![[Article] The 5 Things We Learned At TCA's CHUCKY Panel](https://i0.wp.com/www.nightmarishconjurings.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/18052b49548042f7b0cb18693b5628a5.jpg?ssl=1)
In CHUCKY, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos after a vintage ‘Good Guy’ doll turns up at a suburban yard sale. Soon, everyone must grapple with a series of horrifying murders that begin to expose the town’s deep hypocrisies and hidden secrets. Meanwhile, friends and foes from Chucky’s past creep back into his world and threaten to expose the truth behind his mysterious origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster.
Recently, Nightmarish Conjurings took part in TCA’s (Television Critics Association) SYFY panel for the upcoming CHUCKY series. On hand to answer journalist’s questions were Creator/Showrunner/Executive Producer Don Mancini, Zackary Arthur (“Jake Webber”), Brad Dourif (Voice of “Chucky”), Devon Sawa (“Logan Wheeler”), and Jennifer Tilly (“Tiffany Valentine”). With that being said, here are the five major things we learned during the panel:
1) Exploring Charles Lee Ray’s Origins
“Exploring Charles Lee Ray’s origins has been something that the fans have wanted to see and have been asking for literally for decades now,” explained Don Mancini. “And one of the reasons I was excited about taking the franchise into the medium of television was because having so much storytelling real estate, eight hours of CHUCKY, that provided such a great opportunity for exploring that stuff, among other stuff. [O]ne of the things I was most excited about doing with the show was exploring Charles Lee Ray’s origin.”
2) There Will Be Blood
“We have a whole blood team on the movie,” Jennifer Tilly explained. “I’m telling you there’s a lot of people on this team, the ‘blood team.'”
“One of the things that was important to me, that we’d be able to retain all of the aspects of the franchise that the fans love, one of which is the gore, the other of which, of course, is Chucky’s propensity for dropping, F-bombs” laughed Mancini. “And the networks SYFY and USA, when we pitched the project, assured us that there would be no compromise in these departments.”
3) Bringing In Fresh Victims
“Listen, I have grown up with Chucky,” explained Devon Sawa. “When [CHUCKY] came across my desk to audition for it, it was a no-brainer. I jumped at it. Chucky’s a legend. Brad is a legend. You know, Chucky belongs on the Mount Rushmore of horror with Krueger and Jason.”
“When I was growing up, my parents had a lot of — they didn’t want me watching gory stuff when I was younger,” explained Zackary Arthur. “But I remember back in, like, elementary school, the kids who watched the Chucky movies, they were the cool kids. And I was like, ‘Man, I wish I was like that.’ And then when I found out that I was going to be auditioning for this… obviously Don Mancini, he’s the coolest man right there.”
4) No Ties to the 2019 Chucky Film
“This franchise was already in the works long before the remake. So, it did throw a crimp in things a little bit because we were kind of like, ‘Well, now, where do we belong in the Chucky universe?’ And apparently, the film was very good and very well reviewed,” remarked Tilly. “But the fans, I don’t know. Remember they came out with New Coke and everyone liked Coke Classic better, so they brought back the old Coke and now they call it Coke classic. I think this is a similar thing. I mean people, they love the original Chucky with the voice of Brad Dourif.”
5 )Anyone Can Come Back
“I never worry about dying because Don just — Tiffany dies every single movie and she just keeps coming back, and Chucky does too. It’s a magical movie,” laughed Tilly.
“We have a habit of bringing actors back in different roles from movie to movie. We were doing that before Ryan Murphy started doing that with the repertoire company he put together on ‘American Horror Story.’ So even if someone dies, they can come back in another role. I started doing that with Jennifer back in the ’90s.” explained Mancini.
“My worry was dying on the show because both my characters are giant assholes. But, yeah, you hope for the best death scene possible. But one of my guys could possibly go forward. I don’t know. We’ll see,” hinted Sawa.
The CHUCKY series will premiere on USA & SYFY on October 12 at 10 pm. Be on the lookout for more CHUCKY content coming soon!
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