Interview With Bekka Prewitt – Acting, Resident Evil & More!

It’s been my absolute honor to interview Bekka Prewitt earlier this week. She’s the sweetest human and I’m so happy that she agreed to do this. We talked about voice acting, motion capture, travelling, inspiration and of course, Resident Evil: Village!

Make sure to follow Bekka on all her socials below and get signed prints, some cool merch and/or a personalized video message from Bekka on Streamily!
Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook | IMDb

If you’d like to listen to the interview, you can press play below. If you’d prefer to read (or listen & read!), I’ve included a transcript as well. Hope you like it! (+bonus video from trio signings at the end of this post!)

(let me know if you have any problems with the playback!)

Dana: Hi everyone, today I’m so delighted to be sitting down for a chat with Bekka Prewitt. She’s a very talented actor, voice-over and performance capture artist, humanitarian and overall such a lovely, lovely human being. You may know her for her voice-over and performance capture of Bela, one of the Dimitrescu sisters from Resident Evil: Village.

Before we start, thank you so much for agreeing to do this and for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Bekka: Well, I am honored to do it because I’m, first of all, I love talking to fans and people who are interested in Resident Evil and gaming and just voice work in general and acting in general, but you, in particular, Ms. Dana, are incredibly talented creator, one of our two trio prints for the Dimitrescus, and so I am honored as well to be talking to you.

You’re a very, very gifted artist. So thank you for creating our Christmas print that we have online at Streamily and, thank you for being so talented and gracious with that gift to us. So we’re glad to work with you and I’m so happy to interview with you.

Dana: Thank you so much! My first question is about your childhood – was acting something that you always wanted to do or was it something that came about later in life?

Bekka: I was pretty young when I started wanting to act or when I started acting in general, yeah I was a ham. I mean, at one point I was shy. I remember being shy as a child, hiding behind my mom. And then I don’t know what happened (laughs) but being a big ham and being a performer and just trying to make people laugh and just enjoy making people laugh or smile.

And then just was enraptured by the beauty of a film, film making, and just movies and getting so caught up, especially if there were anything like fantasy or sci-fi and I’m like, oh, I would love to be a part of that. And because I’m such a talker, I had nicknames, Dana, about how much I talked in elementary school.

I was just a chatterbox, and so I’m like, well, maybe I should do that. (laughs) I guess the love for performance started when I was younger and I didn’t really know how to be a part of any of that. And eventually started getting into theater and that was fun for me, but I think I’m kind of like a mixture between introvert and extrovert and kind of like right down the middle.

So part of me is shy and part of me is just exuberant. So two personalities in one. So I think I was pretty young when I started, just the love of storytelling, because I feel like storytelling is a way that all humans, regardless of any of our backgrounds or cultures, it’s something that all humans love and it’s a way to connect to all people, all people groups, and…

Dana: Absolutely.

Bekka: Yeah, right? And so I just, I wanted to be a part of that and be able to connect with somebody on a deeper level that maybe my mere words would not, you know, so yes.

Dana: Did you have any specific point at which you went “This, this is what I want to be doing”?

Bekka: I don’t think there was ever like one moment that’s like, “I’m going to be an actor!” (laughs) It was just…I loved entertaining. And I loved what storytelling meant to me, how movies – in that time it was movies for me – I started out on TV shows, the love for acting and video games came a bit later, but I loved and obviously like cartoons as a really little kid and obviously with the voice and cartoons, it was like, “whoa, this is so cool!” as a child.

I think maybe when I first got on stage – cause my first event or my first dealing with acting was in theater – so maybe when I first got on stage and was able to create something that people responded to, that was probably a thrilling moment and to realize like I could connect with somebody or inspire somebody or make somebody laugh or cry, that was probably the moment that I was like, oh yeah, this is, this is what I want to do.

Dana: Yeah, see the feedback in real time.

Bekka: Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Dana: Yeah. Was your family supportive of your career choice?

Bekka: My mom is my biggest fan, my best friend. She’s amazing. Now, but that’s not to say she wanted me to do it because she did not. (laughs)

She is amazing. My mom, like literally she actually – we have to do what’s called self taping, it’s a lot of work. And my mom is my lovely reader for me and most of the time, and she doesn’t even live in the same state, so we’ll be doing it on our computer and on our phones and she’s like literally reading the opposite lines for me.

She’s such a sweetheart and been my mentor and my biggest role model my whole life. She’s a single parent mom and she’s amazing. But no, she did not want me – I don’t think anyone wants their child to necessarily go off and do the arts cause it’s not a safe business.

You don’t get guaranteed income. You don’t know when your next job is gonna come or your next paycheck there’s no health plan per se or insurance of any sorts. And so, yeah, she wasn’t like championing that, she wasn’t like “yeah, do that!”, she wasn’t champion of that at all, but eventually it was like, “oh, okay!”

Dana: Oh all right then!

Bekka: Yeah. I went to college, studying communications. I was 17 when I started college and at the rule of my mother. I started, I said communication. So didn’t really know what I was going to do and then quickly ended up adding theater. Cause I was like, “But I miss it mom!” So I did both.

I’m like, I’ll just do both and we’ll see where it takes me. So she has been supportive now, but my family, I think my family in general are like “whatever”. (laughs) But my mom has been a great resource for me and just a sweetheart in general. She’s never tried to stop me. She’s always been full of love.

Dana: Yeah, I can see that whenever you’re online and she’s there supporting you and cheering you on.

Bekka: Right? She’s so cute.

Dana: Yeah. We love Mama Prewitt!

Bekka: Right. (laughs)

Dana: I know you’re from Ohio, right? When did you move to LA?

Bekka: It has been eleven, almost eleven and a half years. A little over eleven years. Yeah, Los Angeles, which is crazy. Time goes so quickly.

