Afterserious fan backlashover Ada Wong’s voice actor’s performance in theResident Evil 4 Remake, her castmate and the game’s lead actor, Nick Apostolides, has jumped to her defense.In aninterview with The Gamerregarding his role in the series, and the recent remake, specifically, Apostolides took the time to call out the ‘Twitter trolls’ for the online harassment that fellow actor Lily Gao has suffered at their virtual hands. Taking her second run at playing Ada Wong in the Resident Evil 4 Remake, Gao went as far as to delete almost herentire personal Instagram accountlast weekend in response to online bullying over her acting in the game. Although those comments no longer exist due to Gao’s personal online purge, multiple reports have indicated that series fans were upset that she played down Wong’s sexuality from previous performances given by the character’s former actor, Jolene Anderson.RELATED:Gamers Hating On Ada Wong’s Voice Actor Have Their Priorities All WrongLike Gao, the Resident Evil 4 remake isn’t the first title in the franchise to which Apostolides has lent his acting talent; he started out playing Leon in the 2019Resident Evil 2 Remake. However, the most recent game was their first Resident Evil project to work on together. Apostolides said he had spoken to Gao since the backlash against her began, and he has offered words of encouragement, pointing out that he had received negative comments from fans of the series when he made his debut.“When Resident Evil 2 came out it happened right away,” he said. “Some people liked the voice, but a lot of people were attached to other actors who voiced Leon so they didn’t quite accept me. You saw the negativity with the positivity.“Furthermore, Apostolides pointed out that when working with popular characters who have already been played by other actors, it’s much easier for fans to be critical of someone just stepping into a role. “I told her that first of all you can’t take it personally,” he noted. “Anytime you’re taking on the role of a beloved character, people will have their opinions. If people aren’t happy, those will be the loudest voices.”
While the interview indicates that he seemed to be encouraging Gao to develop a thicker skin when it comes to accepting criticism from toxic fans, it also points out that women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other minorities seemed to be targeted a lot more than their white, heterosexual, cisgender, male counterparts. Furthermore, Apostolides still didn’t excuse the toxic fan behavior that led to the backlash against Gao, even going so far as to slap the “Twitter trolls” label on the individuals who harassed her.
“But to spew hate, and DM actors to say you are absolute garbage, go [expletive] yourself, don’t act again. That is not acceptable,” he criticized a segment of the fan community. “If you’ve got that much hate in your heart send it somewhere else. I’m sorry your life has been so bad that you have to do that, but it’s pretty sad.”
As he points out during the interview, Apostolides is a long-time Resident Evil fan, having first picked up Resident Evil 2 in 1998. Gao’s love for the franchise —and Ada Wong in particular— has also been well-documented through her own interviews.
