Why Army of the Dead’s Chambers Is Such A Good Zombie Killer

Samantha Win, who plays the character Chambers in Netflix’s new film, Army of the Dead, opens up about her character’s background and how she became such a skilled zombie slayer. Army of the Dead is a horror heist film that follows a team of mercenaries who attempt to steal money from the vault of a Las Vegas casino. Unlike other heist films, though, Las Vegas has been walled off and quarantined after a zombie outbreak devastated the city, which creates a unique situation for the protagonists to battle their way through. The film was released on May 21st, and it is already one of Netflix’s most-viewed films.

Win shares acting duties with a large cast that includes Dave Bautista, Tig Notaro, Garret Dillahunt, Ella Purnell, and Omari Hardwick. Zack Snyder was at the helm in his first directorial effort since Justice League. While critics and audiences have been quick to point out issues such as plot holes and even blurry visuals, it has generally been well-received as a fun genre film. Even with the film being a brand new release, its quick success has already spawned a lot of chatter about a sequel.

While speaking with Screen Rant, Win was asked how her character became such a skilled zombie killer. In the film, Bautista’s Scott Ward asks for a show of hands from anyone who hasn’t killed a zombie, and Win’s character, Chambers, raises her hand. Most viewers expected this from Dieter, the timid safecracker, but Chambers’ revelation came as a shock as her tough exterior made her appear more experienced with zombies. Win discussed how she and Raúl Castillo, who plays Mikey Guzman in the film, worked on a background for their characters together as the script didn’t elaborate on it for them. Check out what she said below:

“Yeah, it wasn’t in the script, so it was just something I got to create for myself and I was talking with Raul about perhaps what our backgrounds were and along with the YouTube influencer part I think it would make sense if we were also gamers, and so we kind of ran with that. Just between each other. And I knew that it was in the script that I raise my hand that I have never killed a zombie before, but obviously given my background I got this cool action sequence where I’d be able to kill a bunch of them, so how does this make sense? And in my mind, I think Chambers played a lot of, like, VR shooting games and I think she got practice in other areas. Another thing I thought about, but I think keeping it to the game is more in line with the character, but just because you haven’t killed zombies before doesn’t mean you haven’t killed people.  There are a lot of ways I think, especially coming from chambers and Guzman’s circumstances and economic background, I think the sky is the limit with where she might have learned something like that. But I really like the idea of VR, possibly some Arizona Sunshine. That would make perfect sense.”

When the mercenaries find themselves in the heart of Las Vegas, they come under attack while trying to navigate past some zombies, and Chambers finds herself in a kill or be killed situation after a duplicitous member of the team blocks her escape. Without hesitation, she pulls a knife and starts taking down one zombie after the next with a level of skill the audience never saw coming. The moment works as a great misdirect on the part of the filmmakers as the character came off as cannon fodder but turned out to be fully capable of holding her own when the situation devolved into chaos.

Actors creating a backstory for their characters that wasn’t present in the script is actually a ubiquitous tool utilized by numerous actors. Michael Caine developed a backstory for Alfred in The Dark Knight trilogy that got Christopher Nolan’s stamp of approval, Robert Zemeckis developed the backstory of how Doc and Marty became friends in Back to the Future even though it was never in the film, and even Army of the Dead‘s Nora Arnezeder developed a backstory like her castmates. While there is a myriad of other examples out there, it goes to show that even the greats find what isn’t on the page to truly get into character and deliver the best performance possible, just like Win and Castillo did for Army of the Dead.

About The Author

Timothy McClelland
(234 Articles Published)

Tim McClelland is a TV/Movie News Writer for Screen Rant, and his screenplays have accrued more than 25 awards and selections in competition. He got his start when his short biography of Augusten Burroughs was published in 2008, and his career has seen him write video game walkthroughs, web content, and interactive fiction for mobile platforms. Tim resides in Durham, NC, with a rabid passion for film, TV, video games, and comics.

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