The days are numbered on the 2025 movie schedule, as fans will finally get to experience 28 Years Later this weekend. For those looking forward to observing Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s legacy-quel in the flesh, there’s definitely a certain pressure when it comes to how this film may or may not deliver the goods. But I think it’s a fair assumption that if there’s any greater source of pressure in this scenario, it was felt by the picture’s cast. Part of that pressure is, of course, the intensely physical needs of 28 Years Later’s scenes of Infected peril.
That was one of the natural sources of conversation during my interviews promoting the release of this upcoming horror movie. Actors Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer and Alfie Williams were on hand as part of that experience, with Williams offering these notes on the experience to CinemaBlend:
It’s weird, especially since the Infected are naked. It’s just weird just seeing them do normal everyday human stuff, with all the prosthetics and everything on. But I mean, most of the acting, well, for me, it was real; because it’s so scary and intense getting chased by these monsters. … It’s like if you mess up it’s not only you’re dead, the scenes ruined, right? The pressure.
Williams’ last quote reminds me of the memorable Harry Potter quote where Hermione Granger thinks being expelled from Hogwarts is worse than death. But on a more practical level, the young breakout star is absolutely right. Who would want to be known as the actor to throw off the groove of the Infected, causing a reset during a particularly tense running scene?
On the plus side, technology has changed in the 22 years since 28 Days Later’s release. But that doesn’t mean the pressure to nail huge sequences involving the Rage Virus’ latest evolution isn’t still as steep as ever. The big difference is that the results are in 4K now, which is backed up by 28 Years Later co-star Jodie Comer via this very important note about Infected filmmaking:
[They] are often stunt performers. So like there’s no, like, ‘We’re gonna chase you, but like, take the speed down at 10%.’
Those feelings may or may not be multiplied by the fact that fans of this horror franchise have endured such a long wait to see this movie happen. Thankfully, the production of 28 Years Later involved the usage of one to several iPhones capturing any given shot in the picture.
So much like how Danny Boyle and his crew could be ready to do lightning fast multiple takes on 2002’s horror classic, I’d imagine that these advances helped keep things on a similar swivel. So if Alfie Williams and Jodie Comer were feeling pretty energized after a particular take, they could flee the Infected as quickly as a modern reset would allow.
As the cast members playing those prosthetic/makeup-enhanced beings, actors like Chi Lewis-Parry must have been under the gun when it came to doing the actual running. Lewis-Parry is a good example of that sort of scrutiny, as his “Alpha” Infected known as “Samson” also had to show incredible strength and resilience as this new antagonist.
And yes, that includes the prosthetic appendage you’ll be hearing about for quite some time on the press tour. The results will speak for themselves soon enough, as 28 Years Later’s potential blockbuster status will be put to the test in theaters this weekend. If you want to revisit 28 Days Later, that picture is streaming free with ads on Pluto TV.
