June 12, 2025 • 33 mins
We contain multitudes! And a review Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's, The Life of Chuck PLUS an exclusive interview with Karen Gillan! On the menu: Mike Flanagan’s storytelling, genre blending, finding joy in life, Flanaverse favorites, and more!
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(00:00) - Intro & Update
(02:04) - General Thoughts
(06:42) - Unique Structure & The Mike Flanagan of it
(19:28) - Perfomances and Stand Outs
(25:02) - Final Thoughts & Rating
(26:30) - Interview with Karen Gillan
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
5678 Wow, we're dancing into thelife of Chuck.
Hey everyone, I'm Derek, and that's Noah, and welcome to this
episode of A Bite of where we'retalking about the life of Chuck.
(00:21):
Yay. Oh, I would say very high up on
my most anticipated list of thisyear for films.
I mean, has all the things I love.
Totally. This is a total Noah film.
I mean, it's Mike Flanagan, it'sStephen King, it's Loki, I mean,
it's all of them. And I mean, just all of Mike
Flanagan's cast totally in this movie.
(00:42):
Yes, we got to see the movie early.
Very gracious for the people at Neon for sending us a Screener.
And also at the end of our review, Karen Gillan, the Karen
Gillan of Amy Pond fame of Oculus, of the life of Chuck, I
got to speak with her for a little bit.
They didn't let me use the video, which is a little, it's
sad. I'm sorry, but you that are
(01:03):
listening to this in podcast form, you can, it doesn't change
for you. So continue on.
Hey, it's in a bite of exclusiveinterview with.
Karen Gillan, I was just very grateful that she took the time
to speak with me and her very busy schedule of promoting this
movie. Yes, very excited to talk about
this movie. Before we get into it, make sure
you're following us. It's Pride month so high Queer
(01:23):
creators here support your career Creators barely got that
out. Subscribe like comment all those
amazing, wonderful things. Please do those.
So going into this review, spoilers.
Ahead like hella spoilers. I kept debating.
We kept debating of like spoiling this movie because it's
an experience that needed to be had, but you can't not spoil it,
(01:45):
you know? So spoilers ahead, go see it and
then come back. Let us officially take a bite of
The Life of Chuck, written and directed by Mike Flanagan, based
on the novella by Stephen King, World's End with the power going
out, a flood of memories, deathly premonitions and dancing
to your own true rhythm. That's beautiful.
(02:06):
I think you send that to Mike Flanagan.
I'm going to. He's going to put it on the
posters. A bite of pot, it's going to
say. The bald 1 yes.
Exactly so, Sir, what did you think?
Indescribable. I don't want to hype this movie
up too much because I think thisis one of those rare movies that
(02:29):
it needs to be experienced. Your expectations are going to
do this because you have StephenKing.
Yeah, my client again. You have everybody that's
involved in this film and you'regoing to expect something
different then what you might get.
It might not be everybody's flavor, but I think it's one of
those movies that will make you think and you'll feel it way
(02:52):
after you've seen it and maybe you'll take a little bit with
you throughout the day. When you find those little tiny
things that bring you joy, It's like, you know, Chuck did the
same thing I did too. It's just a spiritual movie.
So I very much liked it. You know, that's that's my very
general thoughts. It's spiritual.
It's great. Go see it.
(03:12):
You know, if you're watching this or listening to this and
like, I'm not going to go see it.
Why not do yourself some good? Go watch it.
If yeah, it's. What about you?
Sorry. Yeah, OK, so picture this.
I just said I didn't want to hype it up, but I'm like, it's a
spiritual experience. No, it's like it's the greatest
thing that's ever existed. It changed my life, but I don't
want to hype it up, but OK, picture this.
(03:34):
You're 39 years old, OK? You have chest pains.
You go to the hospital, you haveto face your own mortality.
And then about a week later, youwatch the life of Chuck, and in
the best way possible, it makes you feel conscious of everything
that you just went through and qualified in a way that means
(04:00):
life is short and that you should enjoy it.
I think we had a very unique experience with it.
I'm sure not. We're not going to be the only
ones and people can draw onto it, But since we had that scare
with your health, that was like very scary.
And then immediately, this was the very first thing that we
watched aside from Shrek in the hospital.
I think we're going to have a unique experience that maybe
(04:21):
some of these viewers and listeners might not have.
So I think we're conscious of that.
But it, I don't know, I think itwas the perfect time for us to
watch it. So thanks.
I, you know, I want to say just so when, when you first the
movie starts off with a world ending, right?
And people just watching their lives kind of crumble around
(04:44):
them and but not knowing truly what's going on.
And there is something to be said of again, I wasn't, I
wasn't at death's door. I wasn't.
I didn't almost die, right, But I had something that could have
led to possible death, right? Well, right, if you didn't get
it checked out, you could have. I could have, right?
(05:05):
More of a chance than we would have liked, true.
And, and I think what's interesting is that when I'm
sitting in the hospital and I'm having all these experiences, it
does feel a little bit like yourworld could end And you don't
know why or what's necessarily going on because you're waiting
a lot of the time. You're waiting for blood work,
you're taking tests, you're waiting for a doctor to see you.
(05:26):
And so it is this really interesting comparison of the
literal world ending, but also your life ending and how big of
a question mark it all is and how you never know what's truly
waiting for you. Yeah, that's one of the biggest
things of this movie, I think, You know, people will take
different things away from it, but one of the core things is in
(05:48):
the face of even knowing and notknowing, doing those little
things that do bring you joy means so much more.
And those are the things that are literally going to build the
world's and universes inside of you who is a person.
It's not going to be the same assomebody else, but those little
tiny moments in this movie, there's a a through line with
dancing, right, And that's like one of the biggest set pieces
you've seen it in the trailer. It's on the poster.
(06:11):
Tom Hiddleston doing the dance. I believe he did it on Graham
Norton. It is the thing right for this
movie and it means so much when you see it.
Yes, it's a long like a long sequence.
I didn't think it was. I wanted more.
I could have been like this could have been two hours of Tom
Hiddleston dancing. I'm here for it.
But just doing those little tinythings that do set those ripples
and past present of you, of who you are is very important.
(06:35):
But I really like getting reallyinto the movie.
I think the structure of it, when I read the novella it's in
If it Bleeds, it's a collection of short stories from Stephen
King. But it was something that just
kind of stuck with me. And I'm like, this is
interesting. Like why is this one sticking
with me? So when it was being made into a
movie, The structure of it is odd because you start in Act 3
(06:56):
and the end of the movie ends inAct one, which is technically
the beginning of Chuck. So we're seeing the universe of
Chuck die and then we're gettinghow he got there.
So it's a definitely a feat thatFlanagan and crew had to do and
I think they pulled it off really well.
(07:17):
Yeah, I agree. I I the thing that I've noticed
about Mike Flanagan and especially really enjoying his
later, his later works, right? I saw Oculus and did he?
What's the one? Doctor Slute.
Doctor. Oh no, Doctor sleep I'll never
recover from. Fantastic.
Oh my God, what's the one that Kate is in where she's deaf?
(07:39):
Did he do that? That horror movie.
Hush, hush. So I saw Hush, saw Oculus, those
like kind of true slashery kind of horror things, and I thought
they were good. But now as time has gone on you
it really feels like he's honed his craft.
