REVIL Interviews Paul Mercier, the voice of Leon S. Kennedy

[Carnivol]

The Brazilian Resident Evil fan-site REVIL has recently put up a pretty text heavy and interesting interview with Paul Mercier, the man who's lent his talent as the voice actor for Leon S. Kennedy in Resident Evil 4, Degeneration, and The Darkside Chronicles.

The interview covers many bases, such as getting the job, character relationships, random trivia, Leon as a character, and more... such as this interesting little piece, touching the subject of Resident Evil 4's complicated development history:

At that point in the character development, the virus had infected him. There wasn’t much of a story yet, so the focus became about what would happen to Leon if he started mutating. How would this affect his mind, his body, and how he could overcome what was taking him over. And if it did overtake him, then how would they create missions around that?

Follow this link to read the full interview: REVIL Interviews Paul Mercier - Past, Present and Future



Thanks goes out to Yuna for giving us the heads up, News bot for swiftly pointing out the lines we've quoted, and REVIL for having this ace piece of content (and Paul Mercier for being awesome enough to do interviews with fan-sites)

[Vector]

Paul Mercier, YOU'RE small-time.

[Pikminister]

Wasn't there suppose to be an interview from UnWiredTV with Paul as well? Has that happened yet?

Great interview. He sounds like a decent guy. Too bad that he sometimes gets some of the heat the Anti-Leon brigade dishes out toward the character. Is a kill the messenger kinda deal.

[Archelon]

Why do I get the feeling this thread will not end well?

Anyway, I was a fan of Mercier's work before RE4, so I always thought it was pretty cool that he was chosen to lend his voice to my favorite character. I really enjoyed reading this interview and hearing his thoughts on Leon as a character, especially when one considers the general aversion to him around these parts.

I wonder if Mercier is aware of the disdain the rather vocal minority of fans hold for Leon, and if so, if that has affected his work/performances in any way, shape, or form, but I guess that isn't really a question one could ask in such an interview as this as he was nice enough to agree to do the interview in the first place. Though I imagine even a person who hates Leon wouldn't actually mention that to Mercier's face if they were to ever meet him in person.

[Bianca]

Wow, his answers are very detailed and insightful. A great read, indeed.

Ahhhh.... Hearing stuff about 3.5 makes me so sad. I desperately want to know more about that game.

Actually, I had to audition to play the role. They wanted to make sure that I could still not only handle Leon’s adventures, but also be good at sounding young and scared and like a typical rookie. WTF this is Leon’s FIRST day on the job!

That's really interesting. I'm glad he managed to keep the role for Darkside Chronicles. After they kept him for Degeneration, I felt Leon was sort of "his" character, the same way with Alyson Court and Claire.

Regardless of how Capcom writes Leon, I still enjoy Paul's performances, and I do think he's a suitable choice for the character. Too bad he didn't reveal anything about the new scenario in DSC, though. I'm still aching to know if Jim Ward will voice Krauser again.

[Yuna]

Thanks goes out to Yuna for giving us the heads up, News bot for swiftly pointing out the lines we've quoted, and REVIL for having sharing this ace piece of content.

Thanks, Carnivol ^^ but the great responsible for this "ace piece of content" was Mr. Mercier he was really nice to us.

[belmont1997]

I perfer Paul Haddad much more his Leon was memoriable for me. Sounded more cooler.

[Carnivol]

Thanks, Carnivol ^^ but the great responsible for this "ace piece of content" was Mr. Mercier he was really nice to us.

You're welcome. Since you just mentioned it, I figured I'd slap it into the thanks too. Mr. Mercier most certainly is "the man", for joining the ranks of those who're willing to partake in interviews like these with various communities and fan-sites

[GuardhouseMusic]

It's not Mercier that's the problem, it's the writing and execution. He didn't give himself the direction to be a piece of wood in Degeneration. It seems like he's doing something different with the character in DSC.

[REmaster]

Well personally I think that the RE1 remake and RE0 were the first games to have superb VA's, but RE4 really did a great job. I wasn't a big fan of Leon before RE4, but within the first 3 minutes of the game I was like "damn this guy's a good VA", sounds very natural.

[Darkmoon]

Intreresting read. As much as Leon annoys the piss outta me I've never blamed Mercier for it. He's obviously doing the best he can with a somewhat iffy direction. Darkside Chronicles shows he can pack Leon's voice with emotion. I especially find it interesting that he outright says having different teams is why the characters change so much...

[aris13]

Either you hate Leon or not you have to admit that his voice actor has achieved greatness.

[Vector]

---Of all the characters you’ve played until this day, which one is your favorite?

That’s a tough one too. Does a parent have a favorite child? Jay Leno a favorite car? Imelda Marcos a favorite pair of shoes? I had a lot of fun doing Specter for the “SOCOM’s”, sifting through tactical missions, analyzing situations and giving the orders for attacks.

THAT'S where I know him from! Oh, man. I loved Specter. Jester was cooler in my book, but still...

[Dredgon]

Leon is the best, and Mr. Mercier seems like a cool guy. I love the Cloverfield reference, one of my favorite films ever!

[kevstah2004]

I perfer Paul Haddad much more his Leon was memoriable for me. Sounded more cooler.

Co-sign but I agree with GuardhouseMusic it's the misdirection of CAPCOM trying to make LEON the typical super action american hero.
Repeated from http://www.the-horror.com/forums/sho...ighlight=voice
I don't like the new take on Leon's voice his voice is too deep he sounds like a no emotional having grunt, thankfully Claire's stays true to original. In the original RE2 his voice was a lot softer and timid.
I thought where trying to portray a younger sounding LEON in DSC too but this new mashup in DSC is awful there was nothing wrong with his voice in RE4 imo it was the character CAPCOM had portray that came off as cocky one liner Mercier himself sounds like a cool guy.

also

they went over the top with the tension.

Yes. I especially don't like how Claire often speaks as if she's out of breath; you can hear it in the beginning of RE2 scenario shown in the mini-game at official DSC site. It's cool that they are going for the horror atmosphere this time, but sometimes it is obvious that they are trying too hard.

Simply put CAPCOM doesn't know or understand subtly.