Dana: Yeah. And was it challenging? Did you experience like sort of cultural shock?

Bekka: Oh, I’m still being challenged! (laughs) Because in Ohio it was a matter of…you audition and in LA you don’t get to audition.

I naively thought, okay, I’ll go to LA. And if they like my work, if I do get auditions and they think I’m a good fit, I’ll get the job! But I was rudely awakened to find out that not everyone gets to audition. They choose who gets to come in for the auditions and so a lot of us don’t get to.

And so they choose who gets to audition and a lot of it’s based on your representation, who your connections are, who you know, and anyone can be discovered at any point in time. Everyone has their own story about how it happens. And sometimes it doesn’t, so you may be a waiter in a restaurant and some producer sees you and likes you and the next thing you know, you’re in that film.

And then you could be the most talented person as an actor on the planet and you’ll never get a break. And so it’s not necessarily a fair industry.

It’s not like being a doctor or a lawyer or any really trade, like say I’m an electrician. And I learned my craft to deal with the electric and I learned how to wire homes. And then I go and do my studies and I go do that job. But it’s not the same with acting. I’m sure electrician has to get cast to keep getting work too. But like you’re a doctor, you go to school and you get hired and then you have a job. But that’s not like that with acting, you have to constantly get it.

Maybe like electricians do too, actually. I think my cousin’s electrician, he probably would say the same thing, but you have to constantly be pursuing and it’s not based necessarily just on talent. It’s based on a look. Yeah, it was a rude awakening because I was like, oh w-w-what? I can’t audition? Pick me, pick me, please get me in!

Usually back in Ohio, I was like, “I hope I booked the job” and now it’s like, “I hope I get this audition”. So it’s a different beast because there were a lot of people out here and a lot of people are trying to be successful.

Dana: I had no idea, actually. I thought that you just pick an audition and go.

Bekka: No, I don’t even have a voice agent that’s getting me auditions yet, so I booked Resident Evil on my own.

Dana: Whaat?

Bekka: Yeah I know! I book 95% probably of all my work myself without representation helping. I have representation, but I get most of the work myself. If you have good reps that really fight for you, that’s amazing and there are reps that do that, and it’s not always easy to get that.

And you’re your own business, so you have to kind of fight for yourself and try to be seen. And so you constantly are trying to write people and submit to jobs and see if somebody gives you a break and gratefully, Rosanna [Rosanna Sun] from The Werk Howse, let me audition years ago.

I was on her radar, as they say, and so when this came up again, I just wrote her. I submitted for the job and she contacted me and said, “do you want to do this? Do you want to audition?” I’m like, “yes, I do!” I like the challenge and some people have great reps who give them auditions like every week throughout the week.

And I haven’t been blessed in that area yet. I hope at some point maybe – hey, hey Dana, maybe some great agent is listening right now and it’s going to be like, Bekka Prewitt, Bela Dimitrescu, Resident Evil, let’s give her a call.

Dana: I hope so! I would love that!

Bekka: I would tell you Dana in a heartbeat and be like, hey Dana.

Dana: Oh wow, can you imagine?

Bekka: Yeah, that’s the goal!

Dana: Well, fingers crossed or is it break leg? I dunno.

Bekka: Yeah, I’ll take both. I’ll take all the best wishes and prayers so I can get! (laughs)

Dana: Okay, all the fingers crossed. All of them. Compared to Ohio, are there more opportunities for you even though it’s harder to get an audition?

Bekka: I guess there are definitely more, there’s more work here, but there are more actors. So the competition is so much more fierce. I think…hmm, that’s hard to say. I worked a lot in Ohio, I worked a lot and I was blessed. I was really blessed there to get a lot of good work in Cincinnati area.

Here, every year is different and, I’ve gotten – the thing is, I think it’s way more difficult to get auditions here. I could just submit and get auditions there all the time. I wanted to audition for where I pretty much could audition for, almost. But here, it’s the challenge is getting those auditions.

There are definitely more jobs here and but because there’s so much more talent, there’s so many more actors and performers in general that it’s way harder to get those. So I wouldn’t say there are more opportunities when it comes to – or there are more opportunities, but you don’t necessarily have those opportunities if you don’t get called in. In theater you get more opportunities, but unless you’re called in, you don’t get to participate in them.

But there are bigger opportunities. And that’s why I moved. I couldn’t do as much I wanted to for animation, video games, feature films that were higher caliber, I moved onto TV, I can do a lot of independent film, I did a lot of commercial voice-over, but I wanted to do larger projects and commercials as well, but I’m going to do larger projects and that’s something that the major cities provide.

Obviously in the United States it would be Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, maybe some Chicago, but you know, there are other states all over the world, like UK has a lot of great cities and Canada and such that have larger projects. So that’s what I wanted to do. So I was like, okay, it’s going to be harder. I’m going to take the jump.

Dana: You’ve been on stage, on film, on TV, you did voice-overs, commercials, you’ve hosted events, you were a radio DJ at some point?

Bekka: Yes. (laughs)

Dana: And that’s just a part of your resume, but if you weren’t in this industry, what sort of job would you love to do?

Bekka: Wow, I would probably, if I wasn’t doing this, I would probably be working for a non-profit in some capacity. That’s a humanitarian non-profit for example. I’m a big supporter of people who are making a difference on the planet and International Justice Mission fights to eradicate slavery. Whether that’s sex trade or whether that’s child soldiers and there’s so much there, you know, 27 million slaves today.

So I would be working with them or maybe hopefully Compassion International, which is an organization that helps children in poverty, provide them education, clothing, food, that, or maybe Matthew 25 Ministries, which helps natural disaster situations. There’s so many wonderful organizations – Back2Back Ministries also with child welfare.

