Resident Evil Requiem stars: Leon Fever, Crucial Character Moments, and Apocalypse Advice | IGN Fall Fan Fest 2026

Resident Evil has always been a huge hit among gamers, but Resident Evil Requiem is the best-selling installment. For the Fall 2026 Fan Festival, IGN spoke with the actors behind Grace Ashcroft and Leon S. Kennedy, Angela St. Albano, and Nick Apostoulides, about their experiences creating their characters and what they've learned from the enthusiastic, sometimes wild, fan reaction since they started.

"Nick was amazing. He was kind of like a big brother, guiding me through everything," San Albano says of taking his first step into the world of Resident Evil.

"It was hard to summarize what those guys were going to get into," Apostoulides said of his role as a series veteran, who has starred in the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 4 and Netflix's Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.

"I knew because of my history with the franchise. I had done three projects with it before, and I had an intimate understanding of the fans and how excited and passionate they are. So I was secretly excited for these guys," he said. "I think I just tried to help everyone understand the gritty world they've stepped into, because these games are fun, they're campy sometimes, and yes, they're about zombies and survival and the apocalypse, but they also have such an underlying reality to them. They center around real human stories, and that's how: they don't psychologicalize them, they prepare them to experience."

Part of what makes Resident Evil Requiem stand out for the series is the characters of Grace, a young woman who is suddenly faced not only with grief, but with monsters and conflict with an older, wiser, world veteran, Leon. Apostolides chose a scene that, for him, really encapsulated the version of Leon we see in Resident Evil Requiem.

"There was one scene that really reinforced what Leon is about. When he's with Grace at the dump. Grace is sitting next to him and then he gets up and Grace asks him, 'You're so sick; why do you keep going You're not going to make it." And he says just a few choice key words here: "I couldn't have made a difference then. But I'm here now and this is my chance to make a difference. And that's what he's about. That's his backbone, that's his DNA. He just wants to do the right thing and help those who can't help themselves. He's always been that guy, and even though he might be at the end, he still does.”

For Saint Albano, the scene that really stood out for him in Grace was his reaction to his mother's death. He said: "You get a sense of the trauma she's been through. I think Grace is introverted from birth and a bit uncomfortable with human contact and all that good stuff. I think seeing her mother die in such a traumatic way exacerbated everything for her."

And the other dimension that made me understand Grace's journey and the courage she had to find was actually when Emily died, because you understood, first of all, the guilt that Grace had. Because I think there's a line where he literally says again, “That's how I did it again. It's all my fault. And you understand this burden and this sin that he has carried all his life.

"The feeling that she let her mom down, and now she's letting this other person who's really grown up to love her and care about her. But also I think it was very clear to me where I needed to go in Grace's journey. She needs to stand up for someone else, and even if she's not good at standing up for herself, she needs to find that courage."

Fans were excited for Leon S. Kennedy this time. He's always been a hot male lead, but something about the more mature, slightly grizzled version of him that appeared in Requiem sent certain corners of the internet wild with Instagram thirst traps.

"You know, it's funny, I kind of expected the status quo. He's always been popular. He's a great-looking character. He stands for such good in the world, but it was a whole different level of… what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Okay, that was a whole different level of Leon fever that I wasn't expecting. It was dialed to 12. And I thought it was going to be a nine, so we'll say that."

One of the big post-release obsessions is that one version of Leon was wearing a wedding ring, but the game didn't reveal who the lucky Mrs. S. Kennedy was. All the stars say that they are always asked by fans.

"They ask me as if I know," says Apostolides. "I usually just say he's married to you, the fans."

After the positive reaction to the game and renewed interest, even outside of the gaming world, thanks to the new movie, what is it about the series that gives it longevity beyond many other horror games and zombie stories?

"I feel like Capcom just got dialed," Apostoulides says. "Number one, I think they really, really listen to the fans. They also know what they're doing. They're incredibly talented. And that's what separates the franchises from the ones that have survived all these years and the ones that are kind of floundering.

I think that's a great recipe for these projects and these games, where, yes, it's about zombies, killing zombies, preventing evil corporations from taking over the world, but it's also about human stories that - fans become very attached to these characters, and feel like they're surviving a huge obstacle with their friends, with the characters they're watching. And there's — I think there's a beautiful metaphor of life just going through hardships."

"For me, as an actor, when I first read the script, I just felt that the human story was what made the play so addictive," San Albano adds. "And with Leon, just the fact that they were able to create such a popular character so early. It's really a testament to the fans, you know, staying in the game and watching Leon grow and meet new characters and see where his life takes him. But I think creating complex characters like Grace, which is really delicious for a gamer or for anyone, frankly, in any medium, to have a really complex character that can see that." slow."

Resident Evil is also finding new audiences thanks to horror director Zack Kerger's new film adaptation, so what advice do they have for its down-on-his-luck hero Brian as a survivor of Resident Evil?

"I'd probably say find your own version of Leon," says St. Albano. "Find your copy of Leon and try to find more than one bullet if possible."

"Find a big gun," Apostolides adds with a smile.

St. Albano is currently starring as Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream (with added Thriller Culture) at Chichester Festival Theater while also working on adding her vocal talents to the King Arthur action-apocalypse-modern-RPG Tides of Annihilation as the heroine of Gondolin. Apostolides has a packed calendar, too: He just did his first anime dub for Ghost in the Shell, is working on the indie adventure RPG Emberville, and is developing his own game with his brother, a backyard zombie beat-em-up game inspired by his father. During the interview, he gave an unusual role to St. Albano.

"You might have to play a zombie animal."

Fall Fan Fest features 90 exclusive shows across games, movies, TV, comics and collectibles. Stream it on IGN for game announcements, trailers, exclusive clips, celebrity interviews and more, or catch up on anything you missed from Fall Fan Fest right here on IGN.

Rachel Weber is the Head of Editorial Development at IGN and a huge millennial. He's been a professional nerd since 2006 when he started working for Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. He loves horror movies, horror movies, horror games, Red Dead Redemption 2, and boyfriend Love and Deepspace.