Ada Wong’s Resident Evil 4 Remake VA fires back at players harassing her for her performance
CapcomLily Gao has fired back against players harassing her online because of her performance as Ada Wong in Resident Evil 4’s Remake.
The voice actress faced threats and harassment online from players dissatisfied with her performance in the role of Ada Wong in Resident Evil 4’s Remake.
Lily already played Ada Wong in 2021’s “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” movie which received middling reviews from sites like Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb.
However, the actress would only start receiving hateful comments after the premiere of 2023’s “Resident Evil 4 Remake.” Many players were dissatisfied with Capcom’s decision to replace Ada Wong’s voice actress from Resident Evil 2 Remake, Jolene Andersen.
Said “fans” seemingly took it out on Lily, a puzzling outrage given that Ada Wong’s voice actress changed 7 times for different appearances of the character in various media since 1998. Not even counting performances in languages other than English.
Lily Gao claps back at players harassing her
Lily released a statement via her personal Instagram account. Beginning the message by stating what an honor it was to portray the iconic character from such a legendary franchise. Before stating that soon after the release of the game she started receiving comments that go beyond just being a critique.
“While criticism is expected, it’s not the first time an actor of colour faces racist and sexist harassment, for simply participating. Inauthentic casting perpetuates an unhealthy image that further dehumanizes the community they seek to reflect,” wrote Lily in her message.
She then went on to state that her performance aimed to alter the portrayal of the character from being a “stereotype” to something much more complex.
While the end result will not appeal to every player, one should always voice their issues in a constructive manner. Harassing and belittling actors or actresses for their portrayal of a character is not constructive and leads only to devaluing your critique.
