The face model behind Resident Evil 3 Remake’s Jill Valentine has been revealed as Russian model Sasha Zotova. The photogrammetry techniques or the clean-up crew who got the models mesh-ready for the RE Engine aren’t to blame for Jill’s appearance in this rare occasion, since the in-game model looks very much like the real-life model.
Sankaku Complex spotted the news from a post made on Zotova’s Instagram page on December 20th, 2019 where she shared the news with her 29.9k followers.
She followed it up with another post on December 20th, 2019 thanking people for the support they showed her for nabbing the role of Jill Valentine in the remake of Resident Evil 3.
Both messages read…
“Dear friends, I am happy to announce that I became the prototype of Jill Valentine in Resident Evil 3 Remake. It is such an honor for me to work with Capcom and to be the face model of a cult character and join the RE family. Thanks to Jill Valentine fans for your kindness and politeness.
[…] “Guys thank you for your support ❤️❤️❤️ I am so happy about it!!!!”
As you can see from the photos on her Instagram page, even with special lighting and camera angles, she’s still no Sienna Guillory or Julia Voth, the previous two models whose likenesses were used in the video games and live-action movies.
As you can see, Zotova doesn’t quite look like a pure-blood.
As mentioned in our previous article, she’s nowhere near as soft in the face as Julia Voth or Sienna Guillory.
It’s quite jarring.
So far a lot of non-fans have been using the excuse that Zotova’s rugged appearance in the remake fit her special forces training, but they completely ignore the fact that the new face model for Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil 2 is still just as handsome as he was in Resident Evil 4 and 6, wherein his appearance had landwhales getting more moist than a tray of Red Lobster’s steamed clams.
There are thousands of models out there that Capcom could have gone with to capture Jill’s out-of-your-league looks, but they opted with someone who is more likely to become a pot-bellied thousandnaire’s imported bride than go on to headline a Victoria Secret’s fashion show.
Furthermore, it doesn’t look like the modelers worsened Zotova’s looks in the game anymore than what you can gather from her Instagram page. It appears they just decided to go with someone who – without makeup, Photoshop, or special lighting – just appears frumpier as Jill Valentine than the peers of her past.
And for comparison’s sake, you can check out images of Sienna Guillory and Julia Voth below so you understand of what I’m talking about.
Sienna Guillory – Resident Evil Apocalypse
Julia Voth – Jill Valentine Cosplay
Putting the new Jill in Lara Croft’s garb didn’t help any, and Capcom’s lame-arse excuse that they did it to make her seem more comfortable only dampens the impression real fans have of this new iteration of the iconic character.
Then again, according to LRM Online, this newest outing is going to be a lot shorter than the remake of Resident Evil 2, so if I were a betting man, I might assume it’s probably that Capcom is eyeing this as a quick cash-grab and decided to go as cheap as possible with the actors, all while also placating feminists by getting someone who was nowhere near as hot as the original Jill models.
I would also be willing to bet that they recycled tons and tons of assets from Resident Evil 2 Remake to further cut down on operating costs, reduce the payout for artists, and raise the profit margins for Resident Evil 3 Remake.
We’ll find out how true that is when Resident Evil 3 Remake arrives on April 3rd, 2020 for home consoles and PC.
