New nonunion actors will voice main characters in 'Resident Evil 2' remake

Hidden by all the E3 2017 news, voice actor Allyson Court has announced that she will not be reprising her role in the Resident Evil 2 remake. Capcom will be using nonunion voice actors this for the upcoming title.

In a video posted by Court herself, the voice actor revealed how she learned she would not be reprising her role as Claire Redfield.

“About a year and a half ago the producer for the remake of [Resident Evil 2] did reach out, he contacted my agent,” Court said in the video. “Shortly thereafter, my agent got some emails of a couple of different companies that were bidding on a contract to the localization for the game and the voice recordings and the motion capture.”

The two firms that were bidding for the contract were based in Vancouver and Los Angeles. Both contacted Court to see if she would be willing to work with them as a voice actor if they won the contract. After the Los Angeles firm won the contract, they had a change of heart. “As soon they won the contract they informed me that they wouldn’t be needing my services because they would be going nonunion,” Court continued.

When a fan contacted Leon Kennedy’s voice actor, Matthew Mercer, about the issue, Mercer responded, “Same experience as Alyson regarding this project.”

Later, in a follow-up video, Court clarified these negotiations have nothing to do with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA union strike. While the strike had prevented Ashly Burch from reprising her role as Chloe Price in the Life is Strange prequel, Court’s negotiations with Capcom occurred before the strike even began.

A third video from Court clarified her thoughts on Capcom’s decision even further. If the company just wanted to go in a new creative direction for the Resident Evil 2 remake, she respects that. However, she calls the decision “disrespectful” if their only reason was to avoid hiring union workers.

Resident Evil 2 remake was first announced back in 2015, but little information has been revealed since then. Recent interviews imply that Capcom will show off more soon. Keep checking back with Digital Trends as information becomes available.