For fans of the Chucky franchise, it’s hard to imagine there was ever a time when Jennifer Tilly’s character Tiffany wasn’t a part of it, because she’s become such an iconic slice of its mythos. But it wasn’t until the fourth film that Tilly made her first appearance as the titular Bride of Chucky — and it’s a role that almost didn’t happen. “When I first did Tiffany, in Bride of Chucky, 23 years ago, I wasn’t familiar with horror films, and I kind of had never really watched them. And I sort of didn’t want to do it,” says Tilly, reflecting on when she was first offered the role.
Fortunately, her friend and Bound castmate Gina Gershon spoke up, encouraging her to take it. “[Gina] said to me, ‘Jennifer you should do it, you’ll have a franchise because every actor wants a franchise.’ And I thought, well, I’m not going to have a franchise because Tiffany dies in Bride of Chucky. She dies twice,” she laughs. It also helped that she fell in love with Tiffany as soon as she read that first script. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, this Tiffany is such a funny character.’ Like, I kind of loved her. I just sort of loved how she was so [not] self-aware,” Tilly says. “She sees herself as a good person, but she’s really not a very good person. And she’s really in love, desperately in love with Chucky. And then when they both turn into dolls and they’re having doll sex, I was like, I’ve never seen this before, anywhere.”
While she had a great time with the character, Tilly assumed that would be the last time she would portray the homicidal doll. She was very surprised, then, when creator Don Mancini called her out of the blue a couple of years later to ask if she was up for another Chucky film — leaving Tilly confused. After all, by the end of Bride, Tiffany wasn’t just dead, but burnt to a crisp. “‘’Haha,' he goes, “in the Chucky universe, everybody comes back to life again and again — and again,” she recalls. And it’s proven true yet again, with the arrival of the SyFy series Chucky.
The show’s first four episodes focus on a brand new set of characters. At the story’s center is Jake — a young gay kid who’s first being mentored, then menaced, by Chucky — along with a group of friends and frenemies (and a boyfriend!) who are trying to take down the serial killing doll in their midst. However, episode five gave die-hard fans what they’ve been waiting for: the triumphant (and bloody) return of Tiffany.
Again, this time around started with a call from Mancini. “Don is one of my best friends. We have the same sense of humor. We have a very sort of, you know, campy, self-referential humor... and I would do anything he asked me to,” she shares.
Thankfully, Tiffany is a role that Tilly’s always excited to revisit. “I never get bored with her. And she sort of turns the corner in this series. Like, every time I think `OK, I know who Tiffany is.’ Then I’m like, ‘Oh, she did that?’” she shares. And the surprises keep coming in the Chucky series, including the revelation of Tiffany’s backstory in episode five, which includes her and Chucky’s twisted and gruesome meet-cute. ”I didn’t realize she was so bloodthirsty,” says Tilly. “I’m like, ‘Oh, you really are bad, aren’t you?’ Because [when you play a] character you have to love them. So, I see in Tiffany that she wants to be a good mom. And she knows killing is bad. And once in a while she accidentally kills someone that she feels really awful about it afterward. She’s trying to be a better person,” the actor explains, adding that the show revealed a new side of the character for her. “But it’s like, no, she really, she really loves killing...she’s almost as bad as Chucky,” she laughs.
But Tiffany isn’t just a killer, she’s also a lover, and she has a brand new love interest this time around — well, actually, it’s complicated. In the most recent film, Cult of Chucky, the titular Chucky succeeds in transferring a part of his soul into the body of a woman named Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) who rides off into the sunset with Tiffany. When we meet up with these two in episode five, the love affair is on, but there’s a wrinkle in that Nica’s still in there and Tiffany has fallen in love with “Nica-Chucky” — and is ready to throw her erstwhile paramour over in lieu of a new lesbian romance. Swoon.
Tilly’s just as thrilled with this turn of events. “Fiona is such a phenomenal actress. It’s so great to do scenes with her because she’s really improvisational. Like, if I throw something at her, she’ll improvise right back... we’re really in sync in terms of that,” she says, adding, “and she’s a good kisser, too!”
It’s another way in which the show is the most unapologetically queer entry in the franchise — which is saying a lot, as it’s been pretty gay for a long time. But it’s that kind of inclusion, plus all the delicious camp, that Tilly credits its incredible fanbase to. “The thing I love about the Chucky fandom is so they're so loyal. There's so much love and adoration coming from the Chucky fans and also the LGBTQ+ community. Even before this, this television series Chucky has a huge gay following,” she shares. “I cannot tell you how many drag queens have Tiffany in their act and how many Tiffany tattoos I see. And how many people dress up like me for Halloween — men and women and little kids, of course. So it's really nice to be part of something so iconic. And so epic,” she gushes.
Tilly’s no stranger to being beloved by the queer community, and the role of a gay icon is one that she relishes. “The way I dress and present myself, I'm kind of like a drag queen, I'm like, ‘more eyelashes,’” she jokes. “When I was promoting Chucky, I had The Blondes make me this bedazzled dress, it has a big Tiffany on the front of it... and there was a leather jacket to go with it that said, ‘the bad bitch is back.’ I'm like a total stunt queen,” she laughs.
“The lesbian community has been so wonderful to me,” shares Tilly, whose roles in Bound, Bullets Over Broadway, and Relax...It’s Just Sex made her an LGBTQ+ favorite, something that’s deeply meaningful to the actor. “I get asked to present at the GLAAD awards and be a judge at Quest for The Crown. And so it's just like the most wonderful community. I'm really proud to be a part of it in my own little way. I don't want to let anybody down.”
She needn’t worry. If anything, her latest turn as Tiffany is only going to endear her further, because she’s back and queerer than ever — something Tilly’s been dying to share with the world — and then some. “I have all these pictures I took on the set that I'm going to release into the universe of me and Nica in lingerie,” she teases. “I just like to have fun with it. If you can't have fun playing Tiffany, a killer doll in high heels that has wisecracks, what's the point of anything?”
Chucky is currently airing Tuesdays on SyFy and USA.
