‘Chucky’ Creator on Queer Horror Icons, and Why People Love the Killer Doll – Armessa Movie News

The Big Picture

• Chucky‘s enduring appeal lies in the unique personality and performance of the character, as well as the dedicated and talented actor, Brad Dourif.
• The franchise embraces continuity by bringing back familiar faces, such as Devon Sawa, even if their characters have been killed off in the past.
• Season 3 of Chucky takes a fresh approach by setting the story in the White House, allowing for new characters, expanded mythology, and exciting conflicts.

As a student at UCLA, Don Mancini saw the space to create something brand new in the horror genre. Using the Cabbage Patch Kids craze as a muse and compass, he penned what would ultimately become the 1988 film, Child’s Play. In a move he likely never saw coming, the franchise has more than withstood the test of time, spawning seven films and a television show that is now in its third season on Peacock, Syfy, and USA Network. In the midst of the first part of Season 3 (with the second half slated to come out in 2024), I was lucky enough to sit down with Mancini and pick his brain about all things Chucky and Child’s Play.

During our conversation, Mancini opened up about the family vibes that the franchise is known for, Chucky’s ongoing beef with Devon Sawa, and what keeps bringing audiences back to their favorite friend ‘till the end. Oh yeah, and Mancini also reveals who his favorite queer horror icon is – besides Chucky, of course. You can feast your eyes on our full conversation below.

COLLIDER: First of all, this is awesome. This is a full circle moment for me because Bride of Chucky came out when I was in the fourth grade and I brought in a picture of Chucky to show to some classmates because I wanted to be cool, and it made its way to the principal’s office and I was suspended for two days. It’s turned into this family joke, and so when I told them what I was doing today, everybody was like, “Wow, we’ve really made it here.” So really pumped on that.

DON MANCINI: [Laughs] Well, I apologize 25 years later for getting you suspended. It sounds like you survived and you thrived.

Exactly! Jumping into it, the franchise has been around now for almost four decades since you started writing it before the movie came out. I’m a huge fan. I love that every movie and now every season of the show is completely different. What do you think it is about Chucky that viewers and audiences really hold onto?

MANCINI: Well, I think more than anything, it’s the personality and character of Chucky himself and the performance of Brad Dourif. I think that’s the linchpin there. You know, Chucky is a somewhat unique character in that he’s simultaneously despicable, yet lovable and kind of charming in his way. I think that’s the crux of the appeal. And like I said, Brad’s performance is just always so great. He always brings it and he is a very dedicated actor, a great actor, Oscar-nominee. It’s such an honor and a thrill to work with him, and I think we’ve gotten to the point where we just really like to challenge each other. So yeah, I think that’s what keeps people coming back. There are other things about it, as well, but I think that’s the crux of it.

For sure. Going off of that, I love how you guys keep bringing the same people back, like Devon Sawa, even if they’ve been killed off, and Michael Therriault from the films to the series. Can you tease any upcoming cameos for the rest of the season, or you can also just tell us when Catherine Hicks is returning and we’ll also appreciate that?

MANCINI: [Laughs] I can neither confirm nor deny that. I can’t spoil anything, but, as you say, it’s part of our DNA now, doing that kind of thing. You might see one or two more in the back half of the season.

Was it tough to convince Chucky to bring Devon Sawa back? I know that they have some internet beef.

MANCINI: Yes. You know, Chucky hates him. They hate each other, but I think Chuky feels as long as he gets to come out on top and kill him in ever more horrible ways, then it’s worth his time.

I love that. With every movie being different and every season now being different, I was just wondering how you guys landed on the White House and Washington DC for Season 3?

MANCINI: I’ve long been interested in White House ghost lore. It’s something I’ve been doing research on for years. Even separate from Chucky, it’s something I, for a while, was thinking about writing, something non-Chucky about the White House being haunted because I love haunted house stories and ghost stories and I love the opportunity for metaphor that they provide. I just thought it’s interesting that it hasn’t been exploited much, if at all, really, because it’s the most famous house in the world, arguably. There’s a lot of ghost lore surrounding it, a lot of people who even took it seriously. You know, Abraham Lincoln and his wife took it very seriously, and supposedly there are rumors that even more recently, supposedly I think it was Nancy Reagan who brought in a psychic.

