Making movies can be an arduous process, which explains why you often hear about actors getting together on a set to blow off some steam. Sometimes folks just enjoy hanging out, others like to play games, and occasionally the tone or subject of a film can influence the entertainment. For example, I recently learned that the production of Lars Klevberg’s Child’s Play falls into that third category, as the stars of the horror flick regularly attempted to scare the hell out of their co-stars.
I had the chance to sit down with Child’s Play stars Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, and Brian Tyree Henry earlier this month during the movie’s Los Angeles press day, and I learned some great stuff when asking them about the atmosphere on the set. To borrow Henry’s phrasing, the ensemble acted like “jackasses” during filming, and Plaza and Bateman even had an escalating prank war. You can watch them all discuss it by clicking play on the video below.
Aubrey Plaza and Gabriel Bateman may play mother and son in Child’s Play, but their relationship on set was more like sister and brother. And while you might expect that it would be the younger of the two who initiated the back-and-forth scaring, Plaza admitted that the whole thing was really her fault.
It was the actress who made the first move by hiding in her co-star’s set transport van on the first day of set – apparently waking up at 5:00am in order to do so – and things got bigger from there. It got to the point where Aubrey Plaza was crawling under cars in an attempt to scare Bateman; and Bateman even got in trouble for locking Plaza in her trailer. But it was all in the name of fun, and it was clear that the two got along swimmingly during filming.
Being a big horror fan, Brian Tyree Henry had a blast on the Child’s Play set, and appreciated the opportunity to put a fun scare into some of his co-workers. As he explained, it was in a way his attempt to live in the moment given that you never know when an on set prop might start going on a murderous rampage:
It was fun because it brought that atmosphere up. At the end of the day, this doll could kill us all. Let's just scare the hell out of each other. Like we had to film during Halloween; I was like, 'This is perfect.' It was great.
Also starring Mark Hamill, Tim Matheson, David Lewis, Beatrice Kitsos, and Ty Consiglio, Child’s Play is a brand new take on the classic horror franchise - hybridizing Chucky, the killer doll, with modern smart-home technology - and it will be arriving in theaters everywhere this Friday, June 21st. Be now and next week be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interviews with the stars, as well as more of our coverage of the film.
