Emjay Anthony, Chiara Aurelia, and Kezii Curtis are a trio of rising stars in Hollywood, and currently they star as Dylan, Jordy and Spud in the new Peacock series, Hysteria! And we recently sat down with all of them to dicuss their magnificent new show!
 
John Betancourt:  I'd love to start by getting to know what it was that attracted you as actors to this particular project.
 
Emjay Anthony: Well, John, one of the things that really, you know, drew me to this role was just the 80s, you know, it’s such an iconic time period. You look a little too young to have been there, but it was, I hear it was really cool, you know, the music and the clothes and everything about it's just so iconic. So, we're very blessed to be able to experience that.
 
Chiara Aurelia: I think there were such multi-dimensional characters, and the show was really exciting, and it covered a lot of different genres. Also, it totally kept me on the edge of my seat when I was reading it. So, I hope that it will do the same for the audience that's watching it.
 
Kezii Curtis: I hope the audience is like properly restrained for the you know, internal dialogue roller coaster that every character goes on throughout the season. I think it's one of the most exciting parts about the script that drew me to it. But I really think after seeing it, and we all like doing our job it, the proof is in the pudding. I think is a really good show.
 
John Betancourt: Fun fact. I am indeed old enough, because I grew up in the 80s, and that's what I appreciated most about all your performances. They feel like people that I knew back then, when I was a young lad. And I'm curious how each of you as actors sold that authenticity, because you really tapped into the, just the zeitgeist of the era.
 
Emjay Anthony: Thank you. I love the 80s, you know, like the music and stuff, and it's just, like I said, so iconic. So, it was definitely, I feel like, I don't want to say easy for me, but like I said, I did know a lot about the 80s, so it wasn't too hard of a transition to kind of go into that. One of the main things was just not saying, like, some slang words, you know, or, like, we weren't allowed to give fist bumps, you know, because apparently, there's no fist bumps in the 80s. Just like a couple of little things like that were a little, uh, tricky, yeah, definitely.
 
Chiara Aurelia: I think that there was a -- we wanted to, you know, keep the 80s core alive. And I think there's so much nostalgia about the 80s, and watching movies from the 80s, and listening to music, it kind of transports you to a different time. We were hoping that our show could do the same. So, I think we all made sure to do our research as much as we possibly could to make sure that we were authentically representing 1989.
 
Kezii Curtis: Yeah, they pretty much nailed it on the head there. It was all just it was an excuse for me, because given I also love the 80s, just like if I saw a movie reference, I thought was funny, I'd be like, “Did that make sense for the time that the show takes place in?” So, it was just really cool to build a database and actually like… use it.
 
John Betancourt: I'm actually kind of curious too, because, I mean, you've all spoken about how nostalgic time it is, and how much, how much you admire in that respect. Why do you each think that this the 80s and, like, the style of 80s horror movies resonate so well with audiences now?
 
Emjay Anthony: I think probably because it was, they were the first people to do it, you know, like at that time, it hadn't really been done before, you know. So, it kind of set the precedent for, you know, nowadays, and we're still kind of copying a lot of, you know, greatness from that era.
 
Chiara Aurelia: I think that there's a lot of nostalgia that lives in all of us in terms of our memories. And I think that it's nice to be able to give people a bit of a teleportation device to remind them of a feeling that they experienced at a different time in their life. And I think that film and movies hopefully are capturing an experience or a feeling, and you can go back, and you can rewatch them and relisten to certain music, and it kind of helps you close your eyes and remember what it felt like to be 16 years old. So, I think that we're hopefully remaking things and making new content today that's providing that same like, nostalgic je ne sais quoi, and hopefully it's just, you know, pulling audiences in and getting them really excited and also making people feel something.
 
Kezii Curtis: I think, hopefully, that's the goal of movie magic to piggyback off what Chiara said. You know, our job as actors is to make the show or the movie real, and that was all we planned to do. And bringing this authenticity of a time that is so beloved in so many people's hearts, it would be a disservice to do it wrong.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for each of you today, if you had to describe this series in a single word, what would that word be?
 
Emjay Anthony: It's two words, must watch.
 
Chiara Aurelia: Wait, I have to think of a good one. Hold on.
 
Emjay Anthony: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?
 
Chiara Aurelia: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
 
Kezii Curtis: Great word. I’m gonna go with… insanity.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Matthew Scott Kane and David A. Goodman are a pair of highly accomplished writers and producers. Currently they serve as the co-showrunners of the new Peacock series, Hysteria!, and we sat down with both of them to discuss this delightful new show.
 
John Betancourt: I'd love to start by learning how each of you were inspired to bring this beautiful homage to the 80s to life.
 
Matthew Scott Kane: Well, it started in the present day. I think when I was writing this back in 2019, I had a general kind of anxiety that I think a lot of people shared, that maybe we were moving into something of like a post factual age where anyone could say anything, and it could make the rounds and completely reshape everyone else's reality. That didn't sit well with me that made me very stressed out and anxious, and so I looked back through history, and lo and behold, this is this exact same thing is happening in the 80s with Satanic Panic. It's a lot more fun to write a TV show about heavy metal horror movies and John Hughes sort of stuff than it is to talk about the present day. So that's what brought us back to this world. And of course, paying homage to the kind of the films that were clearly so inspirational towards the series.
 
David A. Goodman: Well, Matt created the show. I came to the show after he had written this pilot, and I read the pilot, and he found me after seeing a movie I'd done called Honor Society, which was high school movie, and I read the script, and I thought it was one of the best pilot scripts I've ever read, because it had all these things in it. And it really got to a truth about relationships between teenagers and their parents. Here you have this teenager making some really bad decisions, and, and, and then you also have grown-ups making really bad decisions, and it really talks about the fear in that relationship. And I really connected to it, and it's been a great fun partnership for me to do the show with Matt.
 
John Betancourt: I do love that there is a lot of depth to this particular show, and yes, a lot of those parallels. And I'm curious, because there's, there's so many wonderful messages and so many different layers to it, what you hope audiences’ kind of take away as a lesson when they've had a chance to sit through this series.
 
Matthew Scott Kane: You know, I think it's for me as it's as simple as, kids, try to imagine what it feels like to be a parent. Parents, try to remember what it feels like to be a kid. I think so much of the fear on either sides of this story could be alleviated by one or the other doing just that.
 
John Betancourt: There's also so much fun here, because this was just a walk down memory lane of what I have on my shelf. And I'm curious what you enjoyed the most about going into to the 80s and kind of recreating and paying homage to all this wonderful 80s horror.
 
