[Interview] Josh Cruddas for RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City transforms the thriving home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation into a dying Midwestern city. The company’s escape has turned the city into a desert…a great evil lurks beneath the surface. When this evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth about Umbrella and survive the night.
Shannon McGrew of Nightmarish Conjurings recently spoke with Josh Cruddas, an actor, musician and songwriter who plays Ben, a journalist and conspiracy theorist who uncovers dangerous truths about his corporation on Umbrella. During our conversation, we talked about everything from how he approached his beloved characters to how he worked with director Johannes Roberts.

you did a great job with that. I’d love to hear more about how you approached Ben’s character. Especially since he’s a video game staple.

Josh Cruddas: Yes, he’s the main character of his, the first video game character I’ve played, and I was really excited when I found him. Those of you who’ve played the game know that Ben isn’t the redhead of a video game, so we’re about to walk a fine line. . This guy’s Josh plays Ben Bertolucci who doesn’t look much like this guy. We were a little smarter about it. Well, I take no responsibility for this, but costume designer Jen Lantz made a very interesting decision.The overall aesthetic of the film is very dark, a bit dark in its muted tones.And , Ben is a strange character in the world of Raccoon City Resident Evil, both literally and figuratively, so we gifted him with this super bright neon retro Nike jacket that he wears in important scenes. We’re going to do something a little different than the world we created for the movie, but we’re going to do something a little different than the world Ben exists in the game. I think it was a very smart move on their part as they were able to honor and respect the character’s DNA in the game and of course the game itself. , I think we did. The reaction to him being in the movie was really… yeah, I was so excited to hear the reaction.

What was it like working with director Johannes Roberts? And it didn’t allow improvisation at all? Because there were some clever phrases that seemed very informal.

Josh Cruddas: I enjoyed working with Johannes. He is one of those directors that every actor wants to work with. he’s fun he’s fun he knows what he’s doing. He is excellent at instilling confidence in his actors, especially when he does the same thing over and over again. Sometimes when you need shots of technical things, you feel like you go crazy as an actor in those situations, but he really kept us entertained and he kept us entertained. he’s good at it. I was able to improvise a bit. Sometimes I have the terrible habit of improvising any day of the week (laughs). So of course we have a little bit of room for that and we decided on a character, okay this is Ben, I think we’re all on the same page about who he is. in this situation and see what happens. Obviously, we were very loyal to what was going on in the script and in the story, but there was certainly room for a little wiggle room.

revelation. If you don’t want to be pampered, stop reading.
Unfortunately, Ben finds himself in a dangerous situation that doesn’t go his way. Ben doesn’t live long, but being able to tell people he was killed in the Resident Evil movie is kind of a badge of honor, so how does he feel?

Josh Cruddas: I haven’t told anyone yet because I try to keep it a secret, but it was great. I teach acting and music to children, some of them are teenagers and for some reason it is allowed to see and play Resident Evil, so they went to see this movie. I don’t know how they do it. When he was a kid, he could barely watch a series of Pokémon without fear (laughs). It’s great to be a part of a video game [because] I love video games, so being a part of a video game is definitely a dream.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is only available in theaters. Read more about the film in our review here.