Since his leading role in The Haunting in Connecticut, Kyle Gallner has become a reliable face in the horror world. Over the years he has fought against both Freddy Krueger and Ghostface with mixed results. 2023’s Smile was a smash-hit and Gallner has recently been announced as reprising his role of Joel. Add to this, turns in Jennifer’s Body and The Cleansing Hour, and it is clear that Kyle had earned his Scream King crown.
All week we’ve been sharing our exclusive in-depth discussion with Gallner, looking at his recent films Mother, May I? and The Passenger. For today’s final instalment, we cast our minds back further into the actor’s career. We discuss his work within the horror genre, playing a superhero in Smallville, and the beloved Dinner in America.
We’re both mid-eighties babies, Scream was the definitive horror series when we were growing up. So how does it feel when you’re then on set, and you’re faced with Ghostface.
It was cool. It was nostalgic. Like you said, Scream was that movie. I remember seeing it, I remember people talking about it, I remember watching it and being really blown away because it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Ghostface is such an iconic character that when the movie came around, I was really excited to read for it.
I had a Skype / Zoom interview with the Radio Silence guys and I read for the film. I didn’t get the role that I read for, that went to Jack Quaid. But they liked me and we hit it off, and they reached out and they were like, “look do you just want to come hang out and come play and come get killed?” It’s an impossible thing to say no to. I wanted to work with those guys. I wanted to meet and hang out with those guys, and also I don’t know when I would ever get another opportunity to get killed by Ghostface, so why wouldn’t I show up?
It was fun, it was exciting. Ghostface, you see the black robe and see him walk up and the mask is on and it does, it makes you tremble a little bit, just because it’s so ingrained in your psyche of what that is. You know who he is, and what he’s done, or what Ghostface has done, I should say he or she. It was a very cool moment. It’s one of those check it off the list type of things.
And then came Smile. The little film that could, that came out of nowhere. It was originally meant to be a streamer and then it had this mighty marketing campaign, becoming this massive monster. What was the experience like watching its journey and trajectory?
It was pretty insane. Because it was always only supposed to be a Paramount Plus, straight to the channel, streaming movie. The script was cool and I really liked Parker [Finn] when we met. He seemed like a really smart guy and Sosie [Bacon] I think is great. It was one of those things that you read it and you’re like, “okay, this could be cool. Hopefully people watch it” because you just, you just never know with streaming stuff. I’ve had some streaming stuff that might as well have not even come out.
So we finished the movie and I went home, and went about my life and didn’t even really think about it again, until Parker reached out and was like, “Hey, this thing tested through the roof, I think they’re gonna send it to theatres.” I was kind of gobsmacked by it. Again, you just never know what’s going to happen. You never know what’s going to make it to a movie theatre, and even when something makes it to a movie theatre, you never know if it’s going to make a billion dollars or no money at all. So there was that initial excitement of like, “oh wow it’s going to go to theatres. But how’s it going to do?” you know?
Like you said, they had this marketing campaign that… whoever was in charge of that needs every promotion in the world because the marketing campaign was genius. It was a pretty wild thing to see it do really well that opening weekend, and then do even better the next because the word of mouth was so good. We were all just sort of sitting back and watching this thing take off. And wait, there’s no way it’s going to keep going or make this much money, and it just kept going and building. Me and Sosie were texting each other, “can you believe this is happening?” It was really exciting.
When I got started, movies was what I wanted to do. That was my thing. I loved, loved, loved movies. TV wasn’t what it is today. There’s incredible TV out and amazing writing and storytelling and acting and things like that. But I’ve always just had this sort of affinity and love for film, and when Smile came out and I was able to see it on a big screen and see in the movie theatre it really hit me, how rare that is now. How rare an opportunity it is to be in a film that’s in the movie theatres that does well, that people are going to see and people are really watching and enjoying. It was a very cool moment and it took me back to where it all started, this moment of “Wow this is everything I wanted.” This is it, this is what I love. This is that communal film going experience. This is everybody in the theatre. You’re twenty feet tall on that screen and it’s so loud. It was a really special thing to be able to see that again, because it’s been a long time. I’ve made a bunch of stuff, but it just it doesn’t happen like that anymore.