And what I love so much about Mike Flanagan is that he loves
the work that he's basing whatever it is on.
(08:01):
And you can tell the care that he's taking with it.
And you know, there is this Flaniverse and there are these
people, these actors that pop upin all of his works.
And I think part of that is, is yes, he's building this universe
or whatever, but I think he knows that he can trust them to
bring these characters to life. Because the interesting thing
is, is that right? Taking something like the life
(08:23):
of Chuck, which is a novella in a collection of stories and
loving it so much and caring about it so much and creating it
into a feature length film, I think shows that he he really
wants to bring it to life. And therefore he's going to take
care of it. And for Stephen King to, you
know, let that happen, I think is also, you know, a sign of
(08:46):
approval. I think, you know, Mike Flanagan
is definitely now become like the go to person for Stephen
King adaptations, like he just gets it.
But I think King knows that. Same thing with Edgar Allan Poe
with just any works. And Poe knows that.
And Poe does know that. But yeah, he, he, he does get
it. And I think that he loves
(09:08):
stories. And we love his stories when
it's very centered around people.
And it's like, yeah, there's horror and there's supernatural
things that are going along withit, but he just gets people in
the monologues. Look, if you like Midnight Mass,
if you like any of the The Hill House or Blind Manners, you're
going to see some of that seep through this.
It's just not as scary as some of those.
(09:30):
But there is terrifying elementsin this movie, man.
You'll get some monologues in this movie.
So good. So, so good.
Now, just looking at the story in itself, it really is a
blending of genres here. And and so it starts off with
this almost apocalyptic sensibility that we're feeling.
(09:50):
Then it gets into like a slice of life, you know,
bildungsroman, following a childthrough their life, watching
them grow up. And then there's also this sort
of like mystical element to it. So how did you do you think
those three or more genres fit together well and do you think
it was achieved in this? You know, taking my fanboy self
(10:13):
out of it. When I think of this story,
right, it's it's hard. It's a hard story.
If you're going to sit there andtry to really hyper analyze it,
because while it's called the life of Chuck, you don't really
get the life of Chuck. You see snippets, you see
vignettes of Chuck and kind of what brought him to his ultimate
(10:33):
end, unfortunately very, very early.
And so like when you when you think about that and then you
add in like, OK, so we got this like echoing through all of this
of of time, right, of the calendar, the cosmic calendar,
you kind of get the echo throughout the entire movie.
Then you get the multitudes. But then there's like that
supernatural element with his grandfather and the Coppola in
(10:54):
the house. So it's like there's a lot of
layers to this, which could seemlike a lot, but I think with the
understanding of like, you're kind of just getting snippets of
it and you don't really need to know all the answers to
everything. It works well.
Could I say I wanted it to be longer?
Yeah. For some of that stuff to be
fleshed out a little bit? Totally.
Would I think that Flanagan could have done this as a mini
(11:17):
series? Yeah.
And I think he could have reallyfleshed it out.
Ultimately, it did work well. It gave you some mystery.
Some of that mystery, when you find it out, it's like, oh,
yeah, it's what I thought it was.
And I think that's fine. I think that's totally fine for
something like that to happen. What about you?
Did you think it all worked? You know, I starting off where
it starts off, you know, you're just kind of trying to collect
(11:40):
clues and figuring things out. Once you get that reveal of
what's happening. I thought that really paid off.
I loved seeing one of my favorite parts of this was
probably the least, you know, supernatural part, which is
seeing I I'm calling him tween Chuck, played by Benjamin Pajak.
His whole is where he discovers his love of dancing and he sees
(12:02):
his grandmother dancing in the kitchen and he dances with the
girl at the prom and Oh my gosh,it's just so lovely and so sweet
and it's not scary in any way, right?
It's just watching this young boy find joy in life.
And I think I just gravitated towards that.
The only part that and I maybe it needed to be explored more.
(12:25):
Maybe that was the problem was the whole thing with the turret,
right? The Coppola.
The Coppola is that what is thisSofia Coppola?
It's that to me, maybe it was, it felt rushed.
Maybe we knew what was happeningalready.
I don't necessarily know if I needed it to be explained of why
that was happening up there, butit it seemed like the biggest
(12:46):
why is this in here? Yeah, so the the Coppola part is
obviously the the room upstairs where his grandfather had it
under lock and key and didn't want Chuck to go in there.
And it seems like you get a premonition.
I don't know how it works. Obviously we don't know.
But you get a premonition of somebody, even yourself, dying,
like how they're going to die. You know, his grandfather saw
(13:08):
it. He saw his grandmother die, he
saw his friend, he saw the neighbor kid.
And then Chuck ultimately saw himself in the hospital bed,
which, oh, God. I don't know who the editor is
for this or who makes those decisions, but some of just the
layering and editing, especiallywhen you see at the very end
when Chuck sees himself, but youhear the heartbeat monitor, but
you've heard it in the beginning.
(13:28):
It's just so masterfully done. Yeah.
I yeah, yeah. I think like that, that stuff.
I think we know what it is, right?
It's like it's just a part of this room that somehow is just
supernatural and shows you how you're going to die.
I don't like that part was the least interesting part to me
because when Chuck sees it and you kind of then you think back,
(13:49):
OK, what's Act 2 and 3? He kind of just wanted it to go
away. He just leaves the room and he's
like, OK, now I have answers of why I shouldn't have been in
here. I know where my end is, what is
going to happen in between. And one of the funniest things
about that is when you think about it, it's like he became an
accountant. It's something, but it's his
grandfather really talked to himabout like, dancing's not going
(14:11):
to get you where you need to go.Numbers are magic.
That monologue, Mark Hamill delivering this monologue was so
well done, but it was almost like he kind of Chuck in the
end, did both of what his parents or grandparents
instilled in him. He was able to dance with the
busker, and then he was able to become an accountant.
That led him to finding the joy of dancing again.
(14:33):
So there's this weird beauty in it, but it is a bummer.
Yeah, I think when you think about it in that way, it's
almost like by that point in hislife, maybe, you know, we know
he lost his parents, then he loses his grandparents, then
he's on his own for a little bit.
His, I think it's his paternal grandparents come and live with
him. Or maybe it's vice versa.
(14:54):
He also lost his unborn sister, right?
Had to throw that in there too. So, so it's almost like when he
sees his own death, it's like, well, what is one more death?
Yeah. And there's like this element of
so much sadness and he had a terrible start to his life.
And I think there's there's it sneaks in there a little bit,
like when you're like, oh, this is like incredibly sad, but also
(15:17):
incredibly joyous. But yeah, he, he started real.
Not great, not great. Everybody he knows just kind of
passed away. And then his grandparents are
dealing with their child and unborn grandchild passing away.
And now they're having to raise their child's child.
Just really. Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a
macabre world, but you can find your own joy in it.
(15:40):
But I do think that's the interesting part of knowing your
end and experiencing all this sadness, but then going on to
like, just continue to live a, apretty regular life, right.
He was just at an accounting conference and decided to dance
and then and then felt the pain and then knew it was coming.
(16:00):
Right. God, it's so sad.
And so sad and you know, one of the things I keep making this
about me, but wow. But one of the things like it's
funny and, and it's been, it'll be a month tomorrow that I got
the stent. And a lot of people always ask,
how are you, you know, and, and what happened?
(16:20):
And so I've told the story a lot.
