For someone who’s not really into the genre, multi-hyphenate actor-director-producer-entrepreneur Matthew Lillard has been really busy in the horror world. During last week’s New York Comic Con, I had a chance to chat a bit with Matthew about his current and upcoming projects, in our first conversation since we spoke about his Dungeons & Dragons show on FreeVee, Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! last year.
Life of Chuck
Based on the 2020 novella by Stephen King, this Tom Hiddleston-starring film directed by Mike Flanagan will get a wide release in 2025.
Me: Life of Chuck just won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film. How did you get involved with it?
Matthew: A friend of mine named Milan Gale, who’s a bigwig in the reality TV space, called me one day. He was like, “Hey, Mike Flanagan wants to meet you.” To be frank, at that time I didn’t really know his work. I knew he was a film director and writer, but I knew he was popular for something. But I had never seen…I’m not a horror fan. That’s not normally a genre that I consume.
Me: Ironic.
Matthew: I know, it’s odd. But somebody put us together and we had to sit down and get to know each other. Like sort of like an old school Hollywood lunch where he was like, “Hey, just wanted to meet you.” And so we sat and talked, and the crazy thing is that we sat for like three hours. I mean, at the end of the three hours, we got up and I’m like, “Well, what should I watch to get to know your work?” And you know, he said, “Midnight Mass.” And so I went off and I eviscerated Midnight Mass. It was so great.
And he said to me at some point at the end of the meeting, “Well, we’re gonna work together someday. I’m looking forward to it.” I’m like, “From your lips to God’s ears, because I wanna be in your business.” And long story short, I was dropping my middle kid off at college. And I got a call at breakfast saying, “Hey, I’d love to talk to you about this project. It’s a very small part in a very small movie, and this is not going to define our relationship going forward, but if you’d like to check it out, I’d love to have you.”
I read it. It was a small part in a very small movie, and I jumped at the opportunity. I think it’s a beautiful film. It’s not about the part size. And so I went up to do the movie. I was there for one day. I worked three hours. It was an incredible experience. We went bowling. We played games. I mean, it was a blast. And the movie turned out exquisite. It’s a really, really beautiful journey and I can’t wait for people to see it.
Macabre Spirits
Me: Obviously (working on Life of Chuck) led to a something else, Macabre Spirits.
Matthew: So a year ago, we launched a company called Find Familiar Spirits. We built high-end spirit experiences around fandoms. We started with Quest’s End, as you know, and we decided to launch our second flagship brand, which is Macabre Spirits. That is an expression of blue agave, so it’s a season of blue agave, so we’ll do multiple drops. And it’s a horror themed tequila. The idea here is that with each bottle we provide and deliver a novella, a short story, a horror short story. And who better to go to than the modern master of horror, Mike Flanagan?
I asked him if he’d be interested in sort of working with us. He’s sober, which I think is interesting. But he loved the idea. He’s never done a short story. He jumped in. We were expecting about 10,000 to 15,000 words. It’s just under 80,000. It’s an 80 page book. And at the end of the day, he just fell in love with it. He started to write and it just started to keep coming out and the book itself is horrific and eerie and it’s everything you could possibly dream for in the launch of this really exciting next venture of Find Familiar (Spirits).
Me: So is Mike going to be doing novellas for all of your releases or are you going to turn to other horror authors?
Matthew: No, just this one. In fact, we have already identified the second novella. The author is yet to be announced. He’s a great author. We’re really excited about him coming on board.
The other great thing I think is exciting about the project is that we found this really beautiful artist named Mia Bergeron, who’s out of Tennessee. My daughter and I, my daughter’s an art student, we found her work at the LA art show like five years ago. And we’ve just been following her work. Mia Bergeron is like the work that she did. She did oil painting. It’s beautiful. We’re really thrilled with it. My hope is that we get to work with Mia again because she’s really fantastic.
Macabre Spirits Rare, Fine & Limited Reposado Tequila is now available to preorder for $99.99 and will ship in Q1 2025. You can place your order at the Find Familiar Spirits website.