So anyway, I’ve just really been interested in that, and so with Chucky, as you say, we’re always looking for ways to reinvent it and make it different from what we did just before. And with the TV series, having done suburbia with Season 1, which is something we did also in Child’s Play 2, and then a Catholic school setting in Season 2 of the show, which is kind of similar to the military school setting of Child’s Play 3 but different, we just needed to switch it up. So the White House seemed like a great opportunity for a number of reasons. One thing we always have to do is, you need to keep creating new characters who don’t know the truth about Chucky, and you don’t want to be repetitive with that. So the notion of putting Chucky in the White House with all of its security measures, but also all of its opportunities for a killer, a different kind of playground to play in, especially if they don’t know you’re alive, that was catnip to me. Also, the fact that it’s the most secure house in the world creates an interesting conflict for our three teenage characters who, now at this point, they know Chucky’s alive, and they just want one thing out of him—to kill him—but it’s not so easy now because you can’t just waltz into their house.

So for all of those reasons, I thought it was like a really good fit, and it also provided us an opportunity to expand our own mythology. So, you’ve seen, you know that there’s more going on here than Chucky in the White House; there are other entities and spirits, and this comes into play more in the back half of the season. And at the same time, we’re able to expand our Damballa mythology. Anyway, so I think the payoff to everything that we set up in the first four episodes, I think it’s gonna be really fun for people, and it seems like people are really liking it. It’s really gone over well, fortunately.

I definitely didn’t see the move to Washington, D.C. coming, and after watching those first four episodes, I was like, “Wow, this is such a good idea.” I loved the chandelier. As a musical theater nerd, I was like, “How did I not see this coming?”

MANCINI: I’m so glad to hear you say that, that it works in that way.

Oh, it’s so good.

MANCINI: Of course it’s Phantom of the Opera.

Totally. Were Jake and Devon’s costumes also references to the Village People because you have the cowboy, the construction worker?

MANCINI: A little bit. We wanted them to be a little gay.

I absolutely loved it. While I still have you, Jennifer Tilly is my queen, and I love the Tiffany Valentine/Jennifer Tilly storylines. Last season, “Death on Denial” was the crème de la crème. I’m a huge fan of Jennifer and Meg [Tilly], and then you throw in the Bound cast, and then also, Real Housewives, which I love, and I knew that Jennifer and Sutton [Stracke] were friends, so seeing their dynamic was awesome. Can you shed some light on how you guys made that work or whose idea it was?

MANCINI: It was my idea.

Kudos to you, it was amazing.

MANCINI: No big deal! [Laughs] But Jennifer was absolutely crucial in putting it together to draw all of these people in, of course. I mean, I’ve known Gina [Gershon] glancingly over the years because she was in Face/Off, which was written by friends of mine, Mike Werb and Michael Colleary. We had flirted with the idea at one point, she was maybe gonna be in Curse of Chucky, and then it didn’t work. And I’ve met Meg a few times through Jennifer over the years, but I didn’t know Sutton before. I love her, too. She’s as much fun in real life as she is in the show and in her own show, and I thought she was great actually.

Yeah, she was!

MANCINI: She was eager to learn, but we knew it would work because she obviously has her own natural charisma. Yeah, so it was a blast. And Joe Pantoliano. Unfortunately, we all got COVID when we were shooting that episode. I directed that episode, and yeah, we all got sick. So we had to shut down and reconstituted, so that was kind of a drag. But I hope everyone felt as I did, that ultimately it was worth it because, yeah, it was a lot of fun to do that.

It was truly one of my favorite episodes of television. I know I have to let you go, so I’ll throw one more question at you. Largely, I feel like because of the series, Chucky’s become kind of a queer slasher icon. If you had to pick another horror character who would be supportive or a representing member of the community, who would it be?

MANCINI: Oh, that’s a great question. God, it’s tough because it’s just like, so many of them don’t talk, which isn’t to say that they couldn’t be supportive. [Laughs] I don’t know. God, that’s a great question. I gotta think about that. I don’t think it would be Freddy, I just think Freddy is just too despicable.

Yes, I agree with that.

MANCINI: I think, let’s see, I’m trying to think. Well, in Halloween, not the last, but second to last, Michael killed gay characters– I mean, Chucky kills gay characters, he doesn’t discriminate.

No, that’s a good point.

MANCINI: But there’s something about Michael Myers that’s, I don’t know, he seems peaceful and well-adjusted or something. So somehow, that vibe suggests to me that he would be– Oh, wait, it’s Hannibal, of course. It’s Hannibal.

Okay. No, that is so true.

MANCINI: I mean, you know, Hannibal, he’s queer himself. [Laughs] Maybe that’s not fair. Maybe that’s too obvious a choice, so I’ll go with Michael Myers.

The first half of Chucky Season 3 is now streaming on Peacock with the second half expected to slash onto USA Network, Syfy, and Peacock in 2024.

Watch Chucky Season 3