Matthew Scott Kane: Well, I mean, I to be honest, I was born in the 90s. I was born in 1990, so I never actually lived through any of this stuff. I just happened to have a father who didn't sell off his VHS collection, and, you know, passed them on to me. So, I was able to pick up a lot of that kind of stuff when some other kid is watching Bluey these days, back then, I would have been watching and rewatching taped episodes of Tales from the Crypt, or Tim Burton's Batman or something like that. So, I'm a 90s kid, but I still have so much of that 80s spirit, and especially when I was coming up in high school and really getting into filmmaking. You know, I think two of the most important films of my lifetime, when I was young, were The Evil Dead and Re-Animator, one taught me that I really want to make films, and the other taught me I really want to write screenplays. You know, with Sam Raimi… he is just the craziest director of all time. And then I felt like the script for Re-Animator was really something else and got me into horror writing in general. Honestly.
 
David A. Goodman: I am a huge fan of Sam Raimi as well. I mean, I think to me that was such a gift when, when Bruce (Campbell) agreed to do the show, and I got to briefly work with Sam many years ago, and it was a gift to get to do something with him. But I also, I also got to work with Jeffrey Combs, who's on our show. And Jeff had been on the Star Trek that I was on, like a myriad of characters. And so, to me, it's always like getting to work with sort of your idols, people whose work you admire, Julie Bowen and Anna Camp and Barbara Crampton and all these icons are in our show that's so exciting.
 
John Betancourt: In general, what are each of you most excited for audiences to be able to settle in and enjoy when this when the show airs?
 
Matthew Scott Kane: You know, I I'm excited to for everyone to see the different sides of these performers that you've come to know and come to understand. And I don't think people are going to be expecting what they get from any of them, from Bruce, from Anna, from Julie, I think this is not Claire Dunphy. This is not a kind of, you know, bubbly, funny character that Anna's typically played in her career. This is someone that goes to really dark places, and she does it beautifully. And I also don't think anyone would picture Bruce Campbell as being the voice of reason in a small town trying to tie it together. You know, we didn't want Ash Williams to be out there trying to be the Sheriff of the town, because that's not someone that I think the locals are going to follow. But Chief Dandridge, we think would lock Ash Williams up for a good long time. So, I'm just excited to see everyone see different sides of these incredible actors I love.
 
David A. Goodman: I think for me, again, having along the lines of what Matt's saying, even further, it's always an exciting moment, if, when the audience connects with your show and see the things that you intended, and then a million things you didn't. And that conversation that happens through social media, about how people feel about your show is always exciting, even --- it can be frustrating, but it also is usually very exciting, especially if it’s a show, they like seeing. And I hope people are excited by this show, or as excited as I am, I think it's a great show, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the audience's reaction and seeing what they bring to it.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

This week’s episode of The Anonymous on USA Network saw fan favorite Dillian Frelow exit the show after Christopher landed the prestigious title of The Anonymous. But not before wowing the group with his incredible strategy and not before giving us one last one runway walk, and to properly bid Dillian farewell, we sat down with him to discuss his time on the show.
 
John Betancourt:  I'd love to start by getting to know, how did you get involved with the show? Because you guys have such a cool, diverse group of competitors.
 
Dillian Frelow: Well, you know, if you ever go to my Instagram page, you'll see me in all different types of fashion and craziness. So, I think that attracted a couple of people, and they wanted me on the show. So, I said, “Oooh. I’ll go ahead and give this a shot.” You know, at first, I thought it was, I thought it was the recruitment call for America's Next Top Model. But it wasn't. It was The Anonymous.
 
John Betancourt: Well, that actually takes me right to my next question. We gotta talk about the outfits. Because you were pretty much, no, there's no, pretty much, you are the most fashionable contestant on this show. No two ways about it, and I have to know what went into the decision to not only express your exuberant personality, but those amazing outfits, because they're on point.
 
Dillian Frelow: Let me tell you, I love fashion, it’s my passion. And so, I think I always say, if you look good, you feel good, you do good. And what that means is that if you really like put it on and you feel yourself, it's like your armor, that like you're going out for the day. So, you know, every day in the house, baby, I thought that baby, they was threatening to come and try to take me out, so I put on my armor and be prepared for them. And my fashion was that for me.
 
John Betancourt: Now you made it super far, which is great, and you're obviously your strategy has worked. And I'm curious what inspired the interesting strategy of being so exuberant in the house but so stealthy in the chat.
 
Dillian Frelow: Well, I wanted to make sure that those two worlds that we were playing in were vastly different from one another. That's the way that you can become the most Anonymous. So, I knew that in the chat I had to kind of take it down a bit. But I also knew that in real life, I have to throw out so many different things out there, so they never know. They can tie my name to so many different things in the chat. So, if someone is being super extra, people will be like, “Oh my God, that's Dillian in the chat.” They will automatically go with the first thing, because they'll probably think that I felt the way I act is the way I'm playing the game. So, I knew that, but I also wanted to make sure that, you know, in just the way I approach life is just being a real human being that have emotions, that cry, that laugh, that dance. You know, there's a lot of things in this world, in life that can sometimes be short. So, I just like, I have to live it. I have to live it fully. And so that's what my approach was in the house. And I was like, also saying, like, it's a social aspect of it too. So, I know I have to be socially acceptable and fun and crazy and a person that someone can turn to whenever things are getting down and negative. I work in employee engagement, and I'm literally, like, a professional best friend. So going into the house. I was like, I have to make sure that all these people in the house are my best friend, and that's what I tried to do.
 
John Betancourt: Now you bring up another good point that I did want to talk about today, so that's perfect timing. But it was obvious, as the season has come along, that such pressure just started to wear a little bit on you. You started to have to change your strategies, do some things differently, you took some heat for “not doing enough.” How tough was it then to have the wear and tear of people coming at you?
 
Dillian Frelow: I mean, hearing negative things said about or are seeing things that wasn't always in your favor, hurt. Like, you know, I'm human at the end of the day, like, you know, we're not robots. We actually have emotions. We have feelings. And so, some days, like, you know, I wear my emotions on my sleeve. So, if the day that I feel like it was being fake, I might just go off on you, like, you know, like I really am just that person that I'm going to say what's on my mind, I'm going to tell you how I feel, because I'm not going to smother my emotions to benefit you and your game. I have to make sure that I am sanely okay throughout the whole time, and I have to make sure that I live with no regrets. And so, by doing so, is by saying what I want, doing what I want, twerking, shouting, screaming, walking down the runway, giving my look to someone in the pool, baby. (Laughter)
 
John Betancourt: It’s also amazing we didn’t see this until the last couple of episodes.
 