And someone said to me today, gosh, isn't it so weird that you
were just living your life not knowing that there was this
blockage in your heart? And it is very much like that,
where he's living his life and then bam, it's the beginning of
the end. And I think that's one of the
the points of this movie, right?Is that like it?
(16:41):
It sounds so cliche. It's like you never know what's
going to happen and you don't. And even when in Chuck shoes,
you do know something is going to happen.
Maybe he doesn't know when he can see.
He's a little young. He doesn't know when, but you
know, hopefully he lived his life as joyous or even as normal
as you wanted it to be. And I think that's maybe that's
(17:03):
another take away I think from this movie is you don't, you
don't have to be a celebrity, right?
You don't have to be an influencer with millions of
followers. You could still be successful
and you can still find joy, evenif it's just in those little
achievements in your life. And I think that's what Chuck
did right? Yeah, his grandfather said a few
times. The waiting is the worst part.
(17:25):
And I think when Chuck did see himself, I think maybe he made a
conscious decision to like, maybe I'm not going to stress
over this. I hope you know we we lose a big
chunk of Chuck's. Life from college to right.
Adult so we can only think that maybe he just kind of lived his
life and continued you know he lost his grandparents ultimately
(17:47):
as well so he seemed OK ish and.And from what we know, right, he
was a sick, successful accountant.
He had a partner and child. And so he had, he made a life
for himself. He made a family for himself.
And maybe that was enough for him.
Maybe that was the one thing he was always missing in his life,
was just that stability of having that family.
(18:10):
Yeah, because he lost all of it.Yeah, constantly.
You know, it's funny, we've talked a lot about Chuck, but
Tom Hiddleston himself is not inthe movie as much as you would
think. This movie starts off very much
without Chuck. You only see him as the mystery
of like, who is this Chuck? Thanks for 39 years inside his
universe inside himself. You know, the the beginning of
the movie is him dying because everybody contains the universe
(18:33):
inside of them. So there's so many players in
this movie, everybody from Kate Siegel, who we love, all the way
to Matthew Lillard. There's voice act, there's
people that do voice work that have been in the Flaniverse
before. Sling later Carla Cugino so.
Yeah, literally. This could be his, like, magnum
opus. This is like everybody he's
really ever worked with is here.Even baby Mel from The Haunting
(18:58):
of Hill House is in this. When she came in those skates, I
was like and. She's like a teenager now.
So old, so it was really fun to see all that, but was there any
like stand up performances for you?
Well, like I said before, I who I think is new to the
Flaniverse, I thought Benjamin Padjack really did an incredible
job for such a young actor, really carrying these scenes and
(19:19):
adding so much heart to it. Another like person that I
thought really brought a lot to it and they're not on screen was
actually Nick Offerman as the narrator of this.
There's something about his voice that I just find very
soothing, and in this it feels like he's almost telling you a
tale of a life well lived. He's he's very plucky.
I don't, I don't know the right word to say because he's not
(19:40):
narrating it like a normal narrator would narrate a movie.
It's kind of like off the cuff, but like nonchalant plucky.
I really, it really worked well for me.
Yeah, almost. He just has a great narrating
voice. Yeah.
Yeah, I really enjoyed that. How about you who who had some
stand out performances? Well, I mean, they all did.
I think everybody, even Carl Lumbley, who I think is the
(20:02):
undertaker maybe and. Inside Chuck it talks to Morty.
Oh my God, Morty and Felicia's story and there is just I think
really beautiful and really sad.I love that whole first act.
I thought it was really good. There's a there's a scene where
Morty goes to find his ex-wife and I think there's an
(20:23):
interesting conversation there of like when the world's ending,
like who do you want to be with?Like what is the thing that you
find comforting? And it goes finds his ex-wife,
who is Felicia, and there's justa scene where he gets to her
house and there's ghost chucks in all the windows.
And as soon as she sees them, she's like, oh, thank God.
And like, that moment, to me, I was like, this is so like, that
(20:45):
first act in the movie. I was like, I don't know.
It just says so much. It's like you just want to be
with that person or in that place that you just like, OK?
It's it's when it all comes downto it, when it's the final
moments. It's not about all the wrongs.
It should be about all the rights right for and when Marty
and and Felicia come together that last second.
(21:10):
They're holding hands. It's heartbreaking, and when you
find out what that last second is, it just gave me chills.
Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's very good.
I think structurally they did a really good job in telling this
tale because the way it's told adds to the story.
One of my favorite scenes in here, aside from the busker
(21:31):
scene, which is just, I mean, it's just so joyful and it's
amazing. I I keep going back and forth
between two monologues that I really like.
That really stood out to me. But I got to give it to Kate
Siegel and the I Contain multitudes monologue that she
tells like baby Chuck. It was just so beautifully done
(21:51):
and to see these people that he put inside of his universe that
we're in passing or made an impression in him was just
really kind. And I don't know, I just love
the fact that this teacher who tried to teach this class that
wanted nothing to do with her, but this one student asked her
and she was able to make an impression on him and that's all
(22:12):
that matters. And, and I think that in that
scene, like you're saying, she just needed someone to see her,
but he also needed someone to see him.
They did it for each other. They did it for each other and
it, it was, you know, a student and a teacher and it's just a it
is a really beautiful moment. And, and when you're listening
to her, you know, the, the anglethat we see as the viewers that
(22:34):
we are Chuck, right? And she's looking in our mind,
in our eyes, and she's telling us all this stuff.
And it's like, yes, I contain multitudes.
Yeah, I just love the like, what's in between my hands and
he's like my brain. I'm like, that was me.
That was me. Absolutely.
That still is me. Yes, yeah.
So yeah, I love. Do you have any?
Like stand up, perform like scenes I would say.
(22:57):
I keep going back to it, and maybe this is because I was a
little boy who danced, but thereis that beautiful moment when he
gets to dance with the girl he has the crush on and they knock
everybody's socks off. And you see, though, you see
Felicia in the background, right?
She was just, yeah, she was justmaybe a faculty member or a
parent, but she made an impression on him.
(23:18):
And, and she lived in his mind. And so that whole scene and, and
him not really getting any Flackfor being a boy who dances and
just enjoying it. And even though his grandfather
told him it would get him nowhere, he still knew that it
brought him happiness. Yeah, the whole scene, like I
loved. I can't remember what the the
after school program was, was like spinners and twirlers.
(23:39):
Sounds about right. I loved all of that.
I loved him learning how to dance and like the whole class.
And then he ended up teaching the class how to moonwalk.
It was just beautiful. But I loved, oh, just the the
scene where you find out why Chuck started with the the two
fingers in the air when you see his grandmother do it because
she just loved to dance and listen to music that some rock
(24:01):
music, Yeah, maybe. Or somebody her age didn't want
to listen to. Just so good.
I think this is probably one of the happiest movies, mostly that
we've ever talked about. But isn't that so interesting
that it's like, it brings us such joy, but it's about ends in
some senses? Right.
Well, it's told in reverse. So it's almost like we kind of,
we deal with the sad and get sadin the beginning, but it's like
(24:23):
we deal with the sad, but then we get to see him as a little
tiny kid. Yeah, a little tiny kid, Yeah.
Oh, man, I'm just so excited. Let us know what you think of
this. If I had to rate it, I want to
rate it. Let's rate it.
