You never want to come face-to-face with a snarling dog, especially one infected with the T-virus.
In Resident Evil, twin sisters Jade (Tamara Smart) and Billie (Siena Agudong) Wesker find themselves in that unfortunate situation. After stealing the ID card of their father, scientist Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick), the duo infiltrate the Umbrella Corporation labs and release a Doberman infected with the T-virus, a pathogen that turns any living creature into a mindless flesh-eater.
Smart and Agudong recently caught up with Tudum and talked about the pivotal scene. Watch it below and find out how it all came together:
You have the first horror scene in the entire series: meeting the infamous zombie dog, the most well-known creature from the Resident Evil bestiary. Walk us through shooting that scene, first getting chased and then attacked. Siena Agudong: It was 2 a.m., pitch black and cold. And we were in this massive building that’s actually a museum or art exhibit in real life. The “dog” was actually a guy in a green suit named Gary. He’s a very nice guy, but we couldn’t see his face the whole time. He pulled on my shoulder for the scene, and obviously I’ve never done anything like that.
Tamara Smart: It was really late. And so we had to be careful. But they made the set a really safe space for us. It reminded me of dance; everything was perfectly marked.
Agudong: We had safety pads, so we were able to just feel it in the moment. And stuff like this, it just gets so intense that you do end up throwing yourself to the ground if that’s what you feel in the moment. There was a lot of that. And obviously, you don’t want to hit the camera. I had to skid and fall. Having to time that whole sequence and then Gary coming in right after, that was really neat.
Jade saves Billie by hitting the dog in the head with a fire extinguisher. Was that a stuffed dog that you struck?
Smart: For some takes, it was just air. But for one or two takes, I hit a dog head on a stick. That was a weird experience for me as well, because it’s like killing something. And at the time, I tried to mainly focus on Billie’s “death.” So it’s many emotions in one scene.
The fire extinguisher was foam. It was squishy, and because they spray-painted it, I had silver paint all over my hands by the end. And because I was holding Siena’s face, the paint got on it, and it was a mess!
How did you react to seeing the finished product? Smart: I’m so proud of how it turned out. That was a really tough scene for me, but Sienna was such an amazing crutch — just there all of the time. I remember we’d finished with me holding her face, and she’d open eyes and be like, “You need anything?” And I’m like, “No, I’m good!” But yeah, she’s the sweetest!
Resident Evil is currently streaming.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
