secondly, my pandemic hyper-fixation was fitness, so I like to say it didn’t take me long to get to fight ready. I actually trained in jujitsu for this character because a lot of that fighting style is grappling, it’s messy, we don’t really know what happens next, it’s not choreographed. A lot of the fight sequences, a lot of the high-stakes action moments that you see are improvised — in the safest way possible.
Courtesy of Marcos Cruz/Netflix
What was the shoot like?
I drew a lot from what we were going through in the world. We shot this project in South Africa in the middle of the pandemic. There were blackouts and a curfew while we were shooting. And you know, it wasn’t too dissimilar to the things that my character was going through. I was separated from my family as an actress, and so was my character. So it was a very immersive, visceral filming experience for me.
When you read the script for Resident Evil was there something about Jade in particular that made you feel like you were looking in a mirror, or resonated with you?
Yes and no. Yes because here’s a character, out against the world, doing things for herself, figuring it out on her own, which are all things that I can definitely relate to. She has an idea in her head and she wants to go and get it. Those are things that I was like, ‘I understand the broad, external persona that Jade has.’ However, the thing that really attracted me to her — which is actually something that is very different from me — is that she is a scientist. And I love STEM, but what I mean by that is she’s not a superhero. She’s not someone in the zombie apocalypse immaculately trained to I Am Legend-style take out these zombies. She’s a survivalist scientist dealing with the mistakes and traumas of the past, in the present, which are now coming back to haunt her and she’s trying to figure it out.
So relinquishing that control both in the physical performance and in the emotional performance was something that was very appealing to me as a performer.
You’re trained in the use of 12 different weapons, including knives and swords. Why were you drawn to that?
When I was younger, I was an athlete, and my athleticism lends itself toward that skill set. When I was in drama training, it felt like everybody knew what their lane was: Some people wanted to do period drama, some people wanted to do theater, everyone had their niche. Then the stage combat unit came up, and I found it was just completely effortless. I love to hyper fixate on a certain skill set and try to get really good at it.
You seem to be drawn to different genres in your work: Charlie’s Angels being more of an action comedy, Resident Evil being horror … how would you define the characters you’re attracted to?
Funny you say that, I’ve noticed that even the things I’m attached to that I’ve got in the pipeline are so different, and I think that’s a reflection of the past — during my training when I was in school, you just get to play … having the opportunity to try different things is so exciting. If I get a script and read it in one sitting, I know I love it.
I’m sort of exploring my range and taking risks, taking things that I learned from one project onto the next project. And not just on camera, but also off camera — adding the producer credit to my role.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
This story first appeared in the July 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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