We need to get better at rating things because what we're
reviewing, that's what reviewersdo. 4 out of five, Just I think
4 out of five it's, it's nearly like great and perfect.
(24:48):
But, you know, there's just somethings where I'm like, yeah,
like the story itself doesn't really give a lot.
And that's on purpose. And it's like part of me just
wants more. But I think 4 out of 5 is.
That's where I'm at. I give it multitudes.
No, I give it I'm. I'm actually going to give it
(25:09):
4.5 stars out of five. Guys, this is like history
making. It's a Stephen King story with
Mike Flanagan and Derek loves it.
Just, you know. Winning.
Just when sometimes in life you see something or you read
something just at the right time, and I think I saw this at
(25:32):
just the right time. Yeah, well, if he didn't have
his heart almost explode. I wouldn't have seen it.
I wouldn't have been able to sayhe likes the Stephen King thing.
That's true. Listen, things in life happen
and change your perspective, yeah.
OK, Yeah. Let us know what you think.
If you saw it, if you're waitingto see it, why?
But yeah. And stay tuned.
(25:53):
Or an interview. Oh yeah, Karen Gillan.
How? Can I forget?
Yeah. It's not over yet, but you know,
it'll be over after the interview.
So carry on. Thank you so much for taking the
time to speak with me today. I want to say that this film was
like at the top of my most anticipated list for this year.
Wow. I adore.
I adore it so much. And also congratulations for
(26:15):
getting People's Choice a TIFF. That's amazing.
Oh thanks, yeah that was wild and so exciting.
Well deserved. I wanted to start with just kind
of your initial thoughts when you read the script for the
first time and getting to work with my clan again again after
all these years because you did Oculus what in 2013?
(26:35):
Oh yeah, I worked with Mike right at the beginning of his
career and he brought me over toAmerica, literally got me my
visa to be in America. So we were both, you know, way
younger and earlier in our careers.
And I had such a brilliant experience doing Oculus.
Like I still look back on that and and yearn to be back there
doing that. I'm so nostalgic for it and it
(26:57):
was just such a brilliant time in my life.
So I wanted to reunite with him for so long, to kind of just get
back to that sort of headspace again 'cause it was so great.
And then I was like, when we're working together, I, I visited
him on set and stuff. And then he was like, we will,
we will. And then he came to me with life
(27:18):
of Chuck. And I would have said yes
without even reading it. But of course I read the script
and was like, oh, this is a no brainer.
It was just such a beautifully written script and it made me
kind of really examine my own life and how I'm spending my
precious time living it. And I thought that's such a
special project to be involved with.
Yeah, and it's one of those things where it makes you feel
(27:41):
all the types of emotions, right, of just, oh, what is it
like going to be at the end? You don't know, Maybe you do
know, And then who are those people and what's the joy that
you find along that way? Or where do you want to be when
that time eventually comes? And I think, and specifically
Marty and Felicia do such an amazing job of, you know, you
(28:01):
guys kind of introduce this mystery, this tone, this world
and what's going on, right? You guys are the multitudes
contained inside of Chuck. What went into bringing that
character to life? Because this this movie is told
in reverse order, right? And you guys are at the end, but
you're also at the beginning. Yeah, I mean, from an outsider
(28:21):
perspective, I was aware of all of that stuff, but when I was
playing the character, I kind ofjust focused in on what she
would genuinely be feeling in those moments.
You know, she wasn't aware of ofbeing in the head of somebody
else or anything. She was genuinely just dealing
with the end of everything. She's a nurse and people all
(28:44):
around her are giving up and she's fighting hard to remain
optimistic in a really dire situation.
And then finally, she reaches out to her ex-husband Marty to
to feel love and comfort in her final moments.
And yeah, it was just a really interesting thing to ask myself
(29:05):
how I might feel at the end of everything.
And so many different emotions came up.
In the very kind of end of that you guys meet you and your
ex-husband and you meet and you get to be together.
And when she sees them, she's like, oh thank God you're here.
So in a previous interview you aquestion was asked like what was
(29:27):
your joy? What is the joy that you find in
your day-to-day? And you had said something about
it was like films, right? Films are your your thing that
brings you joys, creating them and being in them.
Is that still how you feel and now?
And is there a film that brings you joy no matter what, any time
that you put it on? Now my answer would be my
(29:48):
daughter. I've probably become a mother
since answering that question, but yeah, films absolutely.
So bring me joy. Actually, what's so fun is that
I get to show her films for the first time.
Now, the films that bring me joyand I get to watch her enjoy
them. So that's going to be even
better because there's a whole other layer on top of it.
But I'm going to say Little Shopof Horrors.
(30:10):
For me, it is my joy film. I just loved it as a kid.
I thought it was called The Plant because my dad had
recorded it off the TV and put alabel on it that just said The
Plant and it was just my favorite film growing up.
That's amazing and I'd love thatyou get to share that joy with
your daughter and then you get to see their joy of experiencing
(30:32):
those films, your favorite filmsfor the first time.
That's that's so special. Was this is there?
What was your first introductionto Stephen King like?
Are you Stephen King fan? Do you read the books or was
this your kind of first tipping toes into the water?
I'm much more familiar with the film adaptations rather than the
books so. But yeah, fan a fan of those.
(30:55):
Absolutely. Like The Shining is probably my
favorite film now. Love it.
But I love so many of his adaptations.
Shawshank Redemption and also I love Gerald's Game.
I thought that was a brilliant movie.
Another Mike Flanagan one, and so hard to adapt to that story
because so much of it takes place in the main character's
(31:17):
head and she's talking to versions of herself.
But Flanagan found a way to put it on the screen.
As he does right, he he likes toadapt the unadaptable and
somehow can figure it out. So I have I have like 2 more
questions for you. What do you hope audiences take
away from the life of Chuck? I hope that they go away and ask
(31:38):
themselves the same questions that I asked myself after
reading it for the first time, which was, you know, I asked
myself like, am I spending my time the way that I'll be happy
about when it's the end of everything and I can look back
and am I doing anything that that I could be proud of?
And am I finding enough moments of joy?
I think those are valuable things to ask yourself.
(31:59):
I feel like a lot of media doesn't actually ask us that,
right? It's always it's it's we need
more things that are doing this.Yeah, it feels like it's coming
at the right time. Yes yes, very much and then you
you're in the MCU, you've been in the universe, which I still
have to watch the finale. It's it's out today.
I haven't been able to watch it yet and then I'm so excited.
(32:20):
I saw that you were on unleashed.
So that's right, the rumour saysthat you're in Doctor Who
Unleashed. The episode that's the like the
sort of a documentary, yes. Yes, OK, very excited.
So MCU universe, the Flaniverse as they've coined it.
So you've been in two kind of properties that have Tom
Hiddleston in them, but I don't think you've shared a scene with
(32:42):
him yet. Is there?
Like, are you actively avoiding it?
No, I'm just kidding. I like to.
Be in films with Tom, but will not be on set with him.
It's in my country. Totally kidding.
I would love to finally be on screen with him, for God's sake.
I'm such a fan of his work. I think he's a brilliant,
(33:03):
brilliant actor and it would be nice to finally share a scene
with him in one of our films. Then not just the ghost kind of
apparition behind him in the window, it's in this movie.
Yeah, exactly the real deal. I want the real Tom.
