Sadly, it was reported yesterday that actor Lance Reddick had died aged 60. Though the actor was promoting his work in John Wick 4, he also gained attention for his ‘exceptional’ work in the Netflix adaption. We explore Lance Reddick’s Resident Evil performance.
Lance Reddick, star of the John Wick franchise, The Wire, and Resident Evil has died. As the news was confirmed, messages of condolences, grief, and respect flooded social media from fans and co-stars alike. The actor was on a press tour promoting John Wick 4. Lance had appeared in all of the franchise, playing Charon, a friend to the protagonist.
Though he had received much praise for his starring role in the beloved action movies, that certainly wasn’t all he was known for. Lance was in all five series of HBO’s The Wire as officer Cedrick Daniels. He also had smaller roles in Lost, Oz, and Bosch. Only last year, he starred in Netflix‘s adaptation of the video game, Resident Evil.
Lance Reddick ‘exceptional’ in Resident Evil
Despite negative reviews from critics and viewers, one thing watchers all had in common was that Resident Evil was worth it for Lance Reddick’s Wesker portrayal.
Netflix’s adaptation of the horror video game takes place in the year 2036, fourteen years after a deadly virus has caused an apocalypse. Lance plays the father of twins Jade and Billie, whose conception has always been suspicious. Set across two timeframes, 2022 and 2036, the Umbrella facility and hunting Jade as she attempts survival from the 6 billion infected ‘zeroes.’
Not only does Lance play Albert Wesker in the series, but actually 4 clones of the character which received much praise from viewers.
When speaking to Dread Central about the role, the actor said that “playing different facets of the character” was his favorite part. Lance also hadn’t realized that the franchise were originally games. The actor thought the adaptation stemmed from the films, such as Welcome To Raccoon City. Because his character isn’t a major part of the films, Lance “didn’t realize how prolific he was in the games.”
Clearly, the actor did the role justice and then some. His portrayal of Wesker is definitely one of the best parts of the adaptation.
Netflix’s adaptation of Resident Evil had been canceled
Despite rave reviews on Lance’s role in Resident Evil, the streaming giant quickly confirmed that it wouldn’t be returning for a second series.
Despite only being released last July, the horror series was confirmed not to return less than two months later. Unfortunately, despite Lance’sportrayal. the series received largely negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, Resident Evil has a 54 percent critics score, and an even worse 26 percent from audience reviews.
In its opening week, the series had 72 million viewing hours, placing it at No.2 in Netflix’s charts. However, by week 3 of its release, it had already dropped out of the top ten. With such big genre players such as Stranger Things, The Witcher, and Sandman which seriously impressed, it’s no surprise that Netflix canceled Resident Evil.
Fans of the actor will still be able to see him in the latest John Wick film. Lance had also been cast as Zeus in Disney+‘s Percy Jackson revival.
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