This post contains major spoilers from the fifth episode of Resident Evil.
Actress Adeline Rudolph makes her on-screen debut halfway through Resident Evil in a reveal that shocks other characters and viewers alike.
The new live-action series is set in two timelines: present-day 2022 and post-apocalyptic 2036.
The 2022 timeline follows the Wesker family as they move to New Raccoon City, where scientist Albert Wesker has accepted a new role with the Umbrella Corporation. His twin teenage daughters, Jade (Tamara Smart) and Billie (Siena Agudong) relocate with him.
Bored with their new home and critical of Umbrella’s testing on animals, the girls steal Albert’s ID and break into his lab. They unwittingly release a dog infected with the T-virus, who bites Billie and infects her. The rest of the timeline follows Billie’s slow transformation into a mindless flesheater, while her father and sister try to save her.
The 2036 timeline picks up 14 years later, with Jade surviving alone in postapocalypse London. The Infected now account for most of the world’s population, and Jade has made it her life’s work to study them. Because of her studies, she is hunted by an Umbrella squad as she flees to France. Jade is eventually captured, and the Umbrella leader removes her helmet to reveal that she is in fact Billie — now played by Rudolph.
This is a shock to both Jade and viewers, as Billie’s fate in the 2022 timeline was never fully revealed.
One of the key visual cues that helps make the connection is Billie’s hair. Like her younger self, adult Billie also has blonde streaks among her dark tresses.
“I think [production] wanted to keep it dark at first,” Rudolph says. “But because young Billie has lighter hair, I pushed for that. And Siena [Agudong, who plays young Billie] and I were discussing things like, ‘Would adult Billie have this hair too? Would it be more refined? Maybe more mature?’”
“[I thought], How do I change this a little bit? Like, kind of modernize it or bring it into a more post-apocalyptic look?” she adds.
It’s not just Billie’s physical appearance that has changed.
She’s become hardened over the years, even joining Umbrella, which represents everything she previously stood against.
Once the other Umbrella guards leave, Billie surprisingly unlocks Jade’s restraints and allows her sister to escape. Whether this is an altruistic or a self-serving move, well... you’ll just have to keep watching.
“Adult Billie is a powerhouse who has her mind set on how she wants to change the world and that has been influenced by her past traumas,” says Rudolph, hinting at her character’s motives. “She is a broken soul with a powerful idea of the future.”
Resident Evil is streaming now.
