Voice actress Lily Gao hits back at critics of her Ada Wong in Resident Evil 4 Remake
"My Ada is a survivor."
Lily Gao, the voice actor behind Resident Evil 4 Remake's Ada Wong, has hit back at critics in a new Instagram post.
The actor deactivated her account at the start of the month following thousands of vitriolic messages complaining about her performance and claiming she "ruined the remake".
"My Ada is a survivor," said Gao in the new post, which also included images of Asian women in cinema who inspired her portrayal of the character.
Gao is the first Asian actor to portray the Chinese-American character (outside of Japan), who first appeared in Resident Evil 2 in 1998.
"Being the first Asian actor to portray Ada in the Resident Evil video games is an honour, and I will forever be grateful to our producer and director, for making the decision on authentic representation," said Gao.
"It's unfortunate that with the game's release, also came the all too familiar feeling of 'I don't belong'. While criticism is expected, it's not the first time an actor of colour faces racist and sexist harassment, for simply participating. Inauthentic casting perpetuates an unhealthy image that further dehumanises the community they seek to reflect."
Gao went on to criticise Asian stereotypes and describe her own performance as Ada.
"It is time we stop only capitalising on the sexualised, eroticised, and mysterious Asian woman, and make space to honour every kind of Asian woman," she said.
"My Ada is a survivor. She is kind, just, intelligent, and funny. She is unpredictable, resilient, and absolutely not a stereotype."
The authentic representation of Ada is just one of many updates made in the remake, which Aoife described as "as good as remakes get" in her Resident Evil 4 Remake review.
However, an update over the weekend added in microtransactions two weeks after the game was released. This allows players to pay for weapon exclusive upgrades.