Boris Kodjoe Interview For ‘Resident Evil: Retribution’

Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, ‘Resident Evil: Retribution,’ the fifth installment in the game-to-film franchise stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Kevin Durand, Shawn Roberts, Colin Salmon, Johann Urb, Boris Kodjoe and Li Bingbing. The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. ‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ opens in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D from September 14th in the US and September 28th in the UK. My previous interviews for the film can be read here: Milla Jovovich, Paul W.S. Anderson and Michelle Rodriguez.

You’re working with a large ensemble cast on ‘Resident Evil: Retribution,’ how did you find it  with that group of guys and the likes of Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez?

Boris Kodjoe: Dude, we bro’d out (laughs). It was very cool. And then you’ve got the chicks, the women were kick-ass. You’ve got two of the toughest women in the game in Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez – and Sienna Guillory too. Just for us guys to be with them, look over to the side and see them doing the exact same thing that  we’re doing, but in heels – I had so much respect for that. And Milla Jovovich, working with her is an absolute pleasure, she is the consummate pro. Milla is a beautiful super person, she has a great heart, she’s a team player, and on ‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ she’s sort of the captain on the boat, her energy translated downwards to everyone else. It’s an amazing experience working with her, she’s kick-ass, as everyone knows, and she’s a lot of fun. Michelle Rodrgiuez, oh my gosh, she’s crazy, she goes there. She is not scared one bit and she weighs like a third of what I weigh and she was in there like, “What!” Just looking at me like, “C’mon.”

What scene was the most challenging for you on ‘Resident Evil: Retribution’? You’ve got a bunch of shoot-outs, the chase sequence….

Boris Kodjoe: Yeah. The chase sequence I think was tremendous because its never been seen before in that kind of Rolls Royce Phantom, with the zombies on the motorcycles and the big beast coming after us. That was crazy. We shot that scene over four days I think, we were suspended in mid-air on a crane – which would shake us from right and left, to front and back. And Paul W.S. Anderson would yell stuff at us because we didn’t know what was going on, so he would say, “Motorcycle on the right! Shooting to the left!” Go right! Turn Left!” After a while we got so delirious that we just laughed, we laughed literally through every take (laughs), we would lose it every time. That was a good time.

How was it shooting the big brawl scene? With all those fight sequences simultaneously going on, was that chaotic, hard to orchestrate?

Boris Kodjoe: It was chaotic, it was both. It was hard to orchestrate because the space was limited, and the fights took place next to each other yet you had to shoot them separately so you couldn’t show the other part. It was tricky for Paul to do it. But it was also tough on our part because we had to sell it, and that was one of the reasons we practised that scene six-weeks ahead of time before shooting. We really had to study the choreography so we didn’t hit each other in the face, you know? It was tough, and my hip hurts….still (laughs). I hyperextended my knee, I had rib bruises – because you want to make it look real. You don’t want for some stunt guy to go in there and do it for you, where you have to hide his face. And also that’s part of the fun on a film like ‘Resident Evil: Retribution,’ you want to do it yourself.

Did Paul W.S. Anderson work out with you where Luther’s been between ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ and ‘Resident Evil: Retribution‘? He seems to have gained some skills? And how do you think Paul added to the franchise with this fifth movie.

Boris Kodjoe: (Laughs) Yeah. I guess he acquired them when he hooked up with Kevin Durand’s Barry Burton and Johann Urb’s Leon. But not really, he just saw what went down, he saw the armada come in and attack the ship and Alice was supposedly hurt and he was just looking for her. He heard she was alive so he was just out there looking for her, trying to rescue her again. And Paul, I think he stepped it up in all ways possible. ‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ is more epic, it’s huge, it’s bigger, it’s more colourful, the fight sequences are just elaborated in a grander way. We were all over the world as well, there’s tidal waves (laughs)….it’s just more epic, in every way for sure. Paul really conducted this one.