Well, thank you so much. Thank you for taking the time to
answer these questions. And I cannot wait to see what
(33:24):
you do next. And if you're going to be in the
next Flanagan thing that's coming out, that would be
amazing. Thank you so much.
Well, who knows? Fingers crossed.
Thank you. Cheers.
Bye. Bye.
5678 Wow, we're dancing into thelife of Chuck.
Hey everyone, I'm Derek, and that's Noah, and welcome to this
episode of A Bite of where we'retalking about the life of Chuck.
(00:21):
Yay. Oh, I would say very high up on
my most anticipated list of thisyear for films.
I mean, has all the things I love.
Totally. This is a total Noah film.
I mean, it's Mike Flanagan, it'sStephen King, it's Loki, I mean,
it's all of them. And I mean, just all of Mike
Flanagan's cast totally in this movie.
(00:42):
Yes, we got to see the movie early.
Very gracious for the people at Neon for sending us a Screener.
And also at the end of our review, Karen Gillan, the Karen
Gillan of Amy Pond fame of Oculus, of the life of Chuck, I
got to speak with her for a little bit.
They didn't let me use the video, which is a little, it's
sad. I'm sorry, but you that are
(01:03):
listening to this in podcast form, you can, it doesn't change
for you. So continue on.
Hey, it's in a bite of exclusiveinterview with.
Karen Gillan, I was just very grateful that she took the time
to speak with me and her very busy schedule of promoting this
movie. Yes, very excited to talk about
this movie. Before we get into it, make sure
you're following us. It's Pride month so high Queer
(01:23):
creators here support your career Creators barely got that
out. Subscribe like comment all those
amazing, wonderful things. Please do those.
So going into this review, spoilers.
Ahead like hella spoilers. I kept debating.
We kept debating of like spoiling this movie because it's
an experience that needed to be had, but you can't not spoil it,
(01:45):
you know? So spoilers ahead, go see it and
then come back. Let us officially take a bite of
The Life of Chuck, written and directed by Mike Flanagan, based
on the novella by Stephen King, World's End with the power going
out, a flood of memories, deathly premonitions and dancing
to your own true rhythm. That's beautiful.
(02:06):
I think you send that to Mike Flanagan.
I'm going to. He's going to put it on the
posters. A bite of pot, it's going to
say. The bald 1 yes.
Exactly so, Sir, what did you think?
Indescribable. I don't want to hype this movie
up too much because I think thisis one of those rare movies that
(02:29):
it needs to be experienced. Your expectations are going to
do this because you have StephenKing.
Yeah, my client again. You have everybody that's
involved in this film and you'regoing to expect something
different then what you might get.
It might not be everybody's flavor, but I think it's one of
those movies that will make you think and you'll feel it way
(02:52):
after you've seen it and maybe you'll take a little bit with
you throughout the day. When you find those little tiny
things that bring you joy, It's like, you know, Chuck did the
same thing I did too. It's just a spiritual movie.
So I very much liked it. You know, that's that's my very
general thoughts. It's spiritual.
It's great. Go see it.
(03:12):
You know, if you're watching this or listening to this and
like, I'm not going to go see it.
Why not do yourself some good? Go watch it.
If yeah, it's. What about you?
Sorry. Yeah, OK, so picture this.
I just said I didn't want to hype it up, but I'm like, it's a
spiritual experience. No, it's like it's the greatest
thing that's ever existed. It changed my life, but I don't
want to hype it up, but OK, picture this.
(03:34):
You're 39 years old, OK? You have chest pains.
You go to the hospital, you haveto face your own mortality.
And then about a week later, youwatch the life of Chuck, and in
the best way possible, it makes you feel conscious of everything
that you just went through and qualified in a way that means
(04:00):
life is short and that you should enjoy it.
I think we had a very unique experience with it.
I'm sure not. We're not going to be the only
ones and people can draw onto it, But since we had that scare
with your health, that was like very scary.
And then immediately, this was the very first thing that we
watched aside from Shrek in the hospital.
I think we're going to have a unique experience that maybe
(04:21):
some of these viewers and listeners might not have.
So I think we're conscious of that.
But it, I don't know, I think itwas the perfect time for us to
watch it. So thanks.
I, you know, I want to say just so when, when you first the
movie starts off with a world ending, right?
And people just watching their lives kind of crumble around
(04:44):
them and but not knowing truly what's going on.
And there is something to be said of again, I wasn't, I
wasn't at death's door. I wasn't.
I didn't almost die, right, But I had something that could have
led to possible death, right? Well, right, if you didn't get
it checked out, you could have. I could have, right?
(05:05):
More of a chance than we would have liked, true.
And, and I think what's interesting is that when I'm
sitting in the hospital and I'm having all these experiences, it
does feel a little bit like yourworld could end And you don't
know why or what's necessarily going on because you're waiting
a lot of the time. You're waiting for blood work,
you're taking tests, you're waiting for a doctor to see you.
(05:26):
And so it is this really interesting comparison of the
literal world ending, but also your life ending and how big of
a question mark it all is and how you never know what's truly
waiting for you. Yeah, that's one of the biggest
things of this movie, I think, You know, people will take
different things away from it, but one of the core things is in
(05:48):
the face of even knowing and notknowing, doing those little
things that do bring you joy means so much more.
And those are the things that are literally going to build the
world's and universes inside of you who is a person.
It's not going to be the same assomebody else, but those little
tiny moments in this movie, there's a a through line with
dancing, right, And that's like one of the biggest set pieces
you've seen it in the trailer. It's on the poster.
(06:11):
Tom Hiddleston doing the dance. I believe he did it on Graham
Norton. It is the thing right for this
movie and it means so much when you see it.
Yes, it's a long like a long sequence.
I didn't think it was. I wanted more.
I could have been like this could have been two hours of Tom
Hiddleston dancing. I'm here for it.
But just doing those little tinythings that do set those ripples
and past present of you, of who you are is very important.
(06:35):
But I really like getting reallyinto the movie.
I think the structure of it, when I read the novella it's in
If it Bleeds, it's a collection of short stories from Stephen
King. But it was something that just
kind of stuck with me. And I'm like, this is
interesting. Like why is this one sticking
with me? So when it was being made into a
movie, The structure of it is odd because you start in Act 3
(06:56):
and the end of the movie ends inAct one, which is technically
the beginning of Chuck. So we're seeing the universe of
Chuck die and then we're gettinghow he got there.
So it's a definitely a feat thatFlanagan and crew had to do and
I think they pulled it off really well.
(07:17):
Yeah, I agree. I I the thing that I've noticed
about Mike Flanagan and especially really enjoying his
later, his later works, right? I saw Oculus and did he?
What's the one? Doctor Slute.
Doctor. Oh no, Doctor sleep I'll never
recover from. Fantastic.
Oh my God, what's the one that Kate is in where she's deaf?
(07:39):
Did he do that? That horror movie.
Hush, hush. So I saw Hush, saw Oculus, those
like kind of true slashery kind of horror things, and I thought
they were good. But now as time has gone on you
it really feels like he's honed his craft.
And what I love so much about Mike Flanagan is that he loves
the work that he's basing whatever it is on.
(08:01):
And you can tell the care that he's taking with it.
And you know, there is this Flaniverse and there are these
people, these actors that pop upin all of his works.