And so I probably would try to get a job with one of them. It’d be amazing to work for organization that made a difference like that. I tried it, I tried to support them on my own, and I talk about them when I can. It’s just like this with you, Dana.

But I’m such a performer, I’m such – I have the organizational side of me, but I really, I think my heart would be broken if I couldn’t perform, because literally I feel like it’s the best of both worlds because I get to do something that touches people with my, hopefully, with my performance as an actor, but then promote organizations that are doing something on the planet that make a difference, by talking to you about it and things like that.

So that’s me, it’s like the best of both worlds. If I can promote one while I’m doing something I love, that’s amazing. I’m not, I don’t really love desk work, I’m just not crafted well for it. I can do it, but it doesn’t give me the joy that performance does. But you do what you can do on this planet, right?

Dana: Yeah, definitely.

Bekka: If I couldn’t act, if they wouldn’t let me audition anymore and it’s, it’s harder right now, I’ll be honest.

It’s been hard to get auditions lately, you know, but, it’s interesting time. Yeah, I think I was just wanting to do something with people who are helping others. That’s what it’s about, right? It’s not about just ourselves in this life. It’s about taking care of each other on this planet and doing something for other people, because otherwise you mean just selfishness – what does it get us?

Attention for short time? But we have no legacy. We’re not taking care of one another and being good and loving to one another. People want to have their names and lights and be known. And I understand that, yeah, absolutely, you want to be validated for what you do, but it doesn’t last.

And what lasts is the legacy of touching other people, helping them with whatever their struggle is so that they can touch their families and their friends, and then they touch their families and their friends. And then that’s the snowball effect, right? That’s really making a difference and maybe that’s more what’s the most important.

Dana: You mentioned that your mom is your role model. Do you have any others who inspire you or are role models?

Bekka: I would say, well, I find the biggest role model, oh my gosh, this is going to sound so Christian-y but it’s Jesus for sure. Because I see Jesus as a rock star. He just came and loved people, loved everyone and broke down barriers. Back in the day, back in those times, there was a lot of racism and a lot of sexism, and he broke those stereotypes.

And I don’t think people think about Jesus as somebody who did that, but completely he was. A lot of women were seen as not allowed to speak because they were seen as property. And for the first time, he said, and especially in that culture, he said no. They led churches, they actually led organizations.

He elevated the state of women and then he elevated, also he bridged gaps between cultures back in that time society-wise. Samaritans were seen as lesser and Jews looked down upon Samaritans and he came to them as well and spoke to them as well and elevated and said every race, creed, culture. So kind of one of the first people to do that on the planet, you know?

And so I think, wow, so he fought racism, he fought stereotypes and sexism and just the love of everyone is what’s been so beautiful. And so that’s definitely – he’s definitely the biggest role model. Sorry mama! She’s a close second. (laughs)

Dana: I’m sure she’ll forgive you.

Bekka: She’s okay with this. There are so many people who will only talk to people who are just like them, that they have the same socioeconomic level, if they’re in the same organizations, in the same groups or the same social class, and so they don’t bridge gaps between other – and so he totally did that. He hung out with what would be modern day mobsters, modern day prostitutes, people who were doing lifestyles that maybe the posh didn’t look highly upon, you know? And he was like, no, I’m gonna talk to everybody.

What an amazing – nobody did that at the time. This is thousands years ago, right, two thousand years ago. It’s just, to me, that was inspirational, just the love that Jesus showed and not to mention who he was – it was God coming down to earth to reach people, but just with such love and demonstrations of love was so powerful to do that.

I know that’s so Bible and so Christian, but it’s so true! Why else would I like this person. There’s a reason, you know. I like Jesus.

Dana: That’s great! Before we delve into acting and video games and all that good stuff, I’d like to know – are there things you wish you had more time for?

Bekka: Oh my gosh, yes. I feel like…honestly, Dana, I feel like I have no time at all! (laughs) I mean even to go through – so anyone who’s listening, I have not read your IG message. Like I just haven’t guys, so sorry, and a lot of your Twitter messages. Well, when the game exploded, the first two weeks I was looking at everything and then someone said to me, “Have you brushed your teeth today? Have you showered?” There’s no time! And so I’m like, oh yeah, I have to re-prioritize.

Cause I’m used to responding to everybody, but the influx of thousands of people started writing and I’m like, “Oh, I can’t possibly answer all these” and I felt terrible about it, I felt really rude, you know? Cause I love engaging people and responding and being loving to everyone. But it just took over and I’m like, I can’t do it.

It’s time to eat food, go to the grocery and so I had to not do that. So hopefully at some point random people will get messaged or get responses from me like, whoa, that has been a year, you just wrote me! (laughs) It might happen.

I decided to make some time for myself and to do something I want to do with, well, if I could do whatever I want to do, I would just watching TV and movies all the time because I love stories and I don’t watch it enough to make, you know, to suit me. I would love to do more.

I’m taking some sword training right now. So I’m like I’m going to do something that, I think, is something I wanted to do. And something that I think will behoove me as a performer, especially in the video game work, because swords and light sabers are kind of very similar. (laughs)

And you know…Dana, you know my heart, I love fantasy and sci-fi and…

Dana: Star Trek!

Bekka: Right? And Star Wars and Firefly and Battlestar Galactica. And all kind of female heroines, like Alias. I used to love Alias when I was younger, and, you know, go Jennifer Garner! And so I’m like, I’m going to – if I can wield a light saber at some point in my life, or be an elf in Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones type show, if I can wield the sword, that would be good.

And especially in the video game world, right? I’ve taken up to level two, I have level three coming soon – and there were three levels in the seminars that I’ve been doing.

Dana: That’s amazing!

