Would you mind talking a little bit more about how you see the difference between Nick and Matt's Leon and trying to get both to converge in RE9 ?
It's not something I've personally thought all that much about, but I've seen a bunch of people mention it, and now I'm really curious to the point I'm rewatching stuff to compare.
Oh boy, this was actually way harder to explain than I thought, I hope I don't sound confusing with this! This is gonna get embarrassingly long, I'm sorry in advance 💀
See, for me, a lot of my reception of a character hinges on their performance rather than just their writing alone. Of course, these two aspects are intrinsically connected, but they still stand on their own too, at least for me. Perhaps that's because I'm someone who tends to study a character's mannerisms to get them right in my own works, but I do tend to spend a lot of my time just... studying how characters behave and how they express themselves, and, naturally, a lot of it (most of it, really) depends on the actor's performance rather than just writing. The tone of voice they use or don't use, the words and phrases they tend to fall back on, and how they use them, their quirks and mannerisms, etc. Like, I am not exaggerating when I say I can spend a good hour or so revisiting gameplay/movie just to get a good feel on how a certain character talks for some silly fanfic that, like, a 100 people will read lol.
I know I did a good 40-minute rewatch session for re6 Ada, for example, just to remind myself of her dialogue quirks. Or revisiting every single Wesker appearance in RE4R to make sure I get his mannerisms and tone of voice right without making him too cold or too dry, which can be easy to fall into with him.
It's that bad for me LMAO. I have no idea how prevalent that sort of thing is among other fans, genuinely. So I'm solely speaking for myself and how I perceive things here.
Now, the thing I see brought up most often is more of a technical one. Nick just doesn't sound old enough, and when he pushes himself to do that, it sounds unnatural. Honestly, I feel his pain on that, because my own voice hadn't changed all that much since I was, like, 17, I think. Online interviews are a massive pain in the ass for me when I sound like a teenager at a ripe age of 26. So, imagining Nick trying to pull off a 51 year old Leon is... tricky, naturally. Can't really do much when your voice is just like that.
Ok now onto the actual question (I talk way too much).
I think it's sorta important to remember that Nick and Matt are both passionate about the way they bring Leon to life. Both love the guy to bits and pieces, and hearing them talk about him and how they bring him to life, is always such a joy. I love actors who clearly make the most of their roles. But I kinda feel like that's exactly why they are such a bad match when it comes to Nick taking after Matt. Passionate actors are great, but them being passionate about a character means they have pretty solid and strong interpretations of them, and it can be hard to step out of that.
Nick started acting out his Leon as a completely blank slate. There was no expectation for him to take after anyone, his Leon was a completely new take on this character that he was tasked to bring to life singlehandedly. And he did so wonderfully, obviously. We all love rookie Leon here. Think even those who don't like Nick agree that he did a great job for him in RE2R. I think that's sorta why he had such a hard time when it came to ID Leon later on, and I'll get into that later.
I'm sure you heard it from some other people already, but Nick's older Leon (be it RE4R or ID) is more broody. More serious. More detached. He's not unemotional, of course, far from it, despite what some might say, but his performance is more subtle in nature. Nick's Leon often being read as a cold asshole by those who don't put much effort into engaging with him on a deeper level - is a direct consequence of that.
Basically, Nick's Leon is a hardened man who's seen a bit too much to be all sunshine and rainbows, with a heart of gold underneath all the heartache he'd faced. If I was to go all poetic with it. RE4R Leon is deeply caring, don't get me wrong, it's something I keep repeating. But it's easy to overlook that care and warmth in him if you only look at him on the surface level. Nick's Leon's softness is far more subtle than many RE fans are used to. You need to actually engage with the story and his character, connect to him, to see it.
I'm not gonna say if that's good or bad. That's a matter of preference, really. As I said, I do love Nick's performance very much. Man always puts his all into this role and damn, do I respect it.
The way Matt goes about acting out his Leon is very different from Nick. Matt's Leon is not nearly as subtle in his performance. His emotions are pretty much always up on full display, be it anger, or humor, or softness and warmth. Matt's Leon is open and wears his heart on his sleeve in spite of the world beating him down for it over and over again. He's not subtle in the way he gets emotional. He lashes out in anger. Or he throws all caution to the wind to show someone he cares.
He's also notoriously more relaxed and lighthearted in his demeanor. While Nick's Leon throwing corny one-liners reads as him being a cool badass or trying to cope with a stressful situation, Matt's delivery always makes them feel like genuine quips he throws in that are supposed to be humorous.
