Netflix’s live-action series resident Evilreleased July 14, tells the hauntingly familiar story of a deadly virus causing a global apocalypse, and Ella Balinska stars as Jade Wesker, delivering a performance that showrunner Andrew Dabb narrates THR is “fantastic, emotional… [she] carried our entire future history on her shoulders,” adding, “She was more than ready to tackle any of the stunts we threw at her and we threw a lot at her. She kicked ass. You would never know this was Ella’s first hour-long series.

The 25-year-old actress, born and raised in London, moved to Hollywood after taking the lead in the 2019 reboot of charlie’s angels. She also starred in Blumhouse’s 2020 Sundance Sweetheart Run darling, run, which was purchased by Amazon and is slated for release in October. Next year, Balinska (also Cartier brand ambassador and Clé de Peau Beauté) is shooting Hugo Keijzer’s sci-fi thriller The occupant. She spoke with THR about her love of the game and the training she underwent to resident Evil.

What was the transition between previous roles in the UK like before landing a lead role in charlie’s angels? How did you prepare?

I did a show on Sky One, which is kind of like the HBO age equivalent in the UK. It was one of those roles where I was really able to cut my teeth and make all the mistakes and try all the things – it gave me a great platform to put all my training.

When I came [to L.A.] to basically shoot a blockbuster movie, it felt pretty smooth. To be cast alongside Naomi Scott, Kristen Stewart and Elizabeth Banks was weird to me because there was an element of comfort. I was like, ‘Well, if I got cast, then my portrayal of the character is exactly what they want.’ I was able to really enjoy myself.

resident Evil was originally a video game and has produced numerous films. How does the Netflix show fit into the history of the franchise?

I will say this iteration of resident Evil is an expansion of a lot of the story, so it’s not a reboot, it’s a new take on it, another chapter in the resident Evil chronology. Now, with the experience of a virus, we were able to incorporate a lot of those things into the script.

How did you prepare for resident Evil as an actress and as an athlete performing his own stunts?

resident Evil for me, it was very minimal preparation because I know the franchise well. I am a gamer myself; I played the games when I was younger, so I knew all about the history and DNA of Raccoon City, so to speak. Second, my pandemic hyper-fixation was physical fitness, so I like to say it didn’t take me long to get ready for the fight. I actually trained in jujitsu for this character because a lot of this fighting style is grappling, it’s messy, we don’t really know what’s going to happen next, it’s not choreographed. A lot of the fight sequences, a lot of the high-stakes action moments that you see are improvised – in the safest way possible.

How was the filming?

I drew a lot from what we were experiencing in the world. We shot this project in South Africa in the midst of a pandemic. There were power outages and a curfew while we were filming. And you know, it wasn’t too different from the things my character was going through. I was separated from my family as an actress, and my character too. So it was a very immersive and visceral filming experience for me.

When you read the script from resident Evil Was there anything about Jade in particular that made you feel like you were looking at yourself in a mirror or that resonated with you?

Yes and no. Yeah because here’s a character, against the world, doing things for herself, fending for herself, which are all things I can really relate to. She has an idea in mind and she wants to go get it. It’s things I was like, ‘I understand the broad, external personality that Jade has.’ However, what really drew me to her – which is actually something very different to me – is that she is a scientist. And I love STEM, but what I mean by that is that she’s not a superhero. She’s not someone in the zombie apocalypse perfectly formed to I’m a legend-style take out those zombies. She’s a survivalist scientist who deals with mistakes and traumas from the past, the present, that now come back to haunt her and she tries to figure it out.

So giving up that control in both physical performance and emotional performance was something that appealed to me a lot as a performer.

You are trained in the use of 12 different weapons, including knives and swords. Why were you attracted to this?

When I was younger, I was an athlete, and my athleticism lends itself to that skill set. When I was in drama training, I felt like everyone knew what their path was: some people wanted to do period theatre, some people wanted to do theatre, everyone had their niche. . Then came the scene combat unit, and I found it to be just effortless. I like to focus on a certain skill set and try to get really good at it.

You seem to be drawn to different genres in your work: charlie’s angels being more of an action comedy, resident Evil being the horror… how would you define the characters that appeal to you?

It’s funny you say that, I’ve noticed that even the things I’m attached to and have in the works are so different, and I think that’s a reflection of the past — during my training when I was in school, you just play… having the opportunity to try different things is so exciting. If I get a script and read it in one sitting, I know I like it.

I kind of explore my range and take risks, applying the things I’ve learned from project to project. And not just on camera, but also off camera – adding producer credit to my role.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

This story first appeared in the July 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.