Dillian Frelow: It really got to me because I felt like, you know, sometimes people try to put a narrative on you, and I think that, like they were trying to tell me the emotion that they thought that I was feeling, and I wasn't feeling that. For example, whenever we had the challenge and you know, like, I got put off to the side. I was happy that we actually still won the challenge, but to have Christopher come up to me and be like, “Oh, I bet you're sad, huh? You're so sad.” I'm like, “I'm not really sad. I'm kind of happy that we won the challenge. I'm sad a little bit that I didn't get safety,” but overall, I'm okay because we added money to the pot. So, it's just like. Like those narratives and those false narratives, to try to make a storyline, was trying to, like, really irk my nerves, and then I've just seen a lot of fake energy, and I just don't do well in those situations. I'm huge about being real, being authentic. And this is a game of deceit, and I get it, but sometimes people just went a little bit too far. And I'm just like, don't make me have to go off on you again.
 
John Betancourt: Now, obviously, um, there were tears at the end and obviously you gave us the gift of that final runway walk, which was epic, but how tough was it to say goodbye?
 
Dillian Frelow: I mean, those people in that house became my best friend. We spent every single day with one another, so it’s just like a big old family. You know, sometimes you fight, you bicker, you argue with your family, but at the end of the day, we're all working towards to better ourselves. And I was just, I got emotional a little bit because I realized that it wasn't the end of like the game that really got to me, but it was the end of us living together with no phones and no electronics, no outside, like, news from the world, but just us living and I think that was just so beautiful. And I just I miss that, you know, but I'm so grateful that they have now become our family. We've taken trips and are seeing each other. I've seen almost everyone on – the exception is Xavier and Robbi. I think those are the last – and Sydney. Those last three I need to see. But we're a big family, and… it's cutthroat at times, because you have all of these amazing personalities.
 
John Betancourt: Now I have to ask this question too. Is there anything you would have done differently from a strategy standpoint?
 
Dillian Frelow: Like I said, I live life with no regrets. I would not change one thing. I had a blast. I had the best time of my life, and I played it my hardest. So, I wouldn't change one thing. I'm excited for the future.
 
John Betancourt: Now I am firm believer that new experiences teach us so much about ourselves. I’m curious what you learned about yourself in doing this, you didn’t know before.
 
Dillian Frelow: I have learned that, you know, they say this is the ultimate game of trust and deceit, but it's, I mean, I've learned how to really trust myself, like I put myself on the chopping block. Me. Why would I do that!? But I did it because I wanted to become The Anonymous. So, this game puts your trust of yourself at the front of it, and so it’s not about trusting your castmates or trusting what they're going to do. It's about trusting yourself to know what's right and to follow that gut instinct.
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean to you, then to be essentially a pioneer, because you're now one of the first cast members of a brand-new show that's so dynamic and so unique.
 
Dillian Frelow: I mean, it carried a lot of impact. I'm so happy that I was able to go up there and show the world who Dillian is. I like to call myself like a “human confetti.” If you think about a confetti can and when you pop up, sometimes you're willing to pop up, but you sprinkle that joy everywhere you go. And that's my ultimate goal, is just to sprinkle little bits and joy and happiness everywhere I walk. And I did it. I did that. I felt that, and I know that I had one of the most amazing experiences. But most importantly, I was able to do it as me. I was able to show up and be in a domain and live as Dillian.
 
John Betancourt: Last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to your time on the show?
 
Dillian Frelow: The most proud thing I am is being quiet for that long. Y’all know me! I'm loud as hell, but that is me being able to stay quiet for that long. I surprised myself. (Laughter from Dillian and John)
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
​

Emilie Bierre and Caleb Dolden are a pair of rising stars in the business, and currently they star as Meryl and Arlo Chenowith in the new Peacock series, Teacup, and we recently sat down with them to discuss their roles in this amazing new show!
 
John Betancourt:  I'm curious to learn what attracted both of you as actors to be a part of this incredible show.
 
Emilie Bierre: Yeah, it was. It was pretty instantly, honestly, as soon as I heard about the project, and I got the first script for the audition process. I was just amazed by the world that Ian McCulloch had created and the depth of each and every character that he had wrote. Um, especially for, you know, for my character. Personally, I love it when people write kids the right way and when they have their own storyline and they're complex, and not just the kids. So, I really, really just fell in love with that. And I loved how, you know, how, yeah, how multifaceted she was as a young girl who is, you know, still growing, still learning, but suddenly has to grow up really, really quickly to handle the situation. So that really drew me to the project really, really quickly.
 
Caleb Dolden: Well, something that drew me to the project was how the world Ian created and who Arlo was. He was just a regular nine-year-old boy, and I can see myself in Arlo. And so that drew me to the character. And then another thing that drew me to this, the want to be in this, is like how much depth was in every character.
 
John Betancourt: I do want to talk a little bit about that depth too, because it's always a treat to talk to actors and learn about their process. And I'm very curious, because every scare in this story, or every bit of fear that your characters show, and obviously Caleb, the wild stuff that happens to Arlo in this show, you guys sell it with a crazy realism. And I'm curious how each of you made that work so well.
 
Emilie Bierre: I think it's all about trusting the people that you're working with, you know, trusting the writing of it all, and because all of it was really on the page, and then it's our job is just to make those people feel real and authentic. So, you know, when you when you get to know your character, when you've prepped for it, for it, you just have to let go and just be in the moment. And we had just an incredible team of people that made that really, really easy. And it, you know, feel organic too, like we were, in the woods together. I just truly felt like you were my little brother, and we were just living those crazy moments. So, yeah, it's just about like prepping, letting go and letting the magic happen.
 
Caleb Dolden: I guess for me, my preparation was, yeah, pretty much like Emilie's, like doing what you have to do to get to that place, for me, and then just letting go and giving it everything you have and trusting your scene partners. For me, that's true.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously, this is a very ambitious show, very big show, a lot of amazing moments. I don't want to spoil anything, but what are each of you most excited for audiences to experience when they get a chance to watch this very scary show.
 
Emilie Bierre: I think, well, the whole thing… we go really far, you know, with it, it starts off just presenting the characters, establishing things, but then as soon as you get past the first few episodes, you know, it just becomes bigger and bigger and more and more intense. So, yeah, I'm so excited for people to kind of join us on this Teacup ride and hopefully enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it. We had so many great challenges throughout all of it. And, yeah, it was, it was intense, but it was… we had a blast. We really did.
 
Caleb Dolden: Yeah, pretty much it was intense. We had a blast. And what I'm excited for people to see is, like the depth the show, and like the whole show, like how deep the show goes.
 
Emilie Bierre: Yeah, I think there's something for everyone too, you know. And there's… as much as you'll get those genre elements, you will have that family drama, and it keeps it all very grounded and very relatable.
 
