Nick Apostolides, the voice actor behind Leon Kennedy in the modern Resident Evil remakes, has revealed the specific musical influences that helped him step into the character. In a July 2026 Cameo video, Apostolides detailed how he utilized different rock and metal bands to calibrate his performance for each game's iteration of the protagonist.
Quick Facts
- Resident Evil 2: Influenced by the grunge energy of Nirvana.
- Resident Evil 4: Shaped by Alice in Chains, specifically the album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here and tracks like "Them Bones."
- Resident Evil Requiem: Inspired by 1980s Metallica, with a specific focus on the song "Orion."
Apostolides explained that he uses music as a tool to find the right mindset for his acting. While he admitted he did not overthink the process during his initial work on Resident Evil 2, he leaned into the "grunge, rock energy" of Nirvana to convey the character's relative youth and inexperience.
As the character matured, so did the actor's playlist. For Resident Evil 4, Apostolides turned to Alice in Chains. He highlighted the band's later work, including the album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, as a major influence on his approach to that specific era of Leon's life.
In the series' latest entry, Resident Evil Requiem, Leon is at his oldest point in the timeline. To match this, Apostolides shifted his focus to "classic, 1980s Metallica." He cited "Orion" as his favorite song of all time and noted that the track's heavy, rhythmic qualities helped him tap into the character's demeanor in Requiem.
This insight into the production process follows recent remarks from the actor regarding the writing of Resident Evil Requiem. Earlier in July 2026, Apostolides noted that Capcom opted to remove a line of dialogue he had recorded for the game, which he had considered his personal favorite among the character's one-liners.