And I think part of that is, is yes, he's building this universe
or whatever, but I think he knows that he can trust them to
bring these characters to life. Because the interesting thing
is, is that right? Taking something like the life
(08:23):
of Chuck, which is a novella in a collection of stories and
loving it so much and caring about it so much and creating it
into a feature length film, I think shows that he he really
wants to bring it to life. And therefore he's going to take
care of it. And for Stephen King to, you
know, let that happen, I think is also, you know, a sign of
(08:46):
approval. I think, you know, Mike Flanagan
is definitely now become like the go to person for Stephen
King adaptations, like he just gets it.
But I think King knows that. Same thing with Edgar Allan Poe
with just any works. And Poe knows that.
And Poe does know that. But yeah, he, he, he does get
it. And I think that he loves
(09:08):
stories. And we love his stories when
it's very centered around people.
And it's like, yeah, there's horror and there's supernatural
things that are going along withit, but he just gets people in
the monologues. Look, if you like Midnight Mass,
if you like any of the The Hill House or Blind Manners, you're
going to see some of that seep through this.
It's just not as scary as some of those.
(09:30):
But there is terrifying elementsin this movie, man.
You'll get some monologues in this movie.
So good. So, so good.
Now, just looking at the story in itself, it really is a
blending of genres here. And and so it starts off with
this almost apocalyptic sensibility that we're feeling.
(09:50):
Then it gets into like a slice of life, you know,
bildungsroman, following a childthrough their life, watching
them grow up. And then there's also this sort
of like mystical element to it. So how did you do you think
those three or more genres fit together well and do you think
it was achieved in this? You know, taking my fanboy self
(10:13):
out of it. When I think of this story,
right, it's it's hard. It's a hard story.
If you're going to sit there andtry to really hyper analyze it,
because while it's called the life of Chuck, you don't really
get the life of Chuck. You see snippets, you see
vignettes of Chuck and kind of what brought him to his ultimate
(10:33):
end, unfortunately very, very early.
And so like when you when you think about that and then you
add in like, OK, so we got this like echoing through all of this
of of time, right, of the calendar, the cosmic calendar,
you kind of get the echo throughout the entire movie.
Then you get the multitudes. But then there's like that
supernatural element with his grandfather and the Coppola in
(10:54):
the house. So it's like there's a lot of
layers to this, which could seemlike a lot, but I think with the
understanding of like, you're kind of just getting snippets of
it and you don't really need to know all the answers to
everything. It works well.
Could I say I wanted it to be longer?
Yeah. For some of that stuff to be
fleshed out a little bit? Totally.
Would I think that Flanagan could have done this as a mini
(11:17):
series? Yeah.
And I think he could have reallyfleshed it out.
Ultimately, it did work well. It gave you some mystery.
Some of that mystery, when you find it out, it's like, oh,
yeah, it's what I thought it was.
And I think that's fine. I think that's totally fine for
something like that to happen. What about you?
Did you think it all worked? You know, I starting off where
it starts off, you know, you're just kind of trying to collect
(11:40):
clues and figuring things out. Once you get that reveal of
what's happening. I thought that really paid off.
I loved seeing one of my favorite parts of this was
probably the least, you know, supernatural part, which is
seeing I I'm calling him tween Chuck, played by Benjamin Pajak.
His whole is where he discovers his love of dancing and he sees
(12:02):
his grandmother dancing in the kitchen and he dances with the
girl at the prom and Oh my gosh,it's just so lovely and so sweet
and it's not scary in any way, right?
It's just watching this young boy find joy in life.
And I think I just gravitated towards that.
The only part that and I maybe it needed to be explored more.
(12:25):
Maybe that was the problem was the whole thing with the turret,
right? The Coppola.
The Coppola is that what is thisSofia Coppola?
It's that to me, maybe it was, it felt rushed.
Maybe we knew what was happeningalready.
I don't necessarily know if I needed it to be explained of why
that was happening up there, butit it seemed like the biggest
(12:46):
why is this in here? Yeah, so the the Coppola part is
obviously the the room upstairs where his grandfather had it
under lock and key and didn't want Chuck to go in there.
And it seems like you get a premonition.
I don't know how it works. Obviously we don't know.
But you get a premonition of somebody, even yourself, dying,
like how they're going to die. You know, his grandfather saw
(13:08):
it. He saw his grandmother die, he
saw his friend, he saw the neighbor kid.
And then Chuck ultimately saw himself in the hospital bed,
which, oh, God. I don't know who the editor is
for this or who makes those decisions, but some of just the
layering and editing, especiallywhen you see at the very end
when Chuck sees himself, but youhear the heartbeat monitor, but
you've heard it in the beginning.
(13:28):
It's just so masterfully done. Yeah.
I yeah, yeah. I think like that, that stuff.
I think we know what it is, right?
It's like it's just a part of this room that somehow is just
supernatural and shows you how you're going to die.
I don't like that part was the least interesting part to me
because when Chuck sees it and you kind of then you think back,
(13:49):
OK, what's Act 2 and 3? He kind of just wanted it to go
away. He just leaves the room and he's
like, OK, now I have answers of why I shouldn't have been in
here. I know where my end is, what is
going to happen in between. And one of the funniest things
about that is when you think about it, it's like he became an
accountant. It's something, but it's his
grandfather really talked to himabout like, dancing's not going
(14:11):
to get you where you need to go.Numbers are magic.
That monologue, Mark Hamill delivering this monologue was so
well done, but it was almost like he kind of Chuck in the
end, did both of what his parents or grandparents
instilled in him. He was able to dance with the
busker, and then he was able to become an accountant.
That led him to finding the joy of dancing again.
(14:33):
So there's this weird beauty in it, but it is a bummer.
Yeah, I think when you think about it in that way, it's
almost like by that point in hislife, maybe, you know, we know
he lost his parents, then he loses his grandparents, then
he's on his own for a little bit.
His, I think it's his paternal grandparents come and live with
him. Or maybe it's vice versa.
(14:54):
He also lost his unborn sister, right?
Had to throw that in there too. So, so it's almost like when he
sees his own death, it's like, well, what is one more death?
Yeah. And there's like this element of
so much sadness and he had a terrible start to his life.
And I think there's there's it sneaks in there a little bit,
like when you're like, oh, this is like incredibly sad, but also
(15:17):
incredibly joyous. But yeah, he, he started real.
Not great, not great. Everybody he knows just kind of
passed away. And then his grandparents are
dealing with their child and unborn grandchild passing away.
And now they're having to raise their child's child.
Just really. Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a
macabre world, but you can find your own joy in it.
(15:40):
But I do think that's the interesting part of knowing your
end and experiencing all this sadness, but then going on to
like, just continue to live a, apretty regular life, right.
He was just at an accounting conference and decided to dance
and then and then felt the pain and then knew it was coming.
(16:00):
Right. God, it's so sad.
And so sad and you know, one of the things I keep making this
about me, but wow. But one of the things like it's
funny and, and it's been, it'll be a month tomorrow that I got
the stent. And a lot of people always ask,
how are you, you know, and, and what happened?
(16:20):
And so I've told the story a lot.
And someone said to me today, gosh, isn't it so weird that you
were just living your life not knowing that there was this
blockage in your heart? And it is very much like that,
where he's living his life and then bam, it's the beginning of
the end. And I think that's one of the
the points of this movie, right?Is that like it?
