Matthew Lillard's Heartwarming Encounter on the Set of The Life of Chuck: A Potential New Addition to Flanagan's Horror Family

The Life of Chuck: A New Chapter in the Flanagan Universe

Kate Siegel, frequent collaborator and wife of horror director Mike Flanagan, has recounted her heartwarming encounter with Matthew Lillard on the director’s latest Stephen King adaptation, The Life of Chuck. Based on the short story of the same name featured in King’s 2020 collection If It Bleeds, The Life of Chuck marks Flanagan’s third attempt at adapting King’s work for the screen following 2017’s Gerald's Game and 2020’s The Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep. Featuring an all-star cast, Lillard will join the likes of The Fall of the House of Usher’s Mark Hamill and Marvel stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, David Dastmalchian, and Karen Gillan.

Matthew Lillard looking over his shoulder in Scream

While speaking with Collider, Siegel talked about her time filming Flanagan’s latest project and shared details about her first behind-the-scenes encounter with Lillard while on location in Alabama. Describing the actor as “joyful, kind, [and] talented beyond belief”, Siegel explained that the Five Nights at Freddy’s star was a perfect fit for Flanagan’s ever-growing list of frequent collaborators she dubs the “FlanaFam.”

What a human being… We were all in Alabama, and it happened to be a particular day where there was a huge amount of FlanaFam around, people who went all the way back to [The Haunting of] Hill House. We were all hanging out at the hotel where we lived when we shot Hush, me and Sam Sloyan, and we knew Lillard was in town because he was working next week, and he walked into the bar where Sam and I were sitting.

Sam was like, ‘Is that Matthew Lillard?’ And I was like, ‘I think that’s Matthew Lillard.’ I was like, ‘What do we do?’ And she was like, ‘Say something!’ I was like, ‘I can’t say something!’ ‘Say something.’ So I go, ‘Matthew Lillard!’ And he looks at me, like ready to sign an autograph or something like that [laughs], and I just go ‘I’m Kate Flanagan. I’m Mike’s wife!’ From that moment, he was like, ‘Oh my god, hi!’ We invited him to dinner, and it was like he’d been there all along - joyful, kind, talented beyond belief, elevates every room he’s in. It felt like he had been part of our family the whole time, we just didn’t know.

Could Matthew Lillard Be The Next Recurring Addition to Flanagan’s Horror Family?

While Lillard may be best known for his tenure as Shaggy Rogers in the live-action Scooby-Doo movies, a role that he continues to voice in the ongoing franchise’s animated movies, he is no stranger to the horror genre. Between serving as one of the original Ghostface killers in 1996’s Scream, appearing in the 2000 remake of the supernatural horror classic Thirteen Ghosts, and taking on the role of the villainous William Afton in Five Nights at Freddy’s, Lillard boasts an impressive resume when it comes to starring in horror movies.

Between his unique and charismatic onscreen presence, and a well-earned reputation for kindness behind-the-scenes, Siegel’s latest testimony may hint that the actor could potentially show up in some of Flanagan’s future projects as well. Well known for frequently drawing on a pool of his favorite performers, Flanagan’s work has increasingly become inseparable from the growing company of actors that comprise his famed “FlanaFam”. With actors like Siegel, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, and T'Nia Miller already repeatedly benefiting from their association with the director, Lillard may also see himself tapped by the director for many more years to come.

With Flanagan also looking to reboot King’s The Dark Tower novels as a new television series spanning multiple seasons, there will likely be plenty of potential opportunities for Lillard to join the director for another outing. Hopefully, Lillard’s role in The Life of Chuck will just be the start of a fruitful creative partnership with the acclaimed director that will help to further cement his triumphant return to the horror genre.