Matthew Lillard has a small role in Mike Flanagan’s upcoming Stephen King adaption The Life of Chuck – and while we still don’t know too much about it, Lillard says the film is what the world needs right now.
“I play the most rudimentary man ever named Gus. And he’s beautiful,” Lillard tells GamesRadar+. “I think he’s funny. I think that the movie opened at Toronto International Film Festival. I had never seen it with a big audience. I’d seen it in a small screening room. We were, I think, all surprised that people were laughing a lot.
“And along comes my character, and the thing I love about my character is that he packs a whole fistful of humanity in a little 5-minute scene and it’s work that I’m really proud of. But on top of it, I think it really shifts the movie into in an emotional place. And so I’m excited for people to get to see Gus and live through that movie because I think the movie is sort of what the world needs in a lot of ways right now.”
The upcoming drama – which veers off the path from a traditional King horror – is directed by Flanagan, who adapted the novella of the same name from Stephen King’s 2020 collection If It Bleeds.
The cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange) as a school teacher trying to apply logic to the planet’s troubles; Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Chuck’s ex who is a hospital worker determined to save everyone she can; Carl Lumbly (Alias) as a funeral director who has dedicated his life to easing people through death; with Mark Hamill and Mia Sara (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) as the grandparents who raised Chuck as a boy. Lillard’s Gus is a construction worker neighbor who finds zen amid the chaos.
Lillard continues: “You know, [Mike] and I are buddies. A mutual friend introduced us. We had, like, a traditional sort of Hollywood lunch that went on for 3 hours. You know, that doesn’t happen. And we just got along really well. I feel like both of us came at this because we’re outcasts. In the way that we are more interested in being in the fellowship of other creatives than we are about being successful or famous or whatever.
“When I did Life of Chuck, he called up and said, I want you to consider this part. And I’m like, I would do it. I just wanna be in your world. Um, and that started. And within that, you know, I find familiar spirits.”
The Life of Chuck made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, but does not yet have a distribution date. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond, or skip right to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.
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