“Don's ability to grab where horror was going, how the genre changed, and adapt Chucky, it was always unique and extremely fun,” said Brad Dourif, the 72-year-old voice of the murderous doll Chucky during a TCA press conference to promote Season 2 of the hit SYFY/USA series, which starts tonight at 9/8c. Singing the praises of the doll’s creator and series showrunner Don Mancini, Brad expressed nothing but gratitude for the opportunity to reprise this role so many times since Child’s Play premiered in 1988. “He is the reason why this thing continues to work, and why Jennifer and I still have a job for many many years. I know the character really well, so, I feel like I should be able to go in there and do it, but Don always comes up with [stuff] that makes it harder. He really challenged me this year, I have to tell you. I was really scared at times that I was going to [mess] this up big time. He really, really made us step out, so, that's all good. Being challenged is a good thing, and especially for someone who kind of considers himself to be retired.”
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Chucky can’t retire, not after the first season became one of the top three new cable series of 2021. “I didn't know it was a television series,” laughed Jennifer Tilly, who returns as Tiffany Valentine. “I thought it was like a television event. I never thought there would be a season two. And then at the end of the second season, I was like, can't wait for season three, just assuming it will go on forever.” The cast were careful not to reveal any spoilers, but they couldn’t stop singing the praises of where this second season goes. “I think season two is even better than season one.”
“I spend an unholy amount of time thinking about Chucky,” joked the doll’s creator and the showrunner and executive producer of the series Don Mancini. “One of the benefits of that is you have a lot of ideas. You have ideas for characters that he can develop relationships with, different realms that he can operate in. You kind of develop those and put them in a drawer. So, it is something I have been wanting to do for a while. I really enjoy plugging all of our characters into different subgenres of horror.” This season finds Chucky stalking Jake, Devon, and Lexy as they switch to a Catholic school. “When I was in eighth grade I was sent to an Episcopalian school,” Don revealed. “Any religion I think presupposes a belief in the supernatural. And, so, to have Chucky intersect with that, I think is just really interesting. One of the things we have always found is that Chucky often is at his most entertaining when he is subverting the status quo, and/or going after authority figures, and puncturing that kind of unthinking confidence or hypocrisies that people or institutions can have. So, it is a fun arena to set Chucky loose in.”
Devon Sawa returns to the franchise in a new role, Father Bryce. “This character was a little easier to play than the last two jerks that I played,” Devon joked about playing twins last season, both of whom didn’t survive. “I have been having so much fun with this thing, and I am just fortunate to be on it.” One of the highlights for the 1990s teen heartthrob has been watching a new generation of young actors grow through the series. “I was a young actor so this is my first time working with kids my age when I started. I love watching them grow, and season two has been a whole new experience watching them grow as young thespians, as young artists, and it's been phenomenal.”
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“Jake is dealing with all of the guilt that has been placed upon him because he feels really responsible for all the damage that has been caused to the people that's affected,” Zackary Arthur explained about where we find his character at the beginning of this season. “That relationship between him and Devon, you will get to see how that develops in this new environment, and how Chucky reacts in that new environment.” Teenage fans fell in love with Jevon (the couple name of Jake and Devon), but Björgvin Arnarson shared that they may not be able to repair their relationship following the terror Chucky inflicted. “Devon wants to reconnect with Jake and try to form this relationship more, but then it doesn't end up working out,” he revealed. “They start losing contact, and there's a lot of drama in between. They are trying really hard, especially Devon, to connect. But he can't seem to get to Jake.”
For Alyvia Alyn Lind, playing Lexy in Season 2 was almost like approaching a new character. “Don wrote this amazing part for her, and the emotions were just completely different,” the actress explained. “I started the first season, first day playing a completely different character than I did ending. It was just really fun ending out the second season with this brand-new character.” Making it extra challenging for the trio, they all get pulled in different directions this season. “They cannot talk about the trauma they have endured with anybody other than each other, and they have kind of lost contact at this point. So, they are just having to push it all down and pretend like everything is okay when it is definitely not. Lexy has turned to drugs. She is trying to cope in any way possible because she feels like she has lost every single person who she loved. And Devon and Jake are not there for her.”
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“The YA element is a good fit for Chucky,” Don Mancini added about the success of the TV series, rated TV-14. “Aesthetically, we love to do over-the-top stylistic, grandiose, visual stuff. And I think that's the way teenagers' emotions work. Teenagers' emotions are over the top and big. That's how you experience things when you are a teenager. Everything is incredibly vivid.” Don also gave diehard fans of the franchise another tease at what they can expect this season. “It allows us to get more into character's history, and relationships, and go down different avenues and explore characters that fans have been wanting to know more about. This year we learned more about Glen and Glenda, what has been going on with them. Fans have been wanting to know about that since 2004.”
Season 2 of Chucky begins tonight at 9/8c on SYFY and USA.