Summary

• Chucky season 3 part 2 brings gory kills that top even Halloween's "Dressed To Kill."
• Tiffany Valentine's complex love for Chucky and strange dynamic with Nica add layers to the storyline, according to Jennifer Tilly.
• The future of Chucky's franchise looks bright with potential for more movies and seasons, and Tilly hopes to be a part of them all.

Chucky season 3 left fans with a gory Halloween party, but the kills are only about to get bloodier as the possessed doll takes over the White House. While Chucky (Brad Dourif) was busy making sacrifices to Damballa to regain his health, his great love Tiffany Valentine (played by the effervescent Jennifer Tilly) began utilizing her voodoo supplies to slash her way out of death row.

Tilly has been a major player in the Child's Play movies since 1998's Bride of Chucky, so viewers were nothing short of thrilled when she returned in full force for Chucky season 2. Why Tiffany is still trapped in human form (and not yet free from prison bars) and Chucky is still cursed to die, the flames between them keep burning strong and leave audiences rooting for a reunion. At the same time, Tiffany's feelings for Nica (Fiona Dourif) grew last season when the latter was Chucky, meaning there is plenty of unresolved tension to go around.

Screen Rant interviewed Tilly about what to expect from Tiffany Valentine's storyline in the back half of Chucky season 3. The acclaimed actor shared her nuanced take on Tiffany's love for Chucky as well as fondness for Nica, and explained why she's ready to stay in the Child's Play franchise for "another 50 years."

How Tiffany Feels About Chucky Vs. Nica In Season 3

Screen Rant: In season 3, both Tiffany and Chucky are very vulnerable to death, whether it's facing death row or death by Catholic curse. Do you think that brings them together? What's next for them as a relationship?

Jennifer Tilly: I think what drives Tiffany mostly is love. She wants to be loved. Even when she's screaming, "I hate you!" and cutting off Chucky's head, she really loves him. Because hate is the other side of love, and I thought if she hates him that much, she must really be in love with him. One of the things that she always wanted is for Chucky to need her, and he never needs her. He's the epitome of toxic masculinity, and she just always wants a little reciprocation. Which is why I believe she fell in love with Nica when Chucky was in Nica, because some of Chucky would come through and have compassion and be sweet to Tiffany. That was what she always craved.

This season, because Chucky is now old, decrepit, and needing her, I think that really does make her happy. She's able to give him advice, like, "Chucky, don't you want to be the greatest serial killer of all time?" And he's listening to her instead of brushing her off like he normally does. She's also really vulnerable too, as she's facing her own mortality. She's always asking about Glen/Glenda, and, "Have you heard from GiGi?" She just wants, before she goes, to know that somebody cares about her too, and she's not just going to vanish off the face of the Earth without a blip and nobody sorry that she's gone.

I think this is a turning point for Chucky and Tiffany, and they'll get back to being the bound-together couple that they were in the beginning. I think the fans are gonna really like that.

I do love that there's a bit of a soft spot for Nica, even though Nica clearly does not feel that way. Can you describe Tiffany's feelings towards her now that she's not Chucky?

Jennifer Tilly: I just think it's really funny because, even when I see Fiona doing publicity, she's like, "Nica's gonna back at Tiffany!" And I'm like, "What did I do?" Sure, Tiffany cut off her arms and legs, but it needed to be done. It's like when you put a dog on a leash so it won't run away, it's because you love it. You don't want it to stray. I think that Nica's trajectory is pretty amazing this season too, and I think [one] scene that they have together encompasses all the things that the fans love about them. They call us Niffany, and they love seeing Nica and Tiffany together!

I think that Nica, even though she hates Tiffany, does have a little bit of a soft spot for her. I think that there's a lot of comedy in that. When Tiffany was in the courtroom, and she sees Nica come up to the stand, she's so excited and happy to see her again. [Laughs] When I was watching the playback, I thought, "That's a little crazy..." But she hadn't seen her in so long, and Nica looks so damn fine.

At the end of that scene where Nica's all, "I'm gonna come and watch you be executed. And I'm gonna roll my wheelchair back and forth across your grave," what Tiffany is feeling is [gratitude], like, "Yay. I'm not going to be alone when I get executed. Nica promises she'll be here!" All the relationships are so dysfunctional, my gosh.

