Matthew Lillard: 'Chuck' is a beautiful articulation of the wonder of life

UPI

01-06-2025

1 of 2 | Matthew Lillard can now be seen in Mike Flanagn's film "The Life of Chuck," which is based on a Stephen King novella. File Photo by Chris Chew/UPI | License Photo
NEW YORK, May 31 (UPI) -- Five NIghts at Freddy's, Scream and Scooby-Doo icon Matthew Lillard says he has found a kindred spirit in The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan.
Lillard met Flanagan about two years ago through a mutual friend and his since gone on to co-star in the writer-director's celebrated movie, The Life of Chuck, as well as collaborate with him on a unique venture in which Flanagan penned, "Rare Fine & Limited," an exclusive novella, to pair with a high-end liquor from LIllard's horror-themed Find Familiar Spirits line of libations.
The actor recently told UPI at New York Comic Con that he wasn't familiar with Flanagan's work before he went out to lunch with him and his friend.
"We got along great, and at the end of it, he was like, 'We're going to work together some day,' and I was like, 'Cool,'" Lillard recalled.
"I was dropping my middle child off at Carnegie-Mellon [University] and I get a phone call and he's like: 'Hey, I have this opportunity. It's very small, but a piece I'm passion about. it's not going to define our relationship. I do not expect you to take it,'" the actor said, referring to the role in Chuck. "And I was like, 'I'll take the shot. I'm in.'"
He ended up binging Flanagan's work, which also includes The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher.
"I fell in love with him and I fell in love with the way he works," Lillard said. "He's doing really cool things I want to be a part of."
When he actually read the script for Chuck, Lillard was glad he didn't hesitate to say "yes."
"I have a 5-minute piece. It's very small, but I found something in it that I fell in love with," Lillard said, noting he really believed in the movie and was happy it was a hit at last year's Toronto Film Festival.
"I think the most profound thing for me -- other than sitting behind Stephen King and Mark Hamill [at the screening] -- was it is a three-act movie, going backwards and, in between the two acts, there's a 15-second run of black and, in a theater of 2,000 people, you can hear a pin drop and the standing ovation afterwards was one thing, which I sort of would expect, but the quiet, profound silence and the darkness was unforgettable."
Despite its unique story-telling devices, the film -- in theaters Friday -- is a meditation on humanity, according to Lillard.
"It's a little weird and awkward, outside the box. There's so much Doom's Day talk [in reality]," he said. "Here's this movie that is this beautiful articulation of the wonder of life."
Because of his talent and sensibilities, Flanagan was a natural choice as a partner for Lillard's high-concept spirits company, which tells an ongoing story through 16 different product drops.
"Each bottle has the next chapter of the story," Lillard added. "The whole thing is not what do we sell to a community, but what do we bring to the idea of literary horror, combined with a really delicious, hand-selected Sotol. It's a love language to horror films."
Lillard said he and his partners asked Flanagan, who is sober, to be the first "voice of this brand," by writing a story that would be between 10,000 and 12,000 words.
"He ended up writing just over 80,000 words," the actor added.
Looking back on his career, Lillard said he is grateful that, for the past 30 years or so, he has been able to work consistently in projects he's proud of and that audiences of all ages let him know how much they enjoy.
"People have always rooted for me," he said.
"I feel like I've gotten a little bit of a comeback and it's really humbling and lovely to have that opportunity and I have been super-lucky," Lillard added. "I really thought I would end up doing Renaissance fairs for the rest of my life [when I was younger]. I really thought I would be the Green Knight at Medieval Times."