The double whammy of Scream and Smile has led to a lot of chatter about Kyle Gallner, a Scream King, but these aren’t your first horror movies; you’ve been doing this genre steadily for a number of years. And yet, it’s only now that people are really talking about it.
Back when I was doing a lot of sort of pop culture stuff – I did Haunting in Connecticut, Jennifer’s Body, Nightmare on Elm Street – all within like two years or something, it was all back-to-back. That was pre-Twitter. So a lot of this stuff and these terms and these things that people play with have kind of caught on and spawned due to social media and having that sort of community being able to be so front and centre all together, all at once that everybody can talk about these things. I have to wonder what it would have looked like if Twitter was around back when I was when I was doing all that.
It’s that funny thing that the way people perceive actors or perceive their careers or what they’re doing is sort of only based on what’s big and tangible right in front of you. A movie in the theatres is, “well clearly that person is a movie star” or working. There’s just so much content now that you could be making all these indie films or TV shows or things, it’s just getting people to watch anything now, it’s hard. So to have something that the mass collective watches all at once, like a Scream or a Smile, all of a sudden the perspective changes and you’re perceived as something else. When Smile and Scream came out, people would be reaching out to me and be like, “oh man, where have you been?” It’s like, “dude, I’ve been working, like I’ve been working for the whole time, you know? I haven’t gone anywhere. I’m just not in what you’re watching.” I make other stuff. I don’t just make horror movies, I make all sorts of things.
I am grateful though, I’ll take the term all day, I’ll adopt it and wear it like a badge of honour. you know. It’s a genre that I enjoy. I enjoy the fans. I think they’re some of the most dedicated fans out there. They show up, they watch the films, they talk about them, they share them, they push it out there and it’s where I got started. A lot of people that still follow me now are people that watched me when I was twenty years old, making Haunting in Connecticut. It’s a great community to be a part of, it’s something I’m very grateful for. And you know, if it took years to get the label then so be it. I’m happy to have it.
Jennifer’s Body turns fifteen this year, but feels like it’s only just finding its audience.
That’s pretty neat. It’s cool that it’s had this whole second life over the last couple of years. Now it’s taken as it was supposed to be taken. It’s seen as it was supposed to be seen as. Which is awesome. I think Megan [Fox] killed it and I think Amanda [Seyfried] killed it. I think everybody did such a good job in that movie. It’s an incredibly feminist film. It has so much more to say than it was originally advertised. It’s a really clever, smart, great movie and I’m glad people have found it and are seeing it for what it is.
And in a weird way Colin is the character you are best known for.
It’s really funny. People really latched onto Colin. They really love Colin, which I’m very happy about. I love Colin too. But that was a surprise to me that people latched onto him the way that they did.
Colin was the first time that you really built a character in terms of costume and such. Did you find that the experience unlocked something inside you as a performer?
Oh yeah, for sure. It was the first time I was like, “I’m really going to try something.” Something different, something out there, something a little more character based rather than just being a guy. I was like, “I’m going to take a swing here” and it was cool. It was nerve wracking and exciting and when they liked it, it was very rewarding.
We have to talk about Dinner in America, what do you think it is about Simon and Patty that just speaks to people?
I think there’s a little bit of Simon and Patty inside everybody. I think there’s versions of those two characters inside everybody. I think everybody’s felt like a Patty at a time, where they felt misunderstood or put out, or not listened to or heard. And everybody’s wanted to be a Simon where they’ve just wanted to reach across the desk and scream “fuck you” in somebody’s face and cause a little mayhem. So while I think the characters are well, they’re definitely larger than life, there is something very relatable about the two of them and you want them to win. You want them to succeed. You want to see this happen.
I also think the movie is very disarming. I think the first twenty minutes are very abrasive and very intense. It really takes people by surprise, especially once the movie starts to shift. I would say if there’s any negativity about the film, it’s usually, some people will be, “I almost didn’t make it through the first twenty minutes” but it’s always followed up with, “but I’m so glad I did because I love the rest of the movie” It’s interesting, because you have two camps, the people who understand what the first twenty minutes are, and then people who really are like “why was it like that?” You need those first twenty minutes so the rest of the movie works, the way that it does. You have to paint reality. You have to paint this world. This version of suburbia that you can put your head in the sand and pretend doesn’t exist, but it does. The world is very much still like that. I think that really checks a box with people as well, there’s a lot of things in there that I think viscerally hit people and I think they’re pretty surprised by it when the film’s over.
