Canadian Shawn Roberts has been brought in to play Resident Evil's resident baddie, Albert Wesker, in the fourth installment of the video game franchise.  Though he is filling another man's shoes (Jason O'Mara played the role in the previous film), he doesn't feel much pressure to live up to his predecessor.  Perhaps it's his extensive horror background (including three Romero zombie flicks, Left for Dead, Skinwalkers, and an episode of Supernatural).  Or maybe he's just having way too much fun.  We chatted with Shawn last year on the Toronto set of Resident Evil: Afterlife about video games, prosthetics, and kicking co-star Milla when she's down. Hit the jump for our conversation.

Have you noticed any difference in filming an American film versus a Canadian film?

The biggest difference is where the money is coming from.  There seems to be more when the backers are American.  There is also more exposure with American films.

Have you ever done a 3D film?

No, this is my first.  I love that you can go behind the cameras, put on the glasses, and instantly see what you just shot in full 3D.  All the sets have been designed to pop.  But it does take longer to set up shots because everything has to be so precise.  It pulls you in more -- that little extra bit of eye candy.

Does it affect the physicality of your performance at all?

Paul encourages those great little moments that you can capture.  On a solely Canadian project, the director will say, "No one messed up? Great, let's move on."  Whereas [Paul] will say, "Okay, that was great, now let's try it with you a little to the left."  We did a giant fight scene that we took directly from the Resident Evil 5 video game, shooting at like 200 frames per second... it's just incredible.  The communication is there from the get-go, and I think that is what really helps.

How are the fight scenes?  Is Milla up to the challenge?

Oh yeah!  The first scene we had together, I am wearing these huge boots, and I walk over to her and literally kick her -- just kick her over.  She didn't make a squeak or a whimper -- nothing.  She wants to bring everything she can to a role.  It's not until they shout "Action!" that the badass in her really comes out.  She is the sweetest woman with a beautiful little girl, who all of a sudden turns into this badass.  She owns the role.  She really knows how to do this, which makes it really comfortable when you have fists and guns and knives flying about.

Any missed punches?

I think we got away pretty cleanly.  There were a couple hand-to-hand contacts and some kicks, but in all the fights I have been involved with -- I hope -- everyone came out okay.

Tell us about your character.

Albert Wesker.  Chairman of the Umbrella Corporation.  He is in a position of power.  He pretty much runs the world, and Alice is an annoyance.  It's a whole process: I get to set and wardrobe gives me this big, long black jacket, and props comes over and gives me the dark glasses and the gloves.  By the time you are all dressed you stand a little straighter, you walk a little differently.  He's got everything going for him -- he's super fast, super strong, has the ability to regenerate -- it's all the elements from the game. That was one thing we all agreed on from the start: this character has to be for the fans.

Are you worried about any fan backlash?

If there is anything else I could do to make sure I am bringing it every day, I don't know what that is! I got the video game and spent hours trying to beat myself.  When the first Resident Evil game came out, it had such an impact on me: the sounds, the creepy-crawlies, playing it with friends in the basement.  And now, however many years later, the movies have been made, the franchise is successful, and I'm part of it!  I really wanted to immerse myself in it.  I probably spent two weeks playing the game, eyes watering because I didn't want to blink and miss anything.  It's an honor to be part of it.  Here's hoping the fans like it!

Is this one of the most physically demanding roles you have ever done?

Definitely.  I am doing as many of my own stunts as they will allow.  Luckily I am not in any of the underwater stuff.  Environmentally, the most challenging thing is to be fully dressed in leather, with a hundred lights on you, in a white room with it all reflecting on you.  I'm just sitting there, sweating, but Albert Whesker isn't supposed to sweat.

There is an opening shot that is probably the most revealing of Whesker -- he doesn't have his glasses on, and he is half-clothed and doing chin-ups.  I worked out to get myself all pumped for this scene.  The preparation for that scene parlays well into prep for the other stuff.  I don't take a lot of damage and come out looking like a rock star!

How do the zombies look in this movie?

They will not disappoint.  We've got the same prosthetics people from the previous films.  We took a couple of characters from the game and put them in the movie, which is kind of neat.  We brought the dogs back, and I made them my pets.

Is it fun working with the dogs, or is it a pain in the ass?

It was fun working with the dog you saw in the lobby -- the stuffed one.  Otherwise, it's just a dog.  I think we spent an entire day trying to get the dog to walk in and sit on his mark.  It's about the symmetry -- sit on your mark, don't look around, don't be a dog, basically.  But it looks good.  We took the stuffed dogs and used them as reference points, so at one point you have a crew member holding one of the dogs, moving around, putting his jaws around you.  It's neat to see how it will all cut together.

What would you guess the ratio of practical effects versus CG effects to be?

Don't quote me on this, but I feel it is probably around 70/30 in favor of practical effects.  I spent  six hours in prosthetics for 15 seconds of onscreen time.  It looks cool and would be a shame to paint over it with CG.  Our special effects team was all over it with the dead bodies and whatnot.  "More blood?  No problem.  You need some brain matter?  Got that right here."

We do as much of the action as we can naturally.  There were a couple backflips that I had to do that I was on wires for.  But physically, I did as much as possible.  It's a nice tool to use the CGI but we don't want to rely on it.

In the last Resident Evil, Wesker was played by Jason O'Mara.  Was there any pressure to build your portrayal of the character on what was previously done?

I don't feel any.  The concept was to follow the newest game, so the character was based more on that.

How long have you been shooting?

Forever.  My first day was, I think October 10th, but I think we have been in production since September 23rd.  So it has been about 10 weeks or so.  It's good: we are on schedule.  We've only been working 12 hour days so no one is too run down, everyone still has a spring in their step.