The finest film ever made in which Milla Jovovich kicks a zombie Doberman in the face, Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2002 horror blockbuster Resident Evil inspired five sequels—including this weekend’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Actor Ryan McCluskey, who splits his time between Los Angeles and London, was there from the start: Thanks to a doomed elevator, his character “Mr. Grey” is one of the series’ very first victims. The Mercury spoke with McCluskey about his part in Resident Evil history.
MERCURY: So how did you end up in Resident Evil?
McCLUSKEY: I was living in London and had just finished my contract with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I needed a challenge that would rival the Bard’s complexity, and the after reading the script for Resident Evil, I knew I had found that challenge. As Shakespeare wrote, “Action is eloquence, and the eyes of th’ ignorant more learned than the ears.”
Honestly, it was an action movie (which I’d always dreamed of doing) and I was out of work. It sounded like a blast and so I auditioned. The casting lady wanted me sweaty before I read, so she had me run around the block. Apparently my natural flop sweat wasn’t enough.