John Betancourt: I absolutely agree. The last question that I have for you, if you had one word to describe this show, what would that word be?
 
Caleb Dolden: I'll go first, suspenseful. Probably.
 
Emilie Bierre: I really like disorienting.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Chaske Spencer and Rob Morgan are a pair of accomplished actors that have appeared in some massive franchises, such as The Twilight Saga and Stranger Things. Currently they play Ruben Shanley and McNab in the new Peacock series, Teacup, and we sat down with both of them to discuss their work in this epic new series.
​
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what attracted you to this project, as actors.
 
Rob Morgan: Oh man. Ian McCulloch, great personality, great energy, great vibe. James Wan’s name at the top of it, Peacock investing, as they do, in quality material, and the journey of my character, McNab, I thought it would be something fun and refreshing for me to play.
 
Chaseke Spencer: Same thing as Rob said, Ian pitched the idea and the character, and I was just hooked right then and there. But like he said, It's the writing, it's all that stuff, then you want to be a part of something special like this.
 
John Betancourt: I think what I one of the things that I appreciate most is actually all of your work, because it sells a lot of the raw terror in this series. And I'm curious, as actors, how you manage to sell it honestly so well. Because you tapped into something very special.
 
Chaske Spencer: It's the directors, it's Ian. It's also working with actors, working with Rob, Scott (Speedman) everybody, everybody, the kids, everybody. And you know, when you have material like this, you want to bring your A game, and when you're surrounded by actors who bring that to your level, you know you want to rise to the challenge, and also just to play along.
 
Rob Morgan: You know, one of the things you do is you erase your ego about you and your ideas and thoughts, and then really focus on giving truth to your character's voice. And as long as you do that honestly, everything else falls in line. You don't go there thinking, “Oh, I'm playing horror, I'm playing comedy,” I'm just playing real life shit. And that's what comes across when you see the project.
 
John Betancourt: I love how it is a very ambitious project. I love the fact that it goes so hard with the horror. And I'm just curious, since there's so many amazing moments and so many amazing ideas in here, what are you most excited for audiences to experience or take away from this when they watch it?
 
Chaske Spencer: I hope, they look at the humanity of it, yeah. I hope they walk away with these characters, the human aspect of it.
 
Rob Morgan: Yeah. I'm fortunate that those brilliant ideas and things you just alluded to are what's given to me. Like they say, “Hey, Rob, we got this brilliant script written. All you gotta do is come and play it. Come up with all these creatives.” All you just gotta do is fall in line and play. Thankfully, that's all I had to do. They came up with the brilliant ideas and the creativity. And then, you know, trusted us with the scripts. And then the directors. You know, we had various directors for various episodes. They had their own unique spins and ways of coaching or directing us.
 
John Betancourt: I’m also curious what you each enjoyed the most, working on this project.
 
Chaske Spencer: Working with the cast, yeah, working with all the cast and the crew, everyone, but I'd say the cast.
 
Rob Morgan: Working with the cast and catering. (Laughter from everyone.) Catering was tasty. Yeah, I said, damn, put more money in the food than me. Like all this good food? Yeah, the food was, I know that's something, that was good food on that set, man. (More laughter)
 
John Betancourt: Let’s dig a little deeper into it as well. Because I always find that horror tends to have a little bit of depth to it, and I’m curious if there is there a particular message that you kind of hope the audience takes away from this piece.
 
Rob Morgan: I hope, if anything they take away is that we're stronger together than apart.
 
Chaske Spencer: Exactly what Rob said.
 
John Betancourt: What are you each most proud of when it comes to your work in this season.
 
Rob Morgan: I haven't even seen it yet, just hearing, I think I'm most proud of Episode Five, because I haven't seen anything, but people literally stopped me and telling me how good episode five is.
 
Chaske Spencer: I'm just, I just love hearing yours and everyone’s reaction, that you all think it's a good show. And I just, I love that, so thank you.
 
John Betancourt: You’re welcome. It’s such a blast. The last question that I have you gentlemen today, if you had one word to describe this series, what would that word be?
 
Rob Morgan: Mind-bending.
 
Chaske Spencer: Psychological.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Yvonne Strahovski & Scott Speedman are a pair of accomplished actors that have appeared in some iconic franchises in their career. Currently, they star as Maggie and James Chenowith in the new Peacock series, Teacup, and we here at NTG had the distinct honor of sitting down with both of them to discuss their new series.
 
John Betancourt: First and foremost, I would love to know, what it was that attracted each of you to be a part of this series.
 
Yvonne Strahovski: This is not your typical horror series. I think that's definitely what attracted me to it, is that has an amazingly strong emotional arc. There's this huge family storyline. It's certainly how I leaned into it as an actor, and it really was an incredible challenge to perform some of these scenes that we had to do at the end of the show, which is always a bonus. That's always what I'm looking for, for projects that I'm a part of.
 
Scott Speedman: Yeah, for me, honestly, very similar. I, you know, I'd heard Ian was doing the showrunner/writer role, was doing something in this genre space or whatever, and I knew his writing from other things. So, I was very excited to see what he'd do in that world. And look, I mean, for lack of a better way to say it, it was just really good, I mean, and what made it good was there was this whole world that he created with this family on this isolated farm. I just really felt immediately invested in those people. And I thought, wow, these scenes leading up to this crazy circumstances that are coming down the pike, these scenes alone are going to be really fun to do. And if that's fun for me, I just, I just thought, wow, an audience is really going to go on the ride with us. And I knew Yvonne was doing the show, and that was really exciting to me. Once I knew Yvonne was doing the show with that character and what we had to do together, I was excited, because I really had a feeling we'd work well together, and that was true. So, all those elements really came together for us.
 
John Betancourt: I'm curious kind of what you hope, from a messaging standpoint, the audience takes away when they've had a chance to digest all the horror that they got here.
 
Scott Speedman: Yeah, you know, for me, I don't have a really good answer for you, because I don't know if that's how I, maybe Yvonne is the same way as how I look at pieces, especially like this, what I want them to take away is not so much a message, is if we were able to have them go on the ride with this family. And, you know, we start this story in a really fraught place with me and Yvonne as our family is crumbling, and the kids don't know yet, our marriage is crumbling, and through the series, I'm hoping they come on the ride with this meeting. I hope they, you know, fall in love with the family, and I think a lot of people are going to tune into a horror show and see what that is. But by the end, I mean, what blows my mind is how emotional these scripts got and how challenged both of us were as actors and as parents, doing these scenes we got going here towards the end of the show, so I hope that they find a measure of depth they weren't expecting, and I think that's really what's going to be a good jumping off point for hopefully seasons to come. So messaging, I'm not sure, it's a good question for Ian, but I don't know.
 