Then you get to that Watermelon scene and it’s so intimate and sweet. There’s that tear that comes down Simon’s cheek and it almost feels like you’re watching something that you shouldn’t in a way because it is such a tender moment in this otherwise quite loud film.
It’s a really beautiful scene. Emily [Skeggs] did an amazing job in the movie. She’s incredible as Patty. She wrote that song; her and Adam [Rehmeier] wrote it together and it’s just so perfectly telling to who Patty is. That song encompasses that character so well, and it is a very private intimate moment. It’s one of the only times you see Simon put his walls down, and you really see what this guy’s about, and what he’s fighting for and what he’s pushing for, and that he truly does love the things that he loves and cares about the things he cares about. He’s just fighting back against the world, you know? To see those two together is just – it’s oil and water – but somehow it works.
But yeah, that movie’s very, very special to me. It holds a very big place in my heart that one. It was like summer camp. It was incredibly fun to make. Adam worked so hard to get that thing off the ground. I got sent that script years before I even did it. Then I didn’t even read it. I was in the middle of Outsiders and I had a new baby. They sent me the script and I got a couple pages in and was like, “my kids crying or whatever and I’m in the middle of filming this TV show” cut to, years later, I’m on The Cleansing Hour. JP [Jean-Philippe Bernier], the guy who shot The Cleansing Hour and Dinner in America, he’s talking to me and he’s like, “we were supposed to shoot this film and the actors dropped out and the movie died” and I asked him what it was and he started explaining it. I thought that sounds crazy familiar and I looked it up and I still had the email for the movie. I ended up reading the script and talking to Adam…so that movie was years in the making. It’s pretty wild. All meant to be.
That one obviously has a special place in your heart, but looking back over your career across though the TV and film, are there any other ones that sort of stand out to you that? You’re particularly so proud to have been involved in?
A lot of things are special for different reasons. I remember back in the day getting Smallville, and getting to be The Flash on Smallville. For me, that was my first real deal job. When I booked that job, it was something people talked about. It was exciting and fun and everybody on that set was incredibly kind and worked with me. I didn’t really know what I was doing at that point. I was still pretty green, but they really took the time. They showed me the camera, they worked with me, they would show me the shot, so I could see how things operated from a technical point of view.
Haunting in Connecticut was amazing. It was my first lead in a studio film and Virginia Madsen made sure she took me under her wing. Like the second, I mean, I had someone come get me at the airport and bring me to her. From there on out, I was under her wing. She took care of me the whole time. I learned a lot from her. That crew was really, really great. They did sort of a similar thing that Smallville did. I was like a sponge at that point, I was on a quest for knowledge. I had a million and one questions about everything. and how everything worked, and they answered them all. Again they would show me the shots and show me how things were lined up and what they were going to do, so that was a special one.
Band of Robbers was another really fun one. That was like summer camp as well. The Nee Brothers are incredibly talented and smart, and funny and just a lot of fun. Films like that and Dinner in America, it’s what movie-making can be. It can be such a collaborative experience, full of people that want to make something wonderful and have a good time doing it, because it’s hard. It’s the smallest violin in the world, but it is hard to make a movie. It’s incredibly hard. It’s a lot of people, a lot of personalities, a lot of stuff being thrown around. It’s a miracle, any film gets made, so when you have those ones, those rare ones where “this isn’t incredibly stressful and I’m actually having a good time”, that’s easy for me to say as the actor.
I found out later that Band of Robbers didn’t even have all its money when we were shooting. They started shooting the film and used what we shot to get more money. I’m sure it was much more stressful for the Nee brothers than it was for me. But it really can be a magical experience making a movie and making a TV show. It’s like nothing else I’ve encountered in my life. It’s such a strange, strange thing, but it’s really pretty amazing.
Both Mother, May I? and The Passenger are available to watch in the UK and US now.
