MMA fighter Chi Lewis-Parry plays the terrifying 6ft 8in alpha zombie Samson in Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later – and one intense train scene left him so exhausted he couldn’t walk
MMA fighter Chi Lewis-Parry portrays a chilling “alpha zombie” in Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later films – but every inch of the 6ft 8in, 110kg actor is genuine, requiring only a movement coach to nail his chilling performance.
In the first 2025 instalment continuing the 28 Days Later franchise featuring Cillian Murphy, Lewis-Parry was instructed to “terrify” Boyle during his audition – and he evidently succeeded. The same nerve-shredding terror was inflicted upon audiences when the film hit cinemas. His character, dubbed the “king of the Alphas” or Samson, is frequently filmed lurking menacingly on the skyline, poised to hunt down the “un-infected” and rip out their spines in a process known as “de-spinning”.
Samson exists within a post-apocalyptic Britain devastated by the blood-borne Rage Virus that transforms people into zombies. Yet, as multiple new variants emerge over time, the unconventional Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) attempts to restore humanity to the infected through gradual sedation – a key storyline in the 2026 sequel, 28 Years Later – The Bone Temple.
Lewis-Parry offers his own interpretation of what these variants represent. Speaking to The Metro, he explained: “I saw it as you became what you are in your society. So if you are an alpha in your everyday life, then you are an Alpha as the infected. The traits and characteristics of the Infected didn’t necessarily change from when they were human, but they are fuelled by rage, so control is lost”, reports the Daily Star.
In one scene, Samson is depicted as being conscious of his surroundings after tearing the skulls off a patrol of NATO soldiers. He said: “I remember when we shot that, it wasn’t on the page. That was something we came up with. Danny just said, ‘I want to include something here that shows he is conscious, what do you think?'”.
“That’s his creative genius is he lets you talk about things because we all inspire each other. There’s no ego involved – and he literally just made it up on the day, based off our conversation.” However, the train scene in The Bone Temple sees Samson’s appearance not as one of gentle compassion – but of chaotic violence.
The scene demanded such physical exertion from Lewis-Parry that he had to be literally carried off set at the end of the day – which is no small feat for an MMA fighter. The brutal fight to the death with an infected on the train took all of the 42-year-old’s energy. Lewis-Parry told Dextero: “We shot that whole train scene in a day, it was from morning all the way to the ‘hero’ shot at nighttime. It was the whole day.
“I’d said, ‘OK, if we’re going to fit this into one day, I’ll let you know that I’m going to give you everything I’ve got. If you change your mind and say we’re doing stuff tomorrow, you cannot expect me tomorrow. I had to be carried out of there, I couldn’t walk. I was busted, man, like I was really battered and was limping my way out of that train.”
In the first flm, there was considerable discussion about a specific feature of the Alpha Zombie – but Lewis-Parry reassured fans that the infected characters wear prosthetic genitals for both modesty and legal compliance, given that the production involved working with then 12 year old lead Alfie Williams, who plays Spike.
Lewis-Parry explained: “I never at any point thought I was going to be walking around in the nip.” The 42-year-old Hitchin native also collaborated with a movement coach to fully realise his portrayal of Samson. Toby Sedgwick created the distinctive, jerky yet unique sprint of the infected – a departure from the sluggish shuffle of zombies in other franchises. Lewis-Parry interpreted Samson as having “more control over the state that the infection puts him in, so that actually makes him more dangerous.
“I felt like it looked like he was trying too hard, and I didn’t want him to be trying anything – everything he did was just incidental. So I started to look at legendary movement, people like Andy Serkis, who is, in my opinion, the greatest all time. I looked at how he moved.”
Source: Mirror
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