Return to Silent Hill star reveals why the film is not a perfect Silent Hill 2 recreation – and why he avoided game inspiration for performance

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Video game adaptations are currently very popular on TV, with shows like The Last of Us and Fallout finding success. However, a truly outstanding movie based on a video game is still yet to arrive.

I’ve noticed the Silent Hill movies haven’t really been hits with critics. Both the first one from 2006 and the sequel in 2012 received pretty negative reviews, unfortunately.

After nearly 15 years, a new Silent Hill game has arrived. Called Return to Silent Hill, it draws inspiration from the beloved Silent Hill 2 and features actor Jeremy Irvine, known for his role in Outlander: Blood of My Blood, as the main character.

It’s a tough situation,” he explained. “When you create something that matters to many people, it’s impossible to satisfy everyone – particularly when you have such dedicated and enthusiastic fans.

He explained that although the movie draws heavily from Silent Hill 2, the writer and director, Christophe Gans, incorporated elements from other games to create a unique experience. He felt a direct, scene-for-scene adaptation of the game wouldn’t translate well to the big screen.

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Irvine wondered how quickly someone could complete the game Silent Hill 2. He explained that adapting it into a movie required a different approach than game design. Movies and games are different art forms – a movie audience passively watches, while a gamer actively participates, so you can’t just present the game as-is.

He said it was thrilling to watch everything fall into place. Although the director, Gans, maintained his original vision throughout the process, the finished film ended up being drastically different from the initial screenplay.

Irvine is the latest actor to play James Sutherland, following Guy Cihi and Luke Roberts who portrayed the character in the original game and its remake. However, Irvine chose not to reference their performances when developing his portrayal for the film.

I envisioned the character as intentionally open and undefined, allowing the player to experience the game’s emotions through them. Since players control the action in video games, making the character somewhat of a ‘blank canvas’ really works. It lets the player project their own feelings and decisions onto the game, making the experience more immersive.

I realized while making the movie that I couldn’t simply recreate my performance from the game. That would have been pretty dull. To make the film work, I needed to convey all the emotions players experience in the game through my character, James.

Throughout the movie, James faces many frightening creatures and enemies that players will recognize from the games. What’s impressive is that most of these were created using practical effects – real actors and makeup – instead of relying heavily on computer-generated imagery.

Pyramid Head, one of the most recognizable villains, was surprisingly simple to Irvine – just an actor in an impressive costume and helmet, as he observed during filming. He was also impressed by other details of the movie’s antagonists while on set.

He said he was really struck by the synchronized choreography of the nurses. It was fascinating to watch how much effort went into getting the dancers to move in such an unusual, and initially unsettling, way. On set, it felt genuinely frightening, but as soon as the director yelled ‘cut,’ the Serbian ballet dancers – who were all incredibly talented – would burst into laughter.

The scary nurses weren’t the only actors who seemed frightening—many of them were actually very kind people in real life.

He remembered that the unsettling and grotesque character, ‘The Armless,’ was actually performed by a stunning Italian dancer. It was surprising to see such a glamorous performer inside the costume! They often used skilled dancers and other performing artists for these roles.

He added that by not relying on CGI it also made his own job a little easier.

He explained he didn’t need to rely much on visualization, as most of what was needed was actually there. There were a few small things that required imagination, but the director, Christophe, was determined to use practical effects instead of computer-generated imagery whenever possible. He believes that even the best CGI is still noticeable, and it’s much better to have something real on set.

Return to Silent Hill is now showing in UK cinemas.

Authors

Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona writes about movies for TopMob, covering new releases in theaters and on streaming platforms. He’s been with the site since October 2019, and during that time has interviewed many famous actors and reviewed films of all kinds.

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2026-01-23 18:05