Yvonne Strahovski: I mean, I think echo what you say, you put it so beautifully, is to come on that emotional ride with us, and hopefully we've done our jobs well, and they do. And it's really unexpected, because, yeah, I agree. It's incredibly unexpected how emotional and complex it is at the end, and with the setup we have, with this rocky marriage that we enter into it really makes for a complex ending, given what we have to do at the end of this show. So yeah, I just hope people are really, really invested in it in a way that they never thought they would be.
 
John Betancourt: No, I appreciate that candor, and that you really want everyone to go on a ride. The last question that I have for each of you today, because you both turn in some amazing work over the course of this of the season. What are you each most proud of when it comes to your work on this?
 
Yvonne Strahovski: I mean, I'd say, I'd say, probably the ending… it's really challenging. I remember reading it and thinking, gosh, I always get really excited when I think, wow, how are, how am I going to pull this off? That's always a really good indicator that that it has the potential to be really gripping and fun. So, it provides such a fun challenge of sort of puzzle piecing, this emotional melody in this arc of how we going to keep the audience in in our world, and how the whole thing is going to pay off in a really great way at the end.
 
Scott Speedman: I mean, not to beat a dead horse here, but yeah, just the challenges for me were not only what we had to do physically, but just how emotional things got towards the end. And you know, by that point on the shooting, we were getting closer and closer as actors, with the whole family, with Emilie and Caleb as well. And you know, it had a summer camp vibe, and we were able to go to work. And you know, you were doing crazy stuff the day before, and crazy stuff that day, and it was just this onslaught of just craziness, which was really, really, really challenging, exhausting, but honestly, really fun. And I think at this point in my career, at least I'm most excited that, you know, I'm excited for people to actually see it. A lot of times you're doing stuff that you’re involved in, but you know, we'll see how it goes. I really think with this thing, this could be really cool, and I think people are really going to like it, so I'm excited for people to check it out.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Ian McCulloch is an accomplished writer and producer that has worked on such shows as Chicago Fire and Yellowstone. Currently he serves as the Showrunner/Executive Producer of the new Peacock series, Teacup, and we had the honor of sitting down with Ian to discuss his new show.
 
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what inspired you to create this absolutely chilling series.
 
Ian McCulloch: Well, James Wan and his company Atomic Monster came to me with the book, and I read the book, and they said, “How would you feel about adapting it?” And I said, “I'd love to, but what I'd like to do is I'd like to turn it on its head. I like to take everything that’s big, make it small. Like to take lots of characters and make it very few characters.” And I wanted to do something where, where we really dug deep into the horror of isolation and not knowing who to trust. And that's what excited me about it, the core ideas from the book, and taking those and really running with them.
 
John Betancourt: I do want to dive deep into a lot of the creation process today, because I was very impressed with that isolation, because you definitely have some George Romero, Night of the Living Dead vibes there that I love. But what stunned me was just the sheer sense of dread that just hangs over every single episode, that only obviously gets worse as the series progresses. But I'm curious what inspired the decision to go so hard on the terror aspect of it, because horror sometimes pulls back. You did not.
 
Ian McCulloch: Yeah, what I wanted to do was, you know, save our moments. And then when horrific things happen, they're more affecting and effective when you've held back for a little while. And then, so it's not just jump scare after jump scare after you close the refrigerator door, there's somebody behind it, etc, etc. It's much more effective when you lead up to it with what you were talking about, that sense of tension and dread, raises, raises, raises, and then it has to break, it has to give, and then you can build it up again. And the idea was to save those moments so that you're winding your way through a story, and you come upon them, and they feel unexpected, which, you know, we've all seen so many movies and TV series and read so many books and comics that we're used to these things, and it's very it's challenging to surprise an audience. So the big thing was, how do I make it something that's surprising and not just very, very familiar.
 
John Betancourt: That leads me right to my next question, because I do want to know -- you mentioned the fact that obviously you took something grandiose and scaled it down to something intimate. And obviously there’s the challenge of making sure that a modern horror audience will find terror. What were those challenges then, in assembling such an ambitious horror feature?
 
Ian McCulloch: I think the challenge was the characters and living as those characters. As you write something, you have to kind of be every character as they go through their journey. And it's being on the ground level with those people, how do they react? What do they do? And it's not just what would I do in this situation, it's what would that character do? And as you go along, the challenge is to get to know those characters and to embody them enough as you're writing it that it becomes second nature, and you don't have to think about what their reaction will be, and that's… it's challenging, because it takes, you're kind of casting a spell on yourself, and that takes some work and some time and some effort.
 
John Betancourt: I'm curious what underlying messages you hope audiences take away when they've walked away from this utterly scary series?
 
Ian McCulloch: Well, the first thing I want is, I want it to be escapism. You know, I want it to be horror, but I don't want it to be so horrific that you don't want to watch it. I want people to be able to put their lives aside and for a half an hour, or if they get to watch a few episodes, they can just live in that world. So escapism first and foremost, but the some of the themes, I would say the most important theme in it is control and lack of control, and what it's like to lose control, and how do you react to that, whether it's control of where you can go, control of where your loved ones are, what they're doing, control over who you can trust. The list goes on, as you'll see in the series, but control was definitely something that was always coming back up in conversations and on set and in production.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to what you've assembled here?
 
Ian McCulloch: That's a really hard question. I mean, it changes every day, like right now today, I'm most proud of the publicity people and the marketing people, because they are going above and beyond and doing such a great job. During production, it was the actors, the directors, the cinematographers. In post-production, the editors. I mean, there's just, it's a rare thing when you can tell people are all really excited about doing what they're doing, and it's not just a job or another paycheck. And the fact that so many people felt inspired by this story, this process, with everyone else involved, that's, you know, it's hard. It's like someone was saying, Who's your favorite character? And I'm like, they're all my favorite characters. You know what I mean?
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Celine Held and Logan George are a talented writing/directing duo that have worked on cutting edge shows such as Servant. Their most recent project, Caddo Lake, is available to stream on Max right now and we had the distinct honor of sitting down with them to discuss the depth they injected into this incredible feature.
 
John Betancourt: I'm curious to start with what it was that inspired the two of you to come together and create this complex story.
 
Logan George: Yeah, well, we… it was summer of 2020, and so we were kind of holed up in our 200 square foot apartment in Brooklyn. We were on Reddit a lot, and Celine just stumbled upon this photo of Caddo Lake itself. And it had this uncanny, like arresting quality to it. Just looked like something out of, you know, science fiction. It was so unreal and beautiful, and we decided to go down and see it for ourselves, because we found it to be this, like, inherently cinematic location. I think we're really driven as filmmakers by a location as a sort of a really inspiring set piece, in a way, to sort of get that foot in the door of something that you've never seen before.
 
