Brad Dourif Reveals How He Switched Up One Part of His Most Iconic Horror Role

Brad Dourif, the famous character actor of franchises like The Lord of the Rings, Deadwood and Child’s Play, opens up about playing one of the most iconic slasher killers of all time. Dourif has been providing the voice of Chucky, the killer doll in the Child’s Play series, for almost 40 years (except in the 2019 reboot, when Chucky was voiced by Mark Hamill). Few horror icons have as much personality as the tiny doll with an insane ability to use weapons, and it’s his voice that has become imprinted on popular culture. Fortunately, Dourif was able to come up with the right tone and accent by letting go and not thinking too much about it.

Dourif spoke to The Guardian during a career retrospective and recalled the highlights of his career. Despite being mostly recognized as the voice of Chucky, Dourif’s run as a character actor is impressive. His film debut in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and things took off from there. He had great performances in Eyes of Laura Mars, 1984’s Dune, Mississippi Burning, and The Exorcist III, among others.

Related

The Original Child’s Play Ending Was Even Darker Than What We Got

Child’s Play has become one of the most loved horror franchises of all time, but the original concept behind Chucky was darker than what fans got.

But yes, his participation in the Child’s Play series (and all the Chucky movies and the TV show that came afterward), remains his most prominent role in the entertainment industry. Although he played Charles Lee Ray, the original killer possessing Chucky, in physical form, at first he wasn’t supposed to voice the doll. Luckily, the director of the first Chucky film, Tom Holland, decided Dourif was the right fit to also play the killer in doll form. The actor took it very seriously and tried to come up with the proper accent, but then he realized the project was “camp sh-t,” and decided Chucky deserved a less serious tone:

“At first, I kind of worked on a Chicago accent, and then I thought, ‘You know what? This is camp sh-t. Don’t make this too real.’ So I just kind of let it go and let it happen. Chucky’s just this homicidal maniac who loves his job. That’s who he is. And he has a serious fear of oblivion, but beyond that there’s nothing serious about him.”

Dourif on Meeting David Lynch: “He Had a Childlike Enthusiasm and This Genius Mind”

New Line Cinema

During the interview, Dourif also reminisced about his time working with surrealism visionary David Lynch. In 1986, he had a very minor role in the thriller Blue Velvet, but before that, he had played Piter De Vries in Lynch’s underrated version of Dune. Dourif recalled Lynch’s insistence on trying to convince Jürgen Prochnow to get surgery in order to put a tube through his cheek to add realism to practical effects. The actor says that it was a producer who dropped Lynch’s idea:

“He was a mad genius and one of the most delightful people you could ever be around. I was inspired by the way he saw things. He directed actors like a painter’s strokes. He had a kind of innocence and extraordinarily detailed vision, like nobody I ever worked with.

“He just looked at me and said, ‘Brad, how do you feel about actors having surgery?’ I said, ‘I’m fine with it – as long as it’s not on me.’ Lynch is like a schoolkid sitting next to [producer] Raffaella De Laurentiis, and he goes: ‘Why not? Why not?’’And she goes, ‘No, no, it’s not going to happen – forget it.’ He had a childlike enthusiasm and this genius mind.”

Source: The Guardian

You can view the original article HERE.