Basically, Nick's Leon = uses one-liners in a way that makes him seem genuinely cool. Matt's Leon = uses one-liners in a way that makes him sound like a lovable dork.
It's just one tiny aspect. But it makes a world of difference, still.
Matt's Leon is way more on the nose, and you don't have to read between the lines to understand what he's feeling. Again, whether that's good or bad is mainly about preference. But it is different.
So, we come to Nick playing Leon in ID. And why his performance falls flat for many people, myself included. I said that we get this weird amalgamation of Leon talking like his old self but sounding like his new self, and that's exactly what I mean with Nick failing to be at his best when it comes to acting out og Leon. You can sort of tell he wasn't sure what to do with Leon here. He sounds very similarly to his RE4R Leon: serious tone of voice for the majority of the time and pretty measured delivery. A man on the job, and a man who's certainly seen a bit too much for his own good.
It feels very confusing, is how I'd describe it.
But his dialogue was obviously written with og Leon in mind, and there were times where he was clearly supposed to sound witty or lighthearted, but it just came off forced and stilted, instead of Leon sounding like he was genuinely having fun. When people complain that ID Leon sounds 'constipated', pretty sure that's what they're referring to.
That's kinda why some took his infamous 'asking out Shen Mei' scene as some elaborate attempt at getting more info, I think. Nick's delivery ruins the intention of the scene. Leon is technically just asking out a beautiful woman since there's nothing else for him to do, and he might as well enjoy his stay. That's what Leon does. When things are obviously out of his depth but there's nothing he can do about it, he settles for making the best of his circumstances. But when Nick performs the scene, his delivery is more awkward and stilted than a sincere attempt at hitting on her would sound like. Hell, even his chuckle feels kind of forced rather than genuine amusement.
Even with more serious scenes, like his genuine anger at Shen Mei once he finally confronts her at gun point, it just feels... way more stilted than you would expect from regular Leon.
Nick is great when it comes to more subtle and deep exchanges. I genuinely love the way he acted out his conflict with Claire by the end there, for example. That quiet acceptance instead of any attempt at fighting back is amazing at relaying where he stands there emotionally. But it is, again, subtle. Matt's Leon is anything but subtle.
Nick was at his strongest in re4r because, once again, it played for his strengths, not his weaknesses. Leon's performance in re4r is subtle, in writing and performance alike, and he leans into that fully, and sounds so much better for it. That's why I have no problems with him continuing to act out Leon in future remakes. The offer a very different take on his character, and Nick has all the strengths and talent to bring him to life.
It's really no wonder, too, I did say that both Nick and Matt are passionate about Leon. But the way they see him is different. Matt's Leon is as open as he is because Matt views Leon as someone who's selfless to a fault and wears his heart on his sleeve. Matt's Leon is a lovable dork who happens to be a real badass. Nick, on the other hand, puts a lot of emphasis on Leon's emotional pain when he talks about him, the weight of his experiences and how they hardened him in the long run. So, his performance reflects that. His Leon is more closed off and weary because of his past heartaches.
I also think Nick's performance is of the more subtle kind because he plays Leon, fully. He's not just a VA, like Matt is, he's Leon's actor. So he definitely puts a lot of thought into acting with his body language, too. Meanwhile Matt only ever voiced, Leon, and most of his acting goes into that, naturally.
Now, again, if Nick is in re9, he might surprise us. He's a more experienced actor now, and there might be a good team helping him along to make sure he's at his best. I hope that's the case, really. But I'd probably still be disappointed. I feel like it's genuinely very hard for Nick to capture the essence of what makes Matt's Leon who he is, not when he has such a strong idea of who Leon is already. He tries to sound like Matt, but he doesn't. Which, of course he doesn't, it's not enough to just try and take after an actor, you need to know why they act out a character the way they do. And if your interpretations of a character clash? Well, that's a recipe for a very confused performance.
If he really is in re9, I'd much rather have him just act out his Leon, than try and take after Matt again. I'll be sad about it, but at least then Nick will be at his best for sure. And I'll appreciate that regardless of my grievances.
Still, I genuinely wish they'd hire someone new if Matt can't come back for whatever reason. I feel like the longer Nick works with the remakes, the harder it's gonna be for him to separate from them. And he really shouldn't have to, either. It's way easier to take on a new role if you don't already have massive baggage of acting out that same character in a completely different tone.
I hope I explained myself somewhat coherently... Now, again, this is just my own personal views on all this lol. I have no idea how accurate they are to other fans who also don't want Nick to play Leon in re9.