Celine Held: Yeah, we got lost a lot on the lake ourselves. And when we went out with people who knew the lake very well, they told us stories about how everybody gets lost. And that was something that kind of like really stuck with us, this idea that they actually found people who were forced to stay out on the lake overnight because they couldn't find their way back. And at the same time, we were talking a lot about death, with the pandemic, and so in our parents, and it all kind of got wrapped up into the movie.
 
John Betancourt: Now, you filmed this on the water, you've got an incredibly complex story with all kinds of movie pieces. What kinds of challenges went into crafting something so ambitious and so intricate?
 
Logan George: Yeah, boat work. You just have to have safety, you know, above everything. So, there's a certain pace that you have to move at to make sure that everybody's being safe. You're stepping onto and off of boats, and Caddo Lake itself is quite shallow, so we had to have these very small boats, ultimately, only a couple crew members. You had to be really calculated about how much equipment you were bringing on and off of the boats and stuff. So, it became this very intimate experience a lot of the time when we would take only a handful of crew members out to go film something, you know, 15-minute drives into the water, away from everything we did, a lot of walking around in mud, like wearing waders for, you know, hours and hours on end, getting very, very dirty.
 
Celine Held: There's also the fact that for this story in particular, it can't rain because it will mean something else. So anytime it was raining, we had to, like, pivot and or that also the sun started setting earlier, because we began shooting, beginning of October. So then with the sun setting. So, it got a little bit hairy there for a bit. And to be as exact as we wanted to be with the knot of this story, we wanted to make sure things made sense, that you weren't able to say, like, “Oh, this happened at a different time of day. So, this has to be XYZ,” so to not spoil anything. Yeah, it got complicated.
 
John Betancourt: I do want to talk a little bit about there are a lot of layers to this story, which I really appreciated. And I want to talk a bit about some of those. I mean, we talked a little bit brief about the inspiration of family and death and those kinds of things, but I'm very curious what went into the inspiration of crafting such a beautiful tapestry about loss, about trauma and all the other elements that go into the story.
 
Logan George: Yeah. Well, my mom had passed away in 2019 and Celine had mentioned these conversations that she'd had with my mom where she was describing these memories from her life, and the stories I hadn't even heard some of them before. And so like, it didn't even sound like my mom in so many ways, and it was fascinating to me, and it sort of prompted this question for us of how well you really know your parents, because they lived this life, you know, before you were born. And so, in sort of imbuing that into the story, when we were crafting Paris and the loss that he goes through, we were trying to sort of maximize that sense of conflict, and, you know, guilt within him over the death of his mom, that happens in the story. And for Ellie, when she loses someone really close to her, how can we make that sort of the most, sort of dramatic and guilt inducing part of it as possible? Because we felt like guilt was like a really, really strong motivator for the characters, but also something that feels like it's so hyper connected to the way that we process grief and loss in our lives.
 
Celine Held: We also think the final scene of the film are when Ellie says… a line that we worked really hard on, because for us, it, the whole film is kind of this exploration of death in a lot of ways, of like the idea of what it is to… well, I can't wait for the movie to come out so we can talk about it plainly, because you don't want to spoil anything, But it is something that was a little near and dear to our hearts. And maybe most sci fi movies.
 
John Betancourt: But I do want to ask too, I mean, without any spoilers there as well. Obviously, when you put a story out that's cathartic. When you put a story out that has so much to it, there's something, obviously, you're hoping to kind of accomplish for the audience. And I'm curious what deeper meaning each of you hope the audience takes away from Caddo Lake.
 
Celine Held: I think we want you to, it would be cool if you wanted to call your mom. There's something you know, I think that maybe calling your mom, calling your dad, or, like, thinking about them in a different way, is something that I want you to hopefully pull away. But also, we hope you watch this movie with a friend where you can, like, start to dissect, like, what is actually happening, and that maybe you both saw something slightly different, and a rewatch would be worth it.
 
Logan George: You know your family, chosen or otherwise, this is a really very specific intimate relationships in your life, and our characters are sort of pushing these people away in so many respects at the beginning of the film, and come to have like a newfound understanding and appreciation of these relationships that are in their life. And I think that's something that as we've gotten older and we've started to create a family of our own, you have a real full circle moment of understanding just how important your parents, the people that raised you, were to, like, your whole sense of self and your place in the world. So, we're sort of just trying to cast a light on that in a very like, propulsive and exciting and fun way.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously I can tell now, since it's been a project since, you know, kind of the pandemic that you've been working on, and I hear the passion your voices about the work that went into it. What does it mean to you now to be literally days away from having this out to the world?
 
Celine Held: It's weird. It's so weird. There's part of me that's it's felt safe to have it not released. Like, I'm like, “No,” you know? But I'm so excited for people to see it. I also, I think we both feel like different filmmakers. Now it's been a minute. You know, the strike delayed it, and like Logan alluded to, we have, we had a baby girl, and actually just gave birth again. So, we have another baby, and now we're done, but, and so, I feel like a changed person in a lot of ways. And the new pieces we're working on now, we realize don't involve any children, and it feels like that's a… every -- the next piece of work that you work on is just an answer to, or like a response to what you did before. So, you know, there are obviously, we're never trying to make a perfect film. We're trying to do a swing. We're trying to do something that feels like, you know, you can be passionate about it. You're not going to sit back and watch it and let it pass by. So, we hope you know, it's exciting for people to have, hopefully, what will be passionate responses to it, that they can see themselves in the characters. And, yeah, I think it'll feel… it's exciting. It's exciting across the board.
 
Logan George: I mean, I share Celine’s sentiment that, like, in a lot of ways, we've, you know, moved on, you know, creatively from this project, because we made it so long ago, but sort of having interviews about it now, and sort of like bringing back up all the memories, like the community that we built around it and all the cast and crew, it's been incredibly cathartic for us, like, on an artistic level, to sort of get to relive something that was ultimately, like, a very joyous experience. We've met so many people that we feel like are lifelong collaborators now, and to get to celebrate the film like this now and have a release is something special.
 
John Betancourt: Last question for you today, what are you each most proud of when it comes to this project?
 
Logan George: Well, I'm certainly, proud of the production itself, in that, like everything that we asked of the crew, which felt like really impossible asks sometimes, they delivered. So, there wasn't something that we couldn't accomplish, you know, budgetarily or execution wise. And we're talking about, you know, tons of boat work, a huge amount of stunts, sort of really challenging VFX work, and the fact that all of it exists now in the film and is executed so well, it's a testament to our crew, and it's just like, ultimately, something I'm so proud of that, like, on an execution level, the film is presented exactly as we want to.
 