Bekka: It’s intense. I was like, wow, there’s a lot to learn. And so it’s one of the things that I’m going to be doing. I have some gun training and I’m going to be doing that as well. It’s more tactical experience to make me even better performer, hopefully, and super, hopefully, super fun.

But yeah, what I would love to do, other that’s not related to acting, I’d love to travel anywhere. I haven’t been traveling in a while, I know COVID doesn’t really help that, but to have time to travel, right? I want to see the world, Dana, I want to see the parts of the planet that I haven’t been able to.

I’ve been blessed to work on a water well project in Nigeria, Africa [with Vineyard Cincinnati Church]. I’ve worked to help fight women and little girls, really children, being sold into the sex trade in Bangladesh. I’ve worked in Mexican orphanages. But I want to go more places and seeing more things and I would love to travel. And just experience those different cultures and eat amazing food! If only money wasn’t an issue, Dana. (laughs)

Dana: Yeah, and the pesky pandemic, right?

Bekka: Or I just need to get hired for jobs all over the planet. That would be amazing!

Dana: Great plan, yes!

Bekka: Great! But that’s one of my goals, you know, so, hey, hello! Hello Ireland and Scotland and New Zealand and Australia and Czech Republic! Hey, if you need an actor, give me a call!

Dana: I don’t have any connections like that here, so I’m sorry I can’t help!

Bekka: That’s okay. You never know who’s listening, right? (laughs)

Dana: Very true. Speaking about sword training and video games, are you a gamer or have you been as a child?

Bekka: I am terrible and I’m completely honest with the fans about it. So a lot of us video game actors aren’t the best, some of us are pretty good, actually. Some of them are really good. It’s just hard to find time to game because what I’ve noticed is really amazing gamers have put in their 10,000 hours.

They say 10,000 hours to be an expert in something. And I definitely have done that with voice work and on camera acting and stage acting, but I have not done that with games. And so it shows. (laughs)

Dana: I mean…

Bekka: I remember as a kid I played – we grew up pretty, well we grew up poor just to be honest. So we didn’t have gaming consoles or anything. But I remember handheld Pac-Man and I played that little handheld game until it was like, the most you could score was like 999,999.

And I would play it until it went to that and then play it again again and again. And then eventually the battery stopped and my mom decided that I didn’t need to be doing it anymore. (laughs) But yeah, I’m not good. I will be honest, it’s super fun. And I’m just…the skillset y’all have is incredible!

I’m just not fast. I’m like, I’ll watch one of my exes’ nephews, he’s like six years old and he’s super fast. And I’m like dying three times, but the time is like, you know, like five seconds. It’s just so sad.

Dana: Well, video games are there to have fun, right? It’s not about your skill. I mean, it helps in some games, but you need to find games that you enjoy and that your skill is like, you know, appropriate for it.

Bekka: Yes, start off smaller. You know, that was where I was doing Zelda, I was doing a little bit better with Zelda. It’s fine. I can just, you know, a little bit at a time, right? A little bit at a time! (laughs)

Dana: Oh and you got a Nintendo Switch recently, didn’t you?

Bekka: I have it! I had now have it. Thanks to Courtney.

Dana: Courtnry!

Bekka: Courtnry! Yes, she got me – so now I just have to get games and like go to town. Cause I have no excuses now, Dana. That’s when I had that free time that we talked about.

Dana: So when’s your next Twitch stream gaming?

Bekka: Right? Oh, I need to start a Twitch account. I don’t even have a Twitch account, but I’ve been harassed to get one. So I just, I didn’t even know how to set it up. I’m going to have to have assistance.

Dana: I’m sure someone would volunteer.

Bekka: I would need it. Do you have a Twitch?

Dana: Yes, but I don’t stream.

Bekka: Everyone seems to have a Twitch. I’m so behind.

Dana: It’s fine. There’s still time. So there’s no way to catch you playing Resident Evil on stream, right?

Bekka: No, but you know, maybe if Katie [Katie O’Hagan – Mia Winters] or Andi [Andi Norris – Donna Beneviento] or Nicole [Nicole Tompkins – Jill Valentine, Daniela Dimitrescu], or somebody decides to invite me, that would be the way you would see me die again and again and again.

Dana: Oh yeah, anyone who’s listening, go tweet at them: we want Bekka to play!

Bekka: Which is really saying we want Bekka! We went to watch Bekka die and look silly!

Dana: No! Your fans love you and they want the best for you.

Bekka: Yeah,I love them. Yeah, they are. They’re amazing. You all just like, I’m just blessed. I didn’t know there’d be so many just loving, caring, supportive people in this fandom and I’m just honored to be apart and grateful.

Dana: Before we jump into Resident Evil, I know that you did motion capture for Gears of War 4 trailer. Was that your first experience with motion capture?

Bekka: No, I had done…Okay, so Vicon is the maker of mocap cameras, premier maker of them. And I have been blessed to work with them for eight years.

I’m not currently doing it, but I did it a few years, actually that wasn’t my first either! No, my first was actually a video game! I actually got cast in a video game, never having done motion capture before. As an actor I auditioned, I had obviously done voice work and acting for decades, and this was maybe nine, ten years ago.

And so I got cast, the game was leaked while we were shooting and the game was postponed repeatedly and then eventually canceled. So actually my first motion capture experience was performance capture playing an actual video game character, doing the voice and performance capture of it. But you guys did not see it because it got disbanded. It got thrown in the trash.

Dana: That sucks!

Bekka: Literally the biggest, one of the two biggest letdowns of my acting career, because it was a huge, huge thing. And then it just completely…yeah. Somebody talked about it.

Dana: Oh no!

Bekka: Yeah. So then it took me years and a years – it took me what, eight or nine years before this game came out, Resident Evil: Village, before I actually had a game as big as that one.