On the Horror Genre
Me: It’s funny, you said that you’re not really a horror fan, yet you seem to keep getting involved with these horror projects.
Matthew: I do. I love the community. Listen, I identify in my own life as an outsider. I was never that popular. I had a learning disability. And I think there’s something really powerful about being a part of a group of people that feel outside and looking in. And I see that and I feel that in that community. And that’s why, while I don’t necessarily love horror films, I adore that community.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Matthew Lillard returns as villain William Afton in the sequel film.
Me: Speaking of horror films, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is coming up.
Matthew: Oh, so we go to work. I mean, that’s why I have this horrible beard. I go to do the sequel in 10 days, I think it started on Monday, today being Thursday. And yeah, I’m excited to get back into it. I think the movie, this time around, I think that the filmmakers learned a lot about the community, they learned a lot about the fans. And I think there’s gonna be real growth in the second movie, and I think they’re all pretty stoked to share with you.
Me: Any clue as to how your character William Afton survived?
Matthew: I mean, he does have that line, “I always come back and I will be back.” That’s what I think. That’s all I can say.
Horrors of the Faierlands Premium Edition at Beadle & Grimm’s
This collaboration between Beadle & Grimm’s and Critical Role’s Darrington Press has 8 all new adventures for the horror RPG Candela Obscura.
Me: What are you excited about with the Candela Obscura box?
Matthew: Listen, I think that everything that Critical Role touches is fantastic. I think there’s incredible story telling and I think this game has this rich tapestry of gothic, sort of macabre tales. And so we’re excited because we think that, you know, there hasn’t been an adventure collection yet and we’re excited to present that to the community. And the box is extraordinary.
Horrors of the Fairelands Premium Edition (Candela Obscura) retails for $199 and is currently available to order at the Beadle & Grimm’s website. It ships in February 2025.
On Other Topics…
Me: How’s the reception been for Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill!?
Matthew: Great, you know, it’s funny is that every time somebody sees the show, they fall in love with the show. Plex and FreeVee are the two platforms available now. And they’re just hard. I just don’t think there’s a lot of people consuming content on either one of those platforms yet. I know that there are announcements coming forward to release the show in Canada. There’s another platform that they’re releasing soon, which is good. We’re also doing, we’re taking sort of models in our own hands.
We are doing watch parties. So we’re watching it and talking back live. And those have been really successful. 7,000 people last week streaming the show as we were watching it. And the reality is that we have an ongoing show that we do at the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard, the world’s best comedy store. And those live shows are catching out. We’ve sold out every single one. We believe in the show, we believe in the format, we just need more people to see it.
Me: Do you have any other projects coming up that you want to share with me?
Matthew: I am so crazy busy. It’s ridiculous. I feel like a one-armed boxer fighting the world. I have a new show coming out on Amazon. I’m on season two of Cross.
Me: I just saw that Killer Cakes is on.
Matthew: Killer Cakes was super fun to shoot. That’s this season.
Matthew: Five Nights at Freddy’s is coming. I’m teaching a lot right now in terms of acting. I’m doing work with my alma mater, Circle in the Square Theatre School. I’m (involved with) day in, day out, everyday operations on Find Familiar Spirits. It’s, you know, three kids, a wife, and everything in between.
Me: So what would be a dream project for you for 2025?
Matthew: Great question. It’s easy to answer. To be in cahoots with Mike Flanagan, producing or acting in whatever he’s doing. That to me, to live in his universe, to sort of be with his people, the way he approaches the work, the way he writes, the way he trusts his actors, the storytelling he’s doing, I think is really exciting.
And just getting a chance to work with friends. And to me, that would be the new project. On top of that, we have multiple things coming up with Find Familiar Spirits. To continue in my life, to keep growing the business, to keep reaching in the communities and creating cool opportunities. That to me is nice.
Thanks to Matthew Lillard for taking time out at NYCC to speak with GeekDad!