Celine Held: I'm proud of the way we captured the lake in the community. Yeah, that’s, what you see, what you get like, truly, we there's no like, major VFX of the lake at all, and there's so many members of the community who are actually in the film or helped behind the scenes. And we just had the premiere a couple days ago here in New York, and we had some people from the lake, like one of the, our very first boat tour captains, fly up with his wife, and he watched it, and his review, where he was just like “You got our lake,” that felt like the biggest win. So, I'm… I'm proud of that.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Gabrielle Nevaeh is a rising star in Hollywood that is popping up in everything from music videos to NFL games. Currently she stars as Pandora Vanderhouven in Curses! on Apple TV+, and to further celebrate the season two release of the show, we sat down with Gabrielle to discuss her experiences on the show thus far.
 
John Betancourt:  I'd love to start by getting to know what it means to you as an actor to be back for a second season.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I feel very blessed to be back for a second season, because, as we know, all shows don't get that opportunity. So, I'm thrilled that we get to explore more Curses! and see more Pandora.
 
John Betancourt:  I love talking to actors that do voice work, just because it's such interesting preparation process, everybody seems to have a different style to it. And I'm curious how you prepare to play Pandora every season.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: There isn't much preparation that goes into playing Pandora. I kind of just jump into it, as far as developing her character, I remember very early on, I kind of had to find the placement in my throat of, yes, it's still my natural speaking voice, but it's a little heightened, and it's just, you know, it's me when I'm excited. Because, yes, it is an adventure comedy. It's an adventure horror comedy. So, things are very heightened, and things are very tense oftentimes, so that puts a different strain on your voice. So, I think just vocal health in general is how I really prepare for Pandora. But as far as like specific character action, her vocal print is very pinched and very tense. So just taking care of taking care of my voice, with all the screams and all the stress that comes with playing her is the most important part.
 
John Betancourt: To follow up on that I’m curious how you as an actor capture the essence of her, because everybody stands out so well as characters in this show, and obviously that that is a tribute to your work.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: Pandora has a lot of childlike wonder. And when I started playing Pandora, I was about 16 or 17, so I wasn't too far off. It's not, you know, I wasn't completely out of that ballpark. But as far as capturing her humor and her essence, that came from a lot of improv, you know, and permission from the producers of saying, “Hey, it's okay for you to have some fun with this,” because I didn't want to come into Curses! with layering it with so much comedy, because it wasn't presented as so much of a comedy. It was more of a horror animation style. So, finding the balance of realism with comedy was really an instrumental part of the process, and instrumental part of finding her charisma and her overall character identity.
 
John Betancourt: I’m also curious, what it was that attracted you to the character in general, and the project.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I loved her look on life. You know, I liked that. It was a fun character. It's set in a horror setting. So, I think that's what really drew me to the project, was Pandora's overall personality. The way that they wrote her was very punchy, very spunky. You know, she's got her skateboard, she's in the house, and she's breaking rules, but she also has a lot of heart, and she also cares for the greater good and always tries to do the right thing, even if she falters a little bit. And I think that's what really drew me to Curses! in general and drew me to the character was her heart and her spirit. And another layer on top of that. It's a biracial family, right? And it's not a plot point per se, but it's representation in the sense of they're just on screen, and it doesn't have to be a big deal. It doesn't have to be made a talking point. It can just simply exist. And I think that's something that drew me to Pandora, was that the fact that she was a biracial kid, and you're telling this story from that perspective.
 
John Betancourt: In addition to being able to put so much of that on the screen and have that representation and the heart, what else do you love the most about playing this character?
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I just love the opportunity to work on a horror project, you know, because it's a little different than what I'm used to doing. I have a comedy background. But when I sit back and watch the full episode, and I get to see the final product, getting to finally see Pandora in action, and what she looks like and her attire and the things that she -- her action, you know, because when I'm acting, you know, I have an image of Pandora in my head of what I think that she's doing. And then, of course, the animators and the producers have a different idea, or sometimes, it's in a line, but usually it's a different idea. So, what I love most about playing Pandora is getting to see the final product of, you know, everyone's ideas kind of melted into what we see on screen. So, I love getting to finally see the final product of Pandora and see how everybody's creative ideas came together, too.
 
John Betancourt: Why do you think the show resonates so well with everyone?
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I think that there's a lot of versatility with our show. I mean, just speaking on, to the way that the show physically looks, it has a vintage feel to it, but it's also fresh and new. I've never seen the show that looks quite like it, so I think that is an aspect that really resonates with audiences. Again, we have the biracial aspect of it, that's representation of people, making people feel seen, and definitely made me feel seen as a biracial actor. And then on top of it, we have different cultures being explored. We have different artifacts that are being returned to different countries. So, you're you have an educational aspect, you have a horror aspect, and you also have a comedy aspect. So, I think that's something that is very relatable for audiences, and I think that lends to why we came back for season two.
 
John Betancourt: I also love the fact that this show has so many different layers to it, and I'm curious what you hope this season audiences take away from this show.
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: This season, I hope audiences take away the aspect of family, right? And family isn't always who you’re blood related to, right? Debbie is 1,000,000% a part of the family. Margie is 1,000,000% a part of the family, just as much as Russ or Alex is. And I think that's something that I hope viewers take away, is that family isn't always who your blood relatives are. You can create your own family. And people that you call family are, you know, can be friends. They can be, you know, they can be, really anybody. And I think that's something that we showcase in our show.
 
John Betancourt: From a general perspective, what are you excited for audiences to enjoy here in season two?
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: From a general perspective, things are just bigger, and they're more heightened because we have the added layer of, yes, we're returning artifacts, yes, we're still cursed, and yes, dad is back home, but everything isn't quite settled with dad. So, the added layer of what's happening with Alex on top of, “Oh my gosh, we're running away from a scary monster.” I think that's something that viewers are really going to enjoy in season two, and that's something that I've really enjoyed telling the story of. I liked the added layer of everything that's happening with Alex, and I think that adds a fun aspect for viewers at home.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of so far when it comes to your work on this show?
 
Gabrielle Nevaeh: I think I'm proud to be able to impact families at home. I think I'm proud to be a part of a project that is hopefully a gateway to the horror genre for kids, because we're scary. Curses! is scary, but it's not too scary that it's going to turn off young audiences. So, I think that I'm most proud to be, hopefully an introduction to the horror genre. Hopefully kids grow up and be like, “Yeah, Curses! was my favorite horror animation. It scared me out of my mind when I was a kid, but I just couldn't turn away.” Because for me, that was Gravity Falls growing up where it creeped me out, but I couldn't… I just couldn't look away. So, I hope to be that for a kid at home, you know? And that's what I'm most proud of.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
​

Season two of Curses! is available to stream on Apple TV+ right now, and to properly celebrate the show’s return, we sat down with the show’s executive producers, Jeff Dixon and Jim Cooper, to discuss this season’s dynamic storytelling!
 
