Exclusive: Ali Larter on Playing Claire Redfield and the End of the Resident Evil Franchise
This week saw the home video release of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (review), the sixth and final installment in the franchise that began in 2002. Through the series, we’ve met many faces, both new to the storyline and those from the games, including Claire Redfield, who originally made her appearance in Resident Evil 2 as the sister of Chris Redfield, one of Resident Evil‘s most notable characters. In the films, Claire first appeared in Resident Evil: Extinction, where she was portrayed by Final Destination‘s Ali Larter.
Larter went on to reprise her role twice more, once in Afterlife and again in The Final Chapter. To recognize her vital role in the series, I had the chance to catch up with Larter to discuss her thoughts on the film, the strength and humanity Claire possesses, what the future holds for her, and more. Check it all out below!
You can pick up your copy of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter via Amazon or iTunes.
Dread Central: So, The Final Chapter comes out on home video in just under two weeks. What goes through your mind when you think about Claire’s journey in the films?
Ali Larter: You know what, it’s pretty wild. I’ve been working on that character for ten years, from where it began where you really see her kind of connect with Alice and you see them build this relationship of trust and admiration and in this post-apocalyptic world how do you survive? Then you see in different ways, you see them use their skills, use their relationship, it’s been really interesting.
DC: Something that always stood out to me about Claire was that she’s very strong and capable of extreme violence. That being said, she’s also got a lot of humanity and she makes it clear that she hasn’t lost herself in this new world.
AL: Well thank you for saying that. You know, in a movie like this you get very small moments to be able to bring this humanity and I think that’s something that I’ve really enjoyed, being able to balance it out, that she is a real person, she is someone that even in this post-apocalyptic world you can relate to her in that way, with lots of emotions or developed relationships with people and cared for them deeply but at the same time knows you can never slow down. You can never allow yourself to get too close because chances are they’re never going to make it.
DC: Now that the cure is out in the world, what do you think comes next for Claire’s character?
AL: Wow. What is next for her…I think that her being burned so hard, that has made her more coarse and also realizing that the only place she can really look at someone and feel a sense of connection with is Alice and so I think they are going to stick together knowing they are more powerful in a pair, that you are able to do it together.
DC: Even though the film is called The Final Chapter, it’s still very open to a sequel. Would you be open to playing Claire again should a sequel come about?
AL: I mean, I loved working with Paul and Milla over the years and one of the things that was incredible during our last world tour was being able to connect with the fans and seeing how much they love these movies and in a way, one of the surprising things that has come out of being part of this franchise is how girls are so inspired to see women in typically male roles, kind of sticking up for themselves, learning stunts and being part of that, so it’s been an incredible experience and I’m really grateful I had a chance to be a part of it.
DC: The Resident Evil game series has always bounced around between characters, including Code Veronica which focused on Claire. If the powers-that-be decided to do spin-off movies and wanted one about Claire, would you do it?
AL: I mean, I’d love to read it and see what the vision is and the idea of doing it. One of the things I loved most about playing the character was the aspect of doing the stunts, learning to do these acrobatic moves and watching Milla doing it over the years was so inspiring, she looked like a ballerina up there. For me it’s been incredible working with Paul or Milla, I don’t know what the next step is but I do think this is the end of the franchise and being able to kind of end it together, and having done three movies together over a decade, is something that I’m very proud of.
DC: What else is next for you?
AL: You know, it’s been very interesting. I’ve been developing this project that is now shifting into high gear. “Pitch” isn’t coming back for a second season, so it frees me up to kind of go in some different directions and it’s been the first time in a long time that I’ve actually been available and so I’m not rushing into anything, I’m excited to sit back and try and get this project that I want to do, read some scripts, I think it’s fantastic that the writers’ strike was averted, it’s not going to happen, and explore some different avenues. I’m pretty darn excited about the future, actually.
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