(16:41):
It sounds so cliche. It's like you never know what's
going to happen and you don't. And even when in Chuck shoes,
you do know something is going to happen.
Maybe he doesn't know when he can see.
He's a little young. He doesn't know when, but you
know, hopefully he lived his life as joyous or even as normal
as you wanted it to be. And I think that's maybe that's
(17:03):
another take away I think from this movie is you don't, you
don't have to be a celebrity, right?
You don't have to be an influencer with millions of
followers. You could still be successful
and you can still find joy, evenif it's just in those little
achievements in your life. And I think that's what Chuck
did right? Yeah, his grandfather said a few
times. The waiting is the worst part.
(17:25):
And I think when Chuck did see himself, I think maybe he made a
conscious decision to like, maybe I'm not going to stress
over this. I hope you know we we lose a big
chunk of Chuck's. Life from college to right.
Adult so we can only think that maybe he just kind of lived his
life and continued you know he lost his grandparents ultimately
(17:47):
as well so he seemed OK ish and.And from what we know, right, he
was a sick, successful accountant.
He had a partner and child. And so he had, he made a life
for himself. He made a family for himself.
And maybe that was enough for him.
Maybe that was the one thing he was always missing in his life,
was just that stability of having that family.
(18:10):
Yeah, because he lost all of it.Yeah, constantly.
You know, it's funny, we've talked a lot about Chuck, but
Tom Hiddleston himself is not inthe movie as much as you would
think. This movie starts off very much
without Chuck. You only see him as the mystery
of like, who is this Chuck? Thanks for 39 years inside his
universe inside himself. You know, the the beginning of
the movie is him dying because everybody contains the universe
(18:33):
inside of them. So there's so many players in
this movie, everybody from Kate Siegel, who we love, all the way
to Matthew Lillard. There's voice act, there's
people that do voice work that have been in the Flaniverse
before. Sling later Carla Cugino so.
Yeah, literally. This could be his, like, magnum
opus. This is like everybody he's
really ever worked with is here.Even baby Mel from The Haunting
(18:58):
of Hill House is in this. When she came in those skates, I
was like and. She's like a teenager now.
So old, so it was really fun to see all that, but was there any
like stand up performances for you?
Well, like I said before, I who I think is new to the
Flaniverse, I thought Benjamin Padjack really did an incredible
job for such a young actor, really carrying these scenes and
(19:19):
adding so much heart to it. Another like person that I
thought really brought a lot to it and they're not on screen was
actually Nick Offerman as the narrator of this.
There's something about his voice that I just find very
soothing, and in this it feels like he's almost telling you a
tale of a life well lived. He's he's very plucky.
I don't, I don't know the right word to say because he's not
(19:40):
narrating it like a normal narrator would narrate a movie.
It's kind of like off the cuff, but like nonchalant plucky.
I really, it really worked well for me.
Yeah, almost. He just has a great narrating
voice. Yeah.
Yeah, I really enjoyed that. How about you who who had some
stand out performances? Well, I mean, they all did.
I think everybody, even Carl Lumbley, who I think is the
(20:02):
undertaker maybe and. Inside Chuck it talks to Morty.
Oh my God, Morty and Felicia's story and there is just I think
really beautiful and really sad.I love that whole first act.
I thought it was really good. There's a there's a scene where
Morty goes to find his ex-wife and I think there's an
(20:23):
interesting conversation there of like when the world's ending,
like who do you want to be with?Like what is the thing that you
find comforting? And it goes finds his ex-wife,
who is Felicia, and there's justa scene where he gets to her
house and there's ghost chucks in all the windows.
And as soon as she sees them, she's like, oh, thank God.
And like, that moment, to me, I was like, this is so like, that
(20:45):
first act in the movie. I was like, I don't know.
It just says so much. It's like you just want to be
with that person or in that place that you just like, OK?
It's it's when it all comes downto it, when it's the final
moments. It's not about all the wrongs.
It should be about all the rights right for and when Marty
and and Felicia come together that last second.
(21:10):
They're holding hands. It's heartbreaking, and when you
find out what that last second is, it just gave me chills.
Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's very good.
I think structurally they did a really good job in telling this
tale because the way it's told adds to the story.
One of my favorite scenes in here, aside from the busker
(21:31):
scene, which is just, I mean, it's just so joyful and it's
amazing. I I keep going back and forth
between two monologues that I really like.
That really stood out to me. But I got to give it to Kate
Siegel and the I Contain multitudes monologue that she
tells like baby Chuck. It was just so beautifully done
(21:51):
and to see these people that he put inside of his universe that
we're in passing or made an impression in him was just
really kind. And I don't know, I just love
the fact that this teacher who tried to teach this class that
wanted nothing to do with her, but this one student asked her
and she was able to make an impression on him and that's all
(22:12):
that matters. And, and I think that in that
scene, like you're saying, she just needed someone to see her,
but he also needed someone to see him.
They did it for each other. They did it for each other and
it, it was, you know, a student and a teacher and it's just a it
is a really beautiful moment. And, and when you're listening
to her, you know, the, the anglethat we see as the viewers that
(22:34):
we are Chuck, right? And she's looking in our mind,
in our eyes, and she's telling us all this stuff.
And it's like, yes, I contain multitudes.
Yeah, I just love the like, what's in between my hands and
he's like my brain. I'm like, that was me.
That was me. Absolutely.
That still is me. Yes, yeah.
So yeah, I love. Do you have any?
Like stand up, perform like scenes I would say.
(22:57):
I keep going back to it, and maybe this is because I was a
little boy who danced, but thereis that beautiful moment when he
gets to dance with the girl he has the crush on and they knock
everybody's socks off. And you see, though, you see
Felicia in the background, right?
She was just, yeah, she was justmaybe a faculty member or a
parent, but she made an impression on him.
(23:18):
And, and she lived in his mind. And so that whole scene and, and
him not really getting any Flackfor being a boy who dances and
just enjoying it. And even though his grandfather
told him it would get him nowhere, he still knew that it
brought him happiness. Yeah, the whole scene, like I
loved. I can't remember what the the
after school program was, was like spinners and twirlers.
(23:39):
Sounds about right. I loved all of that.
I loved him learning how to dance and like the whole class.
And then he ended up teaching the class how to moonwalk.
It was just beautiful. But I loved, oh, just the the
scene where you find out why Chuck started with the the two
fingers in the air when you see his grandmother do it because
she just loved to dance and listen to music that some rock
(24:01):
music, Yeah, maybe. Or somebody her age didn't want
to listen to. Just so good.
I think this is probably one of the happiest movies, mostly that
we've ever talked about. But isn't that so interesting
that it's like, it brings us such joy, but it's about ends in
some senses? Right.
Well, it's told in reverse. So it's almost like we kind of,
we deal with the sad and get sadin the beginning, but it's like
(24:23):
we deal with the sad, but then we get to see him as a little
tiny kid. Yeah, a little tiny kid, Yeah.
Oh, man, I'm just so excited. Let us know what you think of
this. If I had to rate it, I want to
rate it. Let's rate it.
We need to get better at rating things because what we're
reviewing, that's what reviewersdo. 4 out of five, Just I think
4 out of five it's, it's nearly like great and perfect.
(24:48):
But, you know, there's just somethings where I'm like, yeah,
like the story itself doesn't really give a lot.
