Resident Evil 4 Remake voice actor speaks out over harassment
Lily Gao, the voice actor who portrayed Ada Wong in Resident Evil 4 Remake has issued a statement pushing back on sexist, racist harassment she received following the release of the game. In her statement, she thanked the game’s producer and director for opting to go with authentic representation, and spoke about her portrayal of Ada.
Gao was bullied off of Instagram last week following the release of the game, after receiving hundreds of abusive comments on her posts, including posts that weren’t about Resident Evil. The voice actor deleted all but one of her posts on the platform, and turned off commenting on that remaining post.
Now, she seems to have returned, posting her new statement alongside some of the Asian characters and actors that inspire her. She says that her version of Ada is a survivor, and not a sex object, and that the stereotype of the sexy mysterious Asian woman needs to come to an end.
Her full statement is as follows:
“Being the first Asian actor to portray Ada in the Resident Evil video games is an honour, and I will forever be grateful to our producer and director, for making the decision on authentic representation. It's unfortunate that with the game's release, also came the all too familiar feeling of 'I don't belong'. 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. It is time we stop only capitalizing on the sexualized, eroticized, and mysterious Asian woman, and make space to honour every kind of Asian woman. My Ada is a survivor. She is kind, just, intelligent, and funny. She is unpredictable, resilient, and absolutely not a stereotype.”
Ada Wong serves as somewhat of a secondary protagonist in the original Resident Evil 4, with her own game mode set during the game’s timeline showing what she was doing while Leon was off saving dogs and shooting fish. While that mode is not currently included in the remake, dataminers have discovered files in the game hinting at the mode, subtitled Separate Ways, returning in the future.
Ada is currently available to play in the newly released Mercenaries game mode, which was added as free DLC for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC shortly after the game was released. The update came with a controversial twist, though, adding microtransactions to the game to the ire of many.
