Along with delivering deliciously dark humour, gore, mayhem, and a reliably high body count, the terrifically entertaining Chucky the series—now in its third season on USA and SYFY—has been warming the hearts of horror fans with a tender queer romance at the heart of show. Zackary Arthur stars as Jake and Björgvin Arnarson stars as Devon, the teen heroes—and romantic couple—facing off the enduring menace that is Chucky (Brad Dourif), a Good Guy doll inhabited by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray, who was first introduced to audiences in the 1988 movie Child’s Play.
The first part of season three, which began airing last October and is now streaming on Peacock, saw the voodoo spell invoked by Chucky finally beginning to diminish, with the powerful spirit known as Damballa allowing the doll’s once eternally youthful body to rapidly age and decay. Desperate to impress Damballa before dying for good, Chucky managed to infiltrate the First Family and move into the White House, and of course, immediately began wreaking homicidal havoc. Meanwhile, the spirit of Chucky’s killer girlfriend Tiffany Valentine continues to inhabit the body of Bound star Jennifer Tilly (played by herself), who finds herself on death row in a high-security Texas prison. Back in Washington, D.C., Jake, Devon, and their best friend Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind), remain determined to see the end of Chucky and to take back their lives.
As Chucky returns to USA and SYFY for the final four episodes of the season from Wednesday, April 10th, the series’ creator Don Mancini speaks exclusively with The Queer Review’s editor James Kleinmann about his approach to Jake and Devon consummating their relationship after three years as a couple, how he wanted that scene to feel, the characters referencing Call Me By Your Name, why he chose to use “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood on the soundtrack, and casting John Waters as the creator of the Good Guy dolls.
James Kleinmann, The Queer Review: congratulations on season three, fans are in for a real treat with this second part of the season, which I absolutely loved. All three seasons of Chucky have been GLAAD Award nominated, particularly for the the Jake and Devon characters and that aspect of the show. How important is it to you to have these two queer characters at the centre of Chucky the series?
Don Mancini: “Well, I think it’s obviously important to me to have them at the centre of it and I think it’s gone so well. The actors are wonderful together. You’ve seen their scene in episode five. I was really happy with how it turned out because it was really important to all of us that it be joyful and fun. You just wanted it to be a dream version of one’s first time. That scene makes me smile. I think it’s a good thing to put out into the world.”
Me too, and it’s been a long time coming for the characters because they’ve struggled to find some time alone.
“Yeah, exactly. It took three years for them to get here, which seems about right.”
One of the things that makes it so fun is the Frankie Goes to Hollywood track “Relax” being used for the scene. How did the idea for that come about?
“It was actually the suggestion of our our sound mixer, Patrick Cyccone Jr. He suggested it last year when I was explaining to him what I was planning on doing for season three. Now of course, he knows that I’m a huge Brian De Palma fan and a huge Body Double fan, so he was choosing from within our wheelhouse. It was perfect because I love giving the whole scene an 80s vibe, and that’s probably just an homage to my own youth. It’s a great song for that activity!”
It’s nice a nice touch because we just had “The Power of Love” used in All of Us Strangers, so to have “Relax” used in this scene is great. Like you say, there’s also the film history of “Relax” being featured in Body Double too. I love all of the movie references that we get in different layers in Chucky, like Taxi Driver in the first part of the season and then there’s a very brief glimpse of Blade Runner in the season finale. The characters also reference popular culture too. How did it come about that Devon and Jake would quote Call Me By Your Name to each other, for instance, which is very sweet in this part of the season?
“Well, that movie came out in 2017, so it’s been in pop culture, and in the culture at large, for a while now. So I think logically and realistically—I know I didn’t just make this up—it is a touchstone for gay youth. It’s great that they have that. I thought that was one of the great things about that movie and we wanted to do something similar with our show. That’s always been our aim from when we started, to give gay teenage horror fans characters that they can identify with, which I would have loved to have had when I was a gay teenage horror fanatic growing up, but it just wasn’t done. So it’s great that the world has turned to accommodate that.”
Apart from Jake’s dad, who is unaccepting of him, Jake and Devon don’t really encounter much homophobia and they’re accepting of themselves. It’s really just Chucky that gets in the way of them having a nice romance. How intentional was that?
“It was very intentional. It was something that we dealt with in season one, as you said, with his dad and that’s obviously something that a lot of gay men can identify with. But then his father was out of the picture. It felt right to portray that in some aspect of his life, but then what was important to us was that we wanted to do it almost casually. Just like we have lots of TV shows where at the centre of it is a young teenage straight couple and they go through their puppy love, all of those steps that we’ve done on this show and always rated PG 13 really, but to do that casually with a young gay couple, I think it’s great that we’re able to do that now and I think it’s important to do it.”
And as Jake says, they’re the heroes too.
“He also says, ‘We’re the final girls! We’re Jamie Lee—motherfucking Oscar-winning—Curtis!'”
It was announced back in December that John Waters would be making an appearance in this part of season three. Why did you want to cast him and what was it like to see him take on the role as the creator of the original Good Guy dolls, Wendell Wilkins?
“Well, I had worked with John 20 years ago on Seed of Chucky, where he played a different role in that film. Working with John was obviously, especially for any gay filmmaker, a dream come true. We stayed in touch over the years. John is famous for his Christmas cards. Every year there’s some amazing thing in his Christmas cards. I had been aware, partly through his own statements, but also just stuff that would be out there in the press when he would do his Christmas shows for example, that he remained a fan of the character and was a fan of the show. When I found that out, I called him and said, ‘Well, do you want to come on?’ And he goes, ‘Fuck, yeah!’ He just seems, spiritually, the perfect vibe for the creator of the Good Guy dolls. A kind of dark Willy Wonka figure. Well, I guess Willy Wonka is already dark, but even darker.”
By James Kleinmann
The four-episode second part of season 3 of CHUCKY debuts Wednesdays on USA/SYFY at 9pm ET/PT from April 10th, 2024, and also streams on Peacock. Catch up on previous episodes of CHUCKY on Peacock now.
Follow Don Mancini on X @RealDonMancini and Instagram @RealDonMancini. And—if you dare—follow Chucky himself on X @ChuckyIsReal and on Instagram @ChuckyIsReal.