And that's on purpose. And it's like part of me just
wants more. But I think 4 out of 5 is.
That's where I'm at. I give it multitudes.
No, I give it I'm. I'm actually going to give it
(25:09):
4.5 stars out of five. Guys, this is like history
making. It's a Stephen King story with
Mike Flanagan and Derek loves it.
Just, you know. Winning.
Just when sometimes in life you see something or you read
something just at the right time, and I think I saw this at
(25:32):
just the right time. Yeah, well, if he didn't have
his heart almost explode. I wouldn't have seen it.
I wouldn't have been able to sayhe likes the Stephen King thing.
That's true. Listen, things in life happen
and change your perspective, yeah.
OK, Yeah. Let us know what you think.
If you saw it, if you're waitingto see it, why?
But yeah. And stay tuned.
(25:53):
Or an interview. Oh yeah, Karen Gillan.
How? Can I forget?
Yeah. It's not over yet, but you know,
it'll be over after the interview.
So carry on. Thank you so much for taking the
time to speak with me today. I want to say that this film was
like at the top of my most anticipated list for this year.
Wow. I adore.
I adore it so much. And also congratulations for
(26:15):
getting People's Choice a TIFF. That's amazing.
Oh thanks, yeah that was wild and so exciting.
Well deserved. I wanted to start with just kind
of your initial thoughts when you read the script for the
first time and getting to work with my clan again again after
all these years because you did Oculus what in 2013?
(26:35):
Oh yeah, I worked with Mike right at the beginning of his
career and he brought me over toAmerica, literally got me my
visa to be in America. So we were both, you know, way
younger and earlier in our careers.
And I had such a brilliant experience doing Oculus.
Like I still look back on that and and yearn to be back there
doing that. I'm so nostalgic for it and it
(26:57):
was just such a brilliant time in my life.
So I wanted to reunite with him for so long, to kind of just get
back to that sort of headspace again 'cause it was so great.
And then I was like, when we're working together, I, I visited
him on set and stuff. And then he was like, we will,
we will. And then he came to me with life
(27:18):
of Chuck. And I would have said yes
without even reading it. But of course I read the script
and was like, oh, this is a no brainer.
It was just such a beautifully written script and it made me
kind of really examine my own life and how I'm spending my
precious time living it. And I thought that's such a
special project to be involved with.
Yeah, and it's one of those things where it makes you feel
(27:41):
all the types of emotions, right, of just, oh, what is it
like going to be at the end? You don't know, Maybe you do
know, And then who are those people and what's the joy that
you find along that way? Or where do you want to be when
that time eventually comes? And I think, and specifically
Marty and Felicia do such an amazing job of, you know, you
(28:01):
guys kind of introduce this mystery, this tone, this world
and what's going on, right? You guys are the multitudes
contained inside of Chuck. What went into bringing that
character to life? Because this this movie is told
in reverse order, right? And you guys are at the end, but
you're also at the beginning. Yeah, I mean, from an outsider
(28:21):
perspective, I was aware of all of that stuff, but when I was
playing the character, I kind ofjust focused in on what she
would genuinely be feeling in those moments.
You know, she wasn't aware of ofbeing in the head of somebody
else or anything. She was genuinely just dealing
with the end of everything. She's a nurse and people all
(28:44):
around her are giving up and she's fighting hard to remain
optimistic in a really dire situation.
And then finally, she reaches out to her ex-husband Marty to
to feel love and comfort in her final moments.
And yeah, it was just a really interesting thing to ask myself
(29:05):
how I might feel at the end of everything.
And so many different emotions came up.
In the very kind of end of that you guys meet you and your
ex-husband and you meet and you get to be together.
And when she sees them, she's like, oh thank God you're here.
So in a previous interview you aquestion was asked like what was
(29:27):
your joy? What is the joy that you find in
your day-to-day? And you had said something about
it was like films, right? Films are your your thing that
brings you joys, creating them and being in them.
Is that still how you feel and now?
And is there a film that brings you joy no matter what, any time
that you put it on? Now my answer would be my
(29:48):
daughter. I've probably become a mother
since answering that question, but yeah, films absolutely.
So bring me joy. Actually, what's so fun is that
I get to show her films for the first time.
Now, the films that bring me joyand I get to watch her enjoy
them. So that's going to be even
better because there's a whole other layer on top of it.
But I'm going to say Little Shopof Horrors.
(30:10):
For me, it is my joy film. I just loved it as a kid.
I thought it was called The Plant because my dad had
recorded it off the TV and put alabel on it that just said The
Plant and it was just my favorite film growing up.
That's amazing and I'd love thatyou get to share that joy with
your daughter and then you get to see their joy of experiencing
(30:32):
those films, your favorite filmsfor the first time.
That's that's so special. Was this is there?
What was your first introductionto Stephen King like?
Are you Stephen King fan? Do you read the books or was
this your kind of first tipping toes into the water?
I'm much more familiar with the film adaptations rather than the
books so. But yeah, fan a fan of those.
(30:55):
Absolutely. Like The Shining is probably my
favorite film now. Love it.
But I love so many of his adaptations.
Shawshank Redemption and also I love Gerald's Game.
I thought that was a brilliant movie.
Another Mike Flanagan one, and so hard to adapt to that story
because so much of it takes place in the main character's
(31:17):
head and she's talking to versions of herself.
But Flanagan found a way to put it on the screen.
As he does right, he he likes toadapt the unadaptable and
somehow can figure it out. So I have I have like 2 more
questions for you. What do you hope audiences take
away from the life of Chuck? I hope that they go away and ask
(31:38):
themselves the same questions that I asked myself after
reading it for the first time, which was, you know, I asked
myself like, am I spending my time the way that I'll be happy
about when it's the end of everything and I can look back
and am I doing anything that that I could be proud of?
And am I finding enough moments of joy?
I think those are valuable things to ask yourself.
(31:59):
I feel like a lot of media doesn't actually ask us that,
right? It's always it's it's we need
more things that are doing this.Yeah, it feels like it's coming
at the right time. Yes yes, very much and then you
you're in the MCU, you've been in the universe, which I still
have to watch the finale. It's it's out today.
I haven't been able to watch it yet and then I'm so excited.
(32:20):
I saw that you were on unleashed.
So that's right, the rumour saysthat you're in Doctor Who
Unleashed. The episode that's the like the
sort of a documentary, yes. Yes, OK, very excited.
So MCU universe, the Flaniverse as they've coined it.
So you've been in two kind of properties that have Tom
Hiddleston in them, but I don't think you've shared a scene with
(32:42):
him yet. Is there?
Like, are you actively avoiding it?
No, I'm just kidding. I like to.
Be in films with Tom, but will not be on set with him.
It's in my country. Totally kidding.
I would love to finally be on screen with him, for God's sake.
I'm such a fan of his work. I think he's a brilliant,
(33:03):
brilliant actor and it would be nice to finally share a scene
with him in one of our films. Then not just the ghost kind of
apparition behind him in the window, it's in this movie.
Yeah, exactly the real deal. I want the real Tom.
Well, thank you so much. Thank you for taking the time to
answer these questions. And I cannot wait to see what
(33:24):
you do next. And if you're going to be in the
next Flanagan thing that's coming out, that would be
amazing. Thank you so much.
Well, who knows? Fingers crossed.
Thank you. Cheers.
Bye. Bye.
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