Five Nights At Freddy’sis out, and it has beena surprise smash at the box officedespitereleasing on Peacock the very same day. While it captured the essence of the games for super fans and nostalgia lovers, the film was also able to play on horror fan nostalgia by castingMatthew Lillardas the film’s main villain. Lillard plays William Afton with the same goofy yet sinister vibe that he brings to his roles, mainly hisoriginal villain performance as Stu in 1996’sScream. Throughout his career, Lillard has proven himself time and time again as one of the best in the horror business; yet for some reason, he still isn’t the first scream king that comes to mind for many. Matthew Lillard undoubtedly deserves the title of most beloved scream king for his versatility and ability to deliver every time he is handed a script. He is a veteran who is coming back to claim the crown of Scream King, and hopefully,Five Nights at Freddy’sis only the beginning of the Matthew Lillard reconnaissance!
Matthew Lillard’s Horror Roles
Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go To College
Serial Mom
Stu Macher
The Curve (Dead Man’s Curve)
Thirteen Ghosts
Five Nights At Freddy’s
William Afton
What Horror Movies Has Matthew Lillard Been In?
Matthew Lillard’s first role was actually in a horror film. Lillard starred as Stork inGhoulies III: Ghoulies Go To Collegein 1991. The part could be considered rather forgettable, but it did get his foot in the door of thriller and horror movies. His second role came inSerial Mom, where he starred as Chip Sutphin, the son of Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) who gains celebrity status from being a serial killer.Serial Momcame out in 1994, just two years before his breakout horror role as Stu inScream. Stu and Billy (Skeet Ulrich) became the slasher icons of the ’90s and that legacy has carried into pop culture even today. Quotes from Stu like “liver alone” and “my mom and dad are going to be so mad at me” are the sounds heard around the world by horror lovers. From here, Lillard starred as Tim inThe Curve(akaDead Man’s Curve) in 1998 and then as Dennis inThirteen Ghostsin 2001. Lillard’s acting career has spanned many genres, but the majority of his roles come from comedy and horror.
What Makes Matthew Lillard a Great Scream King?
There are many scream kings in horror right now, but Lillard has been among the best for decades. He provides a criminally underrated performance in any role that he has.His ability to seamlessly shift from goofy, fun-loving sidekick to insane and demented murdererkeeps audiences guessing. InScream, Stu is framed as the party guy with not quite enough brain cells to planthe Ghostface attacks. The scene where Stu, Billy, andRandy (Jamie Kennedy)are in the video store is a perfect example of almost giving it away that Stu is a killer, but balancing it out well with his slacker vibes that make the audience roll their eyes at the thought. In the scene, Stu goes from having shifty-eyes at Randy claiming everyone is a suspect to laughing, tongue out and all, at Randy’s frustration with the lack of leads.
Lillard’s range is shown here and inthe final kitchen scene between Stu, Billy, and Sidney(Neve Campbell). In about ten minutes, the audience gets taken on a roller coaster ride of emotions from Stu. First, we see him maniacally laughing and poking fun atthe heinous murder of Sidney’s momand the other crimes they’ve committed. Next, we almost see regret and remorse when he realizes that he has to get stabbed. Plus, the line “my mom and dad are going to be so mad at me” was completely ad-libbed by Lillard and his genius shines through in those moments. Even in tense scenes of death and destruction, Lillard has an uncanny way of hitting the mark for comedic relief every time.
InFive Nights At Freddy’s, Lillard gives a slightly less obvious performance as a villain. It might just be less apparent because he’s only in a few scenes in the entire movie, but those couple of scenes give a chance for Lillard to shine in the duality of insanity and hilarity that he naturally has. In the first few scenes that we see Lillard, he is playing a very unassuming job counselor by the name of Steven Raglan.He delivers the same perfectly timed one-linersthat we can expectfrom the actor. The best example of this is when Mike asks how the pay is and Steve says “Not great, but the hours are worse.” The deadpan, quick-witted response is exactly what Lillard always delivers on. Later on, when we discover Raglan is William Afton, child serial kidnapper and killer, Lillard lets loose on the psycho killer vibes andhis monologue will make horror lovers smirkwith how much it resembles his Stu performance.
How Does Lillard’s Role In ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s Mirror His Iconic Role From ‘Scream’?
There are many callbacks to Stu duringWilliam Afton’s final battle scene. Just like inScream, and becomes increasingly unhinged when talking about the kids he murdered. In bothScreamandFreddy’s,Lillard delivers the most sinister lines with wide eyes and a slight smirk on his face, truly leaning into the characters and how out of touch with reality they are. There is a slight evolution from Stu to William, however, considering Stu was Billy’s pawn and this time the children/animatronics are William’s pawns. Lillard is at his best when he is giving performances with a full range of emotions. At the drop of blood, Lillard can change his expression from pure rage to gleeful mania to panicked regret and back again without a rift. There is another nod little detail that can be linked toScream. At the very end of the movie, lying practically lifeless on the floor of the arcade, Afton wheezes out “I always come back.” You wouldn’t be blamed for immediately hearing Stu tease “I’ll be right baaaack” in your head. That truly is symmetry, my friend.
Matthew Lillard Can Play Both the Villain and the Hero
While he is so good at being bad, Matthew Lillard isn’t always a killer. His ability to play a slacker with little ambition, hilarious one-liners, and goofy ambiance isn’t only reserved to throw everyone off his scent when he’s a deranged murderer. Lillard is also widely known for his roles as thelovable and goofy Shaggy inScooby-Dooand the anarchist punk Stevo inSLC Punk!The timing of his lines as Shaggy is so seamless that you would assume it wasn’t a script and was entirely made up on the spot. There is another horror movie where Lillard doesn’t play a killer either, and that’s Dennis inThirteen Ghosts. Dennis still gets a chance to have his comedic relief but plays it a bit more paranoid and worried, and rightfully so given the caliber of ghosts in the glass house. Dennis is a psychic who helps Cryus (F. Murray Abraham) capture ghosts to use for his ritual.No matter the role, Matthew Lillard just has a sixth sense of when to hit his markand what tone to use to flawlessly convey his emotion in the moment. With Lillard’s return to horror inFive Nights At Freddy’s, let’s keep our fingers and toes crossed that we can see him in more upcoming horror films.The Life Of Chuckis filming nowandLillard is confirmed as part of the cast. Dreams and nightmares do come true!