Jennifer Tilly Pays Respect To Don Mancini's Vision & Chucky's Future

When you first joined us in Chucky, I thought it was one and done. So, I'm excited that it feels like you're here to stay.

Jennifer Tilly: I did too! 26 years ago, when I got Bride of Chucky, Gina Gershon encouraged me to take it. She said, "You'll have a franchise. That's what every actor wants!" And I thought, "Well, she does die horribly at the end of the movie, but okay." And then nobody's more surprised than me when Don Mancini called me a couple of years later and said, "Hey, want to come back to Chucky?" I was like, "Wait, I thought I was dead." I obviously wasn't that familiar with the lore - at the end of every one, Chucky dies and keeps coming back, just like a cockroach.

This franchise started decades ago, but it seems like there is no end in sight. Don's talking about bringing back movies. Where do you see it going, and how long do you want Tiffany to be a part of that journey?

Jennifer Tilly: We've done 7 movies and 3 seasons of Chucky, which I think is because Don truly loves the franchise. He loves the characters. He's Chucky's biggest fan. When he gets a new script assignment, he's like, "What am I gonna do?" He has this big box of Lego blocks and is like, "What am I gonna build?" He's being a superfan asking, "What do the fans want to see?"

Like when he brought Alex Vincent [as Andy Barclay] back. The studio was like, "Let's bring back that little boy from Child's Play," and they give him a list of people they thought would be really good to play the part. And he goes, "No, Alex is gonna play that part?. That's who he is." And the studio's like, "Has he acted since he was 8?" Which he hadn't, he's in the Rock'n'Roll business now. But Don was right, everybody went wild. The fans were like, "Oh, my God, he's back and he's a bearded vigilante and he's out for revenge." It makes it seem like the universe is real. He also brought back Christine Elise, who played the babysitter in Child's Play 2.

He loves doing the television series, he told me, because he was able to encompass all the storylines. He also managed to bring back the much reviled Glen/Glenda. After Seed of Chucky, the studio was basically like, "Let's pretend this unpleasantness never happened." The next few movies and everything, they never ever mentioned Glen/Glenda. In fact, I did mention it in Cult of Chucky, I had a line about Glen/Glenda, and the studio was like, "Take that out." But now the time is ripe for Glen/Glenda to return, and they had Glen/Glenda played by the wonderful Lachlan Watson. Lachlan played both parts, and Lachlan is also a non-binary performer, so it was really the perfect casting. And the audience loved Lachlan in that part!

I think that that's where Don being an out and proud gay man himself [comes in]. He's very sensitive to the gay community and their concerns. The coming-of-age story at the center of the whole Chucky television series between Jake and Devon has his memories of when he was coming of age. It's beautifully written, and you can literally take Chucky and Tiffany out of it and still have it be an amazing story of life in a small town.

Tiffany's different because she's very campy, very drag queen funny, and she's from a different universe. But it's really fascinating to me to see how well she dovetails into this universe of a small town and a hyper-realistic scenario. And then you have this person that's larger than life. I'm so happy that Don brought me along for the ride because I honestly thought that I would have a little cameo and pass the baton to the new generation, but I was so happy to find out I had a major part. I love the Chucky fans, the Chucky franchise, and Don Mancini. I hope I'm going to be in it as long as it goes on. I can see Chucky going on for another 50 years, honestly. There's always something new and exciting.

About Chucky Season 3

In Chucky’s unending thirst for power, season 3 now sees Chucky ensconced with the most powerful family in the world — America's First Family, inside the infamous walls of the White House. How did Chucky wind up here? What in God’s name does he want? And how can Jake, Devon, and Lexy possibly get to Chucky inside the world’s most secure building, all while balancing the pressures of romantic relationships and growing up? Meanwhile, Tiffany faces a looming crisis of her own as the police close in on her for “Jennifer Tilly’s” murderous rampage last season.

Check back soon for our other Chucky interviews with:

• Devon Sawa & Don Mancini
• Zackary Arthur, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Björgvin Arnarson

New episodes of Chucky season 3 begin airing April 10 at 10pm ET/PT on SYFY and USA Network.