So again, they’re all like just, it’s hard to find good auditions, girl! It’s hard to find good auditions! So, when you get one it’s a big deal and when you book it, to me…I’m just incredibly grateful. Cause if I’m only getting them very few – very rarely – because some people will audition like literally every week throughout the week, nd if I’m only getting one every few years, then it’s a big deal.

Dana: Any chance telling us what the game is?

Bekka: You may have, well, I mean, it didn’t happen, but it was a previous Resident Evil.

Dana: Wha-oooh!

Bekka: I know, right? Yeah, so when I finally got this one, it was very much a, it was very much like “oh, it finally happened”, part of one that went away. So I’m very grateful.

Dana: Oh my God, that’s insane.

Bekka: I know, right?

Dana: Before we delve into Village, I believe you voiced a side-character in Evil Within 2, right?

Bekka: Yes.

Dana: Uh, did you do a mocap for that as well? Or was it just the voice-over?

No, I did not do mocap. I don’t know if the game did a lot of mocap or not, but I know I didn’t, I just did voice. But if you look at it, it’s so… I am proud to say I did not do motion capture because she kind of has the same reaction.

She just keeps putting her hands on her face, toward her head and moving back and forth. I would’ve given you a more dynamic performance, Dana. (laughs)

No, it was strictly voice, but it was so fun to be in Evil Within 2. I was so grateful to get cast by Horseless Cowboy and to be a part of that project. Like I was like, yes, I’ll do it!

They actually called me out of audition for another role. And they’re like, actually, we want to have you in this one. I’m like, yes! Whatever role you want. Fantastic. Let’s do it! (laugh)

Dana: I was wondering actually, if a motion capture is kind of like more challenging than standard acting or is it just about the same?

Bekka: That’s a great question. In some ways it’s more freeing, some ways it’s more challenging, I suppose. So overall I just…I love it. It’s just so fun.

But motion capture and performance capture – obviously the world around you is all in your head, because sometimes they’ll show you some video or a screen grab or some art, and sometimes they don’t. And so you’re literally just creating the world around you, what you think it might look like. And when you see the actual game, you’re like, whoa, so much cooler than my head! (laughs)

But you have to craft everything and everything is so secretive that you really don’t know. I didn’t even know Bela was a vampire. I thought Bela was a witch cause she was written as a witch, as they don’t release all the information. So you’re just…you don’t really know what you’re doing, you’re kind of just giving it your creative all and trying to craft something that you feel is interesting and intriguing and hopefully a multifaceted and has nuances.

But you don’t really know if it’s at all what they really want because you’re not given a lot of information because it’s very, you know, they don’t wanna let everyone know about it until it’s ready.

And so in that way it is challenging. It is more challenging in that respect, but it’s so much more fun because of that! Because I love the world of imagination. I love being able to create something in my own head and based on what they’re telling me and try to merge those two. Their thoughts, my thoughts to craft something that turns out really, really lovely.

I still love on camera acting as well. What I love about also performance capture and motion captures, I can go in like, you know, my hair’s in a bun, I don’t have to worry about looking pretty and having certain makeup on. You’re literally just playing, you’re playing in your mo-cap suit with other people or by yourself.

And there’s, I mean, obviously you have a whole team of people staring at you and making sure you’re on focus and on point, but it’s still so freeing and fun. But yes, I love on-camera acting as well but they run out and deal with my hair and deal with my makeup and, you know, a little more focused in that area. Honestly, Dana, whenever I’m blessed to get work, I’m just grateful for it.

Dana: And with performance capture, you have to be aware of the camera in front of your face.

Bekka: Yeah. That’s a really good point, Dana. because when I first started doing motion capture and p-cap [performance capture]. I did not have a camera on my face. I had markers all over my face.

We have those on our face still sometimes with the camera. And when everyone who’s listening, when I’m talking about the camera, it’s a head camera. Like we have a helmet on, basically.

Dana: I’ll put up a picture.

Bekka: Fantastic. So the camera goes in front of our face, but you know, nine, ten years ago I guess, almost when I first started doing motion capture and performance capture, they didn’t have the head cams, readily used yet. And so they just put all these markers, which are the little tiny dots that you see on our bodies, on our motion capture suits all over our face. And I’m talking a lot of dots to be able to track their movement, right?

You would go in, sit in the chair, you would make all these faces, scrunch up your face, happy, sad, angry, you know, you try to create wrinkles in your face. And then they would like furrow your brows and, you know, and they would put little dots. They would mark them with a black Sharpie all over your face!

No, not even kidding you. Wherever you put a wrinkle, they would mark it in black. So you first had black Xs all over your face, then they’d put the dots on those Xs and you would perform. So that was interesting. (laughs)

And then the camera came along and you’re like, okay, yay, not as many dots, but you still have to work with this thing in front of your face. You’re moving around and it’s in your line of sight. So that’s a different feel to get used to for sure. That’s definitely a challenge cause you don’t have to worry about that with on camera acting. But it’s worth it.

Dana: The Sharpie marks remind me of the trio signing streams.

Bekka: Right? The signing streams that went forever! Actually mine’s coming up soon. So I’ll probably be doing them like maybe once every other month or so for just the stragglers who want to buy a print or two. They’ll be short, but yeah, super fun experience to be able to sign, you know, prints it’s like, people want my autograph? Well, God bless, let’s do it!

Dana: And it’s so fun to watch as well.

Bekka: Oh my gosh. It’s fun to just hear the hearts of the fans and hear what they wanna have us write on the prints and hear what their thoughts are and their frustrations are, what they loved about it or what they’re struggling with. It’s been amazing!

Dana: Yeah. And since the pandemic, you can’t really get in touch with people on conventions and stuff, so this is a different way of connecting to the fans.

Bekka: Exactly.

Dana: Village was in development, I dunno, three, three and half years or something like that. How long were you a part of that development? Like from the mocap and the voice-over?