John Betancourt: I'm very curious to start with what it means to each of you be back for a second season.
 
Jeff Dixon: I mean, I will just say, honestly, the easiest answer for that is… is going to sound super cheese ball and kind of stupid, but we, our crew and everybody worked on the show, got really, really close, like, more so than a normal show, I think, like, we would go out for happy hours and stuff like, all the time, and it was just meant more time with the people you really wanted to be with, and not just from a personal point of view, but from a creative point of view. Like, we just thought these were the best artists, these are the best writers, these are the best, and it's like, the fact that you get to do more of that just was special.
 
Jim Cooper: Yeah, you know, and it's, well, the greatest compliment we received in that regard was there was, like, one of the higher ups at the studio that joked they were, like, “We were actually a little bit concerned that this was a cult, because we would see you guys together all the time,” and you're like, “That is so nice. Thank you.” (Laughs) But, like, it was fun to go into a second season too, because the first season, so much of it was trying to figure out this vision, the tone, would it work, you know? And then once you kind of go, “Oh, okay, you've established it, and know what's working, let's go nuts.” So that was, it was sort of like the freedom of not having to prove that we're not insane, literally show we’re insane, and that we’re not a cult.
 
Jeff Dixon: Well, we didn’t say THAT. (Laugher from all)
 
John Betancourt: Well, played. And obviously I have to ask the million-dollar question. I mean, you guys, you guys landed Robert Englund. I mean, how cool is that? And I'd love to know what the process was to get him into Season Two.
 
Jeff Dixon: I mean, he was excited… he's one of my idols. So, for me, it was like, you know, they always say, “Don't, never meet your idols.” I always say, “Never meet your idols unless its Robert Englund,” because he was better and more awesome than we could have ever imagined. And he loves horror movies, by the way, so he'll just chat horror movies for hours. Like, from a really, like, smart point of view, like, not just a, “Hey, I like this. I like that.” Like, he's got an actual solid knowledge about everything, and he's just the nicest person in the world,
 
Jim Cooper: Yeah, and, I mean, he really came to, like, work and had really great ideas thematically, he was very into it. And it was just, it was awesome.
 
John Betancourt: I'm gonna circle back a bit, because you brought up a good point that the show is established. You guys have kind of the groundwork of what you want for this particular show. And that did make me notice that you kind of started integrating some more modern horror elements into it this year. Since, you know, everything's not peachy keen with the family, there's some elevated horror. And I'm curious what went into the decision then to kind of just go for broke and really bring so much into this.
 
Jeff Dixon: I'll just say the one thing that I think honestly really lended itself is a bit of a comfort level, a comfort level from all sides. I think a lot of the first season was not just laying a lot of pipe, as far as the foundation for what we can go with, but also we were all doing something kind of new, not just us, but also the studios and the production companies. And it's like everybody felt like they were doing something new. So, whenever you're starting out, there's a little bit of trepidation of, Is this too much? Is it not enough? Is it whatever? So, then we found, after, I think we get in a season under our belt, we had that sweet spot, and everyone's like, “Oh, people seem to really like the scares and the horror. It's not too much. Let's push.” Definitely, I mean, from Coop and I’s point of view, we're always trying to push. I mean, let's be honest. But like, they were also very, very open to pushing some of the scares a little bit more as well.
 
Jim Cooper: And when we were sitting there, like coming up with the episodes and the season arc, we really were actively kind of going, “Okay, what did we do last season? Let's not do that. What are different directions we can go?” And we would look at something like, “Okay, can we do a monster? Can we do a Kaiju? Can we do something that's more psychological? Can we do something within the house,” you know? So, it was literally like trying to really think about, how could you do different things each time. And then, of course, you kind of go, “Oh, how has it been done? Elsewhere, you know, in a movie or in a story, how can we put a twist on it? How would that fit into the framework of our show?” So that was actually a lot of fun.
 
John Betancourt: Now without any spoilers, I mean, obviously it's a grander season. It's a very established season. What are you most excited for audiences to experience this year?
 
Jim Cooper: I would actually argue it's the variety of the episodes, because people go like, “Oh, what's your favorite episode of the season?” And I can honestly say it kind of depends, you know? I really like this one, but I also really like, but I like what we did with that one.
 
Jeff Dixon:Yeah. And one of the things that I was really partial in this season is we, we leaned into letting each of the side characters kind of get more of a focus in an individual episode. So, it was like, Stanley kind of has a focused episode, Larry has a focused episode. Margie has a focused episode. So, we did, like bringing some of the more kind of side characters more of the forefront of their own kind of episode. And that was kind of exciting. And just like introducing new characters like we got, we're able to introduce a couple new characters, that was exciting. So anytime you can build the universe or build a little bit more flourish to the established universe, is just exciting.
 
John Betancourt: It is. It is definitely a much bigger universe this year, and I appreciate it. And speaking of writing stuff, and once I saw zombies, I'm like, “Oh, I'm a very happy man.”
 
Jeff Dixon: That's why we start the season with them.
 
John Betancourt: Start big. I love it. Obviously, this has been a passion project for both of you. Horror is something you both love, what has been the most gratifying aspect of working on the second season for each of you?
 
Jeff Dixon: I mean, I will say this. I don't know about working on the second season, but one of the most gratifying things from seeing the first season, which leans into the second season, is one of our favorite things, was getting, like, photographs from friends or executives or whatever, that they'd be watching it with, like their kids, and their kids would be watching it behind a blanket, or they'd be nestled in close to them, and they would take pictures and send them to us. And that was unbelievably satisfying, because it wasn't too much. I mean, they weren't like traumatized. It was… we were always trying to get that balance, and that was the balance we were hitting. And so by, I think keeping that in the back of our heads, you know, the second season was like, “Okay, we're not going too hard. They actually enjoy this.” You know, this is gratifying to be able to push the horror and know that they're enjoying it.
 
Jim Cooper: And I think, for me, like, what was so nice about the second season was really allowing, you know, the other writers in the writer's room --- we're going, “What do you want to do? Let's do something that would be very hard to get made in another situation,” you know. So, like having stories that you're like, “Oh, that's on an animated family show. Wow, that's crazy.” And you're like, “Yeah, we did that. Where else are you going to see that?” And so that was always like, a lot of fun to be able to do things like that.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.