One of the most popular video game series of all time, Resident Evil is set in a world where the Umbrella Corporation, a ruthless pharmaceutical group, has unleashed flesh-eating monsters on the world. The first live-action Resident Evil TV series brings in some of the plots and characters from the survival-horror video games to tell a new story split across two timelines — 2022, where the horrors Umbrella is capable of are just being revealed, and 2036, where the T-virus has infected many people. To prepare for the end of the world, and the series’ July 14 premiere, we’ve put together a guide to all the mad scientists, curious high school students and postapocalyptic survivors you need to know — and the actors bringing them to life.
Virologist Albert Wesker is one of the primary villains in the Resident Evil video game series. In the show, he’s a brilliant scientist and one of the highest-ranking employees at Umbrella. This job brings him and his twin daughters to the company town of New Raccoon City in South Africa. While he seems like a mild-mannered, devoted father, he’s got some dangerous secrets and is willing to use his influence at Umbrella to get what he wants.
Lance Reddick has had major roles in numerous film and TV franchises, playing the ambitious Baltimore Police Department lieutenant Cedric Daniels in The Wire, the mysterious hotel concierge Charon in the John Wick films and Fringe Division leader Phillip Broyles on Fringe.
You can follow him on Instagram.
Left: Tamara Smart as Young Jade Wesker in Resident Evil.
Albert’s headstrong 14-year-old daughter hates being moved to the suburbs, where she feels out of place, but she quickly finds a purpose by investigating the mysteries afoot at Umbrella. She is fiercely protective of her fraternal twin sister, Billie.
No stranger to horror, English actor Tamara Smart appeared in the 2019 revival of Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? and battled the boogeyman as the star of A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting.
You can follow her on Instagram.
In 2036, Jade is a dedicated researcher studying the infected in hopes of finding a way to help other human survivors. While she wants to protect her husband and daughter, she often puts her work first and is too willing to take risks to get results.
English actor Ella Balinska starred in the 2019 version of Charlie’s Angels along with Kristen Stewart and Naomi Scott. She’ll be further strengthening her video game bona next year as the star of Square Enix’s action RPG Forspoken.
You can follow her on Instagram.
Billie is hoping to get a fresh start in New Raccoon City but has a hard time making friends and quickly falls prey to a vicious bully. A vegan and advocate for animal rights, Billie seems sweet and loves her family, but she has a history of violent outbursts.
Hawaiian actor Siena Agudong starred in No Good Nick alongside Melissa Joan Hart and Sean Astin, where she played a teenage con artist. She also made an appearance in the Fast & Furious film F9.
You can follow her on Instagram.
Evelyn Marcus inherited control of Umbrella from her father, who founded the company but was ousted from leadership after the destruction of the original Raccoon City in 1998. She’ll do anything to prove herself, rushing to get Umbrella’s new psychotropic drug, Joy, to market while suppressing evidence of its very dangerous side effects.
You can also see Mexican actor Paola Nuñez on Netflix in the second season of the telenovela La reina del sur. She’ll be appearing in Netflix’s upcoming horror mini-series, The Fall of the House of Usher, an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story.
You can follow her on Instagram.
Right: Connor Gosatti as Simon Marcus in Resident Evil.
When Jade’s attempts to research Umbrella are stymied by New Raccoon City’s firewall, she seeks help from classmate Simon Marcus. Simon resents how his mom, Evelyn, prioritizes her job as Umbrella CEO over her family. His helpful hacking leads to a budding romance with Jade, though the investigation puts both of them in serious danger.
Resident Evil is Australian actor Connor Gosatti’s first major role.
You can follow him on Instagram.
Umbrella middle manager Richard Baxter leads a group of heavily armed Umbrella agents to pursue Jade across the UK in 2036. An untrustworthy sadist, he leaves a trail of carnage in his wake.
Irish actor Turlough Convery played an investigator in Season 3 of the BBC spy thriller Killing Eve and was one of the main characters in the British historical drama Sanditon.
You can follow him on Instagram.
Mexican investigative journalist Angel Rubio lost his job as part of Umbrella’s cover-up of deaths at their lab in Tijuana. He’s still trying to prove the company’s culpability and prevent them from causing more harm, helping young Jade in her own search for answers.
This is the first major English-language role for Mexican actor and composer Pedro de Tavira Egurrola. You can see him in the Netflix telenovela The Five Juanas.
You can follow him on Instagram.