Bekka: Yes. So we auditioned – so all the actors, I should say all that I know of – most of the auditions happened two years-ish before the game came out. So I believe it was literally May of 20-oh my gosh. What year was that in?

Dana: Nineteen?

Bekka: Yeah, so literally two years before that is when, I started auditioning and I-Oh, was it two years? Yeah, I think that’s right. (laughs) Or was it?… Now I’m second guessing myself. Is that when I started shooting? Now I have to look at a calendar, Dana. Is that when I started shooting or when I was cast?

Uh, okay. We’ll just say two, two and a half years. so yeah, so I started auditioning and then call backs and then call backs again and then start. So once I actually got cast, it was probably – I think around two years before shooting. What we would do is, we would do voice over and then we would have a break.

Actually, we started out with motion capture first. So we would do performance capture in the Volume [capture space] for a short period of time and then we would take a break for a few months while they did other things. And then we would come back and do voice in the recording booth. And they would take a break for a few months and then we have our next mo-cap session and then they take a break and then we do another voice.

So it was off and on for the first year, like here and there. So cause they were still developing the game. As we would record, they would go back and write and put those pieces together and then come back and have more work for us to do after that. So it was really exciting.

Dana: Was it in Los Angeles or did you travel somewhere?

Bekka: Yeah, it was all in Los Angeles for me. I think most of the game was shot here, recorded here but obviously Capcom, the creator, the amazing creator of Resident Evil, is in Japan. So most of the post-production and pre-production was in Japan.

Dana: Yeah. Okay.

Bekka: Hey, if I need to go to Japan, you let me know, Capcom! (laughs)

Dana: How long were you in the dark about what you were doing? Because I know there’s like NDAs and stuff like that.

Bekka: Yeah. I was in the dark until the game came out. (laughs)

Dana: Really?

Bekka: Yes, we knew very little.

Dana: Not even the trailers?

Bekka: Yeah, we knew nothing until it got released. I remember, I think a month before the game release, the game released May 7th, I believe.

And I think a month before that they started promoting some, some teasers – two months before that. But I was like, (gasps) “that’s Bela, that’s me!” but I couldn’t say anything, you know? but yeah, we didn’t know even in the original table read when we came. The actors that were in LA came together and so we had a read of the script. We were only given Manila envelopes and inside the envelopes were your sides, your lines only.

So my lines were on page 43, 44, 45 and then again on 63 and 67, I only had those pages. I didn’t have pages 1 through 42. And so I had no idea. People were reading at the table and they only have their pages too. So no one knew who anybody was! People were talking and I’m like, I wonder who they are.

Like, are they a ghost? Or they have vampire? Are they a goblin? Are they a man? Are they a woman? Are they, like you, have no idea. So you’re hearing these lines being read and you have no idea what’s going on. (laughs)

So, and they only had the first act. They hadn’t written the rest of the game yet. Well, if they did, they didn’t tell us, but so we literally didn’t even, we weren’t even told after we were cast, we weren’t even told it was Resident Evil when we were booked on the job. When we shot, like we actually, we figured it out because of something someone said, but literally we weren’t told the name of the game.

Dana: Yeah. I know that Nicole talked about it, figuring out herself but I dunno if she told anyone at the time.

Bekka: Yeah. Like somebody said during the table read – Chris Redfield. And we’re like (gasps) And then we started Googling to make sure like “is this Resident Evil Chris Redfield?”, you know what I mean? And so we kind of figured it was Resident Evil, but officially you were not told. And I told no one. Because of what had happened and, you know. I knew, I always knew NDAs were very serious, you know, non-disclosure agreements.

And so I was not willing to share anyway, but like, especially because I had had game where somebody had leaked it. I was like, there’s no way I’m telling anybody that game until the date it releases and we are told we can say it.

Dana: The third trailer for Village was released I think January last year and the internet lost their collective minds – because of one lady. Were are you aware of the impact of the trailer or were you just unaware at all?

Bekka: I knew it was big when – well, the fandom just made us realize it really quickly. Just people going, getting so excited about it. And so we knew Lady D was going to be large in the game and in life (laughs), we knew that.

But I don’t think any of us knew to what degree. We felt like the excitement and we saw the instant fan reaction but we still had no idea how it was going to blow up. I think until the sales started going through the roof and the huge requests for autograph signings. Cause people commenting on Instagram “are you on Streamily? I’m like “Am I on what?”.

I didn’t know what that was, neither did Maggie [Maggie Robertson] who plays Lady D. And so we’re like, “wait, what is this, what’s going on?” Those of us who are newer to this genre – people haven’t asked for autographs before. As you know we’ve been acting for a long time, but no one has asked before.

So we’re like, oh, okay. And then when we started doing the trio signings, which obviously were Maggie, Nicole and I who play Lady D, my sister Daniela Dimitrescu and me as Bela Dimitrescu, and then we’re like, wow, they’re buying a lot of prints! Wow! (laughs)

That’s when we’re like, oh, this is something, we are blessed to be in something that is further reaching than we realized and such, I can’t even emphasize enough what an honor it is to be cast in the game and work alongside some of the just premier talent.

In my opinion, the game is full of amazing voice actors and performance capture actors. And we are all indebted to Capcom and Resident Evil in general for crafting such an amazing game, because I think that’s why it, one of the reasons it became such a huge fandom, it’s larger than life. It’s like a fantasy, it is a fantasy.

The things that I get caught up in a fantasy, sci-fi, like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and those shows becoming so big it’s because you’re enveloped and enraptured in this amazing story of these really, really complex, larger than life characters that are, that are so mystical and supernatural, and that’s exciting and fun.

So kudos to Capcom for making that happen. They are the writers, they’re the animators, the whole team of compositors who do all this. They’re the ones that crafted this and we’re so grateful to be able to bring their vision to life. It’s playtime for us voice actors and foremost capture actors, to be given something so rich and to be able to run with that ball is, and to bring what we think that character is to the table and really make her cause like Bela could have been anything, could have had any kind of voice or any kind of like movement, how she enacted.

And so they, they let me do what I did and they like signed off on it. So I’m like, yo, I’m like, thank you so much. That’s when I asked them when I was cast, I was like, I did different options for them. So I played this numerous ways and you know, which way do you want? And they’re like, you know, we trust you, we liked what you did and we liked that sultry and in charge, responsible, but very playful and cunning, you know?

So like do it, do it. And so I, it was so fun.

Dana: That’s so great. Capcom really created something special, I think. And you can see it by the amount of awards the game got, that Maggie got for her performance.

Bekka: Yes, absolutely.

Dana: Was there anyone to prepare you for the possibility that the game would blow up like that or it was just like “nope, you’re on your own”.

Bekka: No. Yeah, no. I remember when we first started getting interview requests I wrote Rosanna [Rosanna Sun] who’s the casting director and producer of the game. And I was like, people are asking to interview me? Am I allowed to do that? Is that cool? Cause I’ve been on other projects where they did not want you to do interviews and then actually on some of the things I’ve done. And so I was like, oh, okay. So she’s like, oh yeah, have fun with it. Go with it, girl. I’m like, okay, let’s do it! But yeah, I had no idea that this was going to happen.

I remember when DanAllenGaming called and I was like, whoa, I just clicked on his YouTube and I’m like, holy cow, this is going to be a fun time! (laughs) Cause I had talked to Katie who plays Mia and Nicole who plays Jill Valentine – I’m like, has it been this big?

She’s like, no, they’re both like no, it was before, but not to this degree. So we’re really blessed to be a part of game of the year resident evil village. Like it was just so darn fun! (laughs)

Dana: It looked like fun from the little behind the scenes they showed. Were you surprised by how much support and love for Bela there was considering she wasn’t in the game for a lot of the time?

Bekka: Yeah, I think very much so because none of us really knew. I recorded a lot of lines and so we didn’t know how the game was gonna go or like how long any of the characters were gonna last, because we had so many lines they could have made us larger characters, smaller characters they could have had us repeat, show up later, so we really didn’t know.

I think part of it was because Bela was the sister, she was supposed to be the eldest in charge sister anyway. And so she was in the trailer, the first trailers that were released. I think that’s one of the reasons that helped to get Bela out there and, you know, they chose one of my most fun parts to put in there with them, you know “Man blood“ , being able to kind of dive into that and my performance of that.

And so I think that was helpful too to get Bela out there, but people just love the Dimitrescus. And, yeah, I was to be honest, surprised at how well received Bela and I have been. But grateful because I mean, I think she’s pretty cool. I liked Bela! (laughs)

Dana: Yeah, she is!

Bekka: I think she’s awesome. You know, I liked that, being able to play her and it was fun to be able to decide who she was going to be, how to craft her and Capcom being cool with that. Cause I think strong women can be sexy and can have brains and be crafty and interesting and, and not just be a trope.

So I wanted to make her strong because the face model is gorgeous so I wanted to make her not just pretty, but powerful. And she is! And so I applaud – I think that’s also one of the reasons the game is so successful is – I mean, in Resident Evil franchise in general has created such amazing strong female heroines and villains. They’ve created such strong women!

I so appreciate that about Resident Evil and video gaming in general has been going toward that. So I’m just so grateful because a lot of gamers are women, thank you! And women are amazingly powerful creatures, you know?

And so I’m just so glad that the game did that with the females and that the fandom recognized strong females as well. I think that’s honestly one of the reasons it did blow up is because the huge pass of strong women.

Dana: Yeah, definitely.

Bekka: Not to mention, the guys are great too! I’m saying they really let women play.

Dana: Video games and pop culture in general go hand in hand with fan events, like conventions! You’ve been to several conventions last year. Was that your first experience with conventions as a guest or were you a guest before.

Uh, you’ve been to several conventions last year, I think. Uh, was that your first experience with conventions as a guest or were you guest before?

Bekka: First, my first experiences. The first one I did was Midsummer scream, which is part of Awakening the spirits in Pasadena, California – so fun! And then I went to San Diego Comic-Con, they had a special edition version of Comic-Con because it’s, you know, COVID that had a smaller one, and that was amazing.

And then I did LA Comic-Con, here in Los Angeles and those were my first experiences.

Dana: And what did you think of that?

Bekka: Amazing! It’s cool. I love the streams, but it’s so much fun to be able to meet the fans in person as well and to see them face to face. My only regret is there were so many places I wanted to go in the con but I couldn’t because I was signing or I was doing a panel. But I was like, oh, I wanna go play! (laughs)

Maybe I’ll have to sign up for less days of signing so I can experience the actual convention more. Cause I went to a couple of little places, ran toward the very end of each of them to take a peek, you know, what’s happening in this room. Super exciting.

Dana: Yeah, conventions are so much fun!

Bekka: Have you been to a bunch?

Dana: A few. Usually just Stargate related because I’m a giant nerd.

Bekka: Yay! Nerds everywhere!

Dana: Are there any conventions that you’re attending this year?

Bekka: I don’t know. How’s that for an answer? The conventions I’ve done so far I booked, but I do have a personal appearance agent.

Hey, if you guys want to see me at a convention contact either me or Vertical Talent agency. He represents a bunch of the Resident Evil cast actually, so we’re kind of waiting to see what he lines up.

Midsummer Scream contacted me last year and I contacted San Diego cause I was already going to be there doing a panel and the Comic Con cause I was already going to be there doing a panel as well.

I’m wondering what that’s gonna look like, I feel like we’re going to have some and it might be with some of the Resident Evil cast together on these because we have the same agent. We will see, we will see, who lines us up.

Dana: Oh, nice. I’ve been trying pitching you guys to a convention in Prague, it’s going to be in April and I don’t think it’s happened.

Bekka: Oh my gosh, I haven’t heard anything about – oh, I would love to go to Prague! I’d love to see you! That’d be so fun! It’s my dream of traveling coming to life. Maybe I’ll be traveling during conventions and that’s how I’ll see the world!

Dana: That’s a great plan!

Bekka: If you want to send me any information – it’s in April, they’re probably booked up, but any information you have in the future, I can either try to contact them or send it to my agent.

Dana: Okay. We can do next year, right?

Bekka: Right? Sure!

Dana: Do you have any projects that you’re working on that you can talk about or is it all hush hush?

Bekka: Muahaha! (laughs) Well, you know, I can’t say anything if I am! Maybe Dana, maybe. (laughs) I would love to be able to answer that question. Perhaps.

Dana: It’s exciting. Perhaps.

Bekka: With the Kitty Cheshire smile after that, hee hee.

Dana: If we can go back to voice acting for a little bit… video games are a huge market now and everybody just wants to be a part of it. A lot of people want to jump into voice acting and even motion capture. What would be your advice to them?

Bekka: If you want to be a voice actor or motion capture my advice would be different. For voice acting I would say, start putting together a voice demo, my demos, for example, like commercial demos, like all my previous work, but people nowadays create their own voice demos. They record things and then put it together, edit it together. So I would say create something, obviously.

It doesn’t have to be long, it could be a minute or under like a lot of them are. It’s just to get voice samples of what you can do. And then start training as an actor, because I think the best voice actors are actually actors who know how. It’s like being a doctor, people think “oh, I can just act” but you can’t just be a doctor.

You can’t just be like the electrician earlier. You can’t just do these things without training, looking, researching. So I would say take classes! Take classes in voice acting, take classes, take theater! Theater is an amazing training ground. Take community theater if you’re not young enough to be in high school or whatever to take college theater, high-school theater, then take community theater, that’s often free.

If you take classes then do theater because they need people, they want people. Then go to schools for it. You can be trained in it through universities or even just through classes and workshops and seminars. So get your training in.

For motion capture. if you want to do motion capture versus performance capture. So if you wanna do motion capture, which is like being one of the soldiers or be a Lycan or whatever, there are classes for that too.

There are two schools here in LA for example. But being physical and keeping your body in good shape, which means exercise, which means taking care of your physical – this tool that you have is your voice, is your spirit, is your soul and also is your body.

So being in good enough shape to be able to run around with the other team of soldiers, to be able to do jumps or to be able to hold weaponry for a long time without your arm shaking. It’s about training yourself and then trying to make those connections.

Dana: That’s some great advice. Now that we’re on the topic of advice, what advice would you give to your younger self?

Bekka: Move out to LA sooner! (laughs) Because a lot of it is ageist, there’s definitely an ageism. And so the younger you are the quicker you will get picked up by good representative, by good agents and managers.

And so I probably would have said to move out sooner. I believe with God, all things are possible and I got Resident Evil! He can use you wherever you’re at, God can make a way. Everyone has, like I said earlier, a story, strange stories. Some people did it this way, some people do it that way, they got discovered this way or they never got discovered, but they still found work. That’s probably what I would say to my younger self. Cause I did start training when I was younger.

I would probably give advice to somebody else, I would say, follow your heart and your dreams. If there’s something else you’d rather do than acting, voice acting or performance capture, or what have you, something else you’d rather do, like you really love teaching and you really love whatever, you really love artistry or painting, whatever it is, do that!

But if acting is the thing that you adore, that you just don’t feel like you’d be fully complete without, that you’d be kind of missing in life if you didn’t do it, then go for it with all your heart and don’t give up.

Dana: That’s a beautiful message.

Bekka: Thank you. It’s a good ending note too, right?

Dana: Yes, yes, I was just gonna to say that! (laughs)

Bekka: (laughs) And on that note!

Dana: Yes, on that note! Thank you so, so, so, so much for joining me for being so kind to me and for taking the time of your day to chat with me and to my audience as well.

Bekka: It is an honor to know you, Dana, you are a talented individual, you are very gifted and you’re incredible, incredible artist in your own right. I’m an artist, but so are you, Dana. So it’s my pleasure. And my honor to meet you, to utilize your gorgeous work and to talk with you today. Thank you!

Dana: Thank you. It was so much fun!

Bekka: Yay!

Dana: Okay guys, that’s for now. Let me know what you thought about this interview and if you leave any questions for Bekka, maybe we could do a part 2 at a later date. Of course that depends on her and her availability, so we’ll see. Have a wonderful day wherever you are and I’ll see you later!

If you’d like to see what shenanigans Bekka, Maggie and Nicole got up to last year during trio signings, I made a video compilation (part 1!) of some of the great moments. Enjoy!

Check out more Resident Evil posts!

• Lady Dimitrescu Cosplay
• Bekka Prewitt Interview (Bela Dimitrescu)
• Valentine’s Day Gifts
• Halloween Costume Ideas
• Actors Streaming On Twitch

There are also some Resident Evil Sims 4 Downloads, check them out below:

• Resident Evil Village Posters
• Lady Dimitrescu Painting Set
• Lady Dimitrescu Crystal Statue
• Resident Evil 8 Silhouette Wall Art

Dana

I’m a 30-something year-old woman and more of a gamer than I’ve ever been before. Ever since I was a little kid, I’d play games on our PC. I'm here to help you find great, quality video game merchandise and talk about your favorite video games and everything related to them. :)