By MICHAEL GINGOLD
When Freddy and his fellow animatronics come back in FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2, the human character most awaiting their return is young Abby Schmidt, who’s been hoping for a reunion with her “friends.” Similarly, actress Piper Rubio, who became a major devotee of the FIVE NIGHTS games from making the first film, was thrilled to reprise her role, and discusses it here with RUE MORGUE.
In FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2, which opened this past weekend from Universal and Blumhouse and devoured the box office with a $64-million opening, Abby and her older brother Mike (Josh Hutcherson) are drawn back into the dark world of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza and its mascots come to life. A malevolent character called the Marionette is introduced to the film franchise, along with new characters played by McKenna Grace from the recent GHOSTBUSTERS movies and JURASSIC PARK’s Wayne Knight. Once again directed by Emma Tammi and scripted by game creator Scott Cawthon, with live-action creatures by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2 draws from more of the playable versions’ backstories, to the delight of its young star. (Note: SPOILERS follow…)
When you found out they were making a sequel to FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S, was there anything you were hoping they would further explore in terms of Abby’s character?
In terms of Abby’s character, I’m not sure. I was mostly just thinking about the animatronics and the lore; I was like, “I wonder if this character will make an appearance.” [Laughs]
Were you a fan of the games before you did the first movie?
I had heard of FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S, but I knew nothing about it. When I got the audition, I recognized the name, and then leading up to making it and during the shoot, I started learning all the lore, watching a bunch of videos, and became a huge fan. I fell in love with the series, and experiencing it all in person was just crazy.
It must have been especially fun since the creatures were all actually on set and not done with digital effects.
It was! I thought they were going to be CGI when I first read the script. But Jim Henson’s team made one-to-one recreations of these animatronics from Scott Cawthon’s models. And it was just so impressive seeing them actually there.
Was there ever a point on the first movie when you got scared at all by everything that was going on around you?
The only time I got scared on the first set was when Foxy’s arm caught on fire [laughs]. We were filming the dancing scene, and I just heard someone so very calmly say, “Um, Foxy’s arm is on fire,” and we stopped it all. It was a small internal fire in his arm, so it wasn’t a huge problem.
How would you describe Abby’s character and what she’s going through in the second one?
Abby has grown since the first movie. She’s older, and facing new problems. She really misses her friends, and kind of having trouble at school as well. You’ll have to watch the movie to know the rest of it!
Were you looking forward to reuniting with Josh Hutcherson and the rest of the cast?
Yes, it was really exciting seeing them again. I ran to Josh and tackled him with a hug when I saw him, because I really do see him as an older brother. It was like a family reunion of sorts, because I’ve grown so close to everyone in the cast.
What would you say was the biggest difference between doing the first FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S and making the sequel?
The biggest difference was, first off, I knew a lot of the lore now, because I didn’t know much going into the first one. I was going around all the sets, which were are a lot bigger than on the original, and I was looking everywhere saying, “Oh my gosh, this is in the games, this is in the games!” McKenna Grace too; she was exploring a bunch of the sets looking for lore, because she’s also a huge fan.
What was it like working with Grace?
Working with McKenna was incredible, since we’re both FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S superfans. We’re not in any scenes together; we kind of stumbled upon each other, because we were both somewhere we were not supposed to be. We weren’t filming there, but we were looking for lore.
How about Wayne Knight, who plays your nasty teacher in the movie?
Working with Wayne was incredible. He’s so nice. All the people who are playing mean characters are just some of the sweetest people. Wayne was really cool, and I was fangirling a bit because of JURASSIC PARK. Steven Spielberg movies are a really big deal to me. I love them.
Was there anything different about the experience of working with the animatronics this time? Had they changed or upgraded since the previous film?
Well, there’s a new set of animatronics this round. And they definitely became a lot more accurate, which I thought was really cool. And there are different types of animatronics from the first one, so they worked a little bit differently.
Did you ever get to meet any of the people doing the voices, especially Chica performer Megan Fox?
I didn’t meet Megan Fox, but I did meet Kellen Goff [Toy Freddy and Foxy’s scatting] and MatPat [Matthew Patrick, who voices Toy Bonnie]. I knew Kellen was going to be a voice, because I had seen him on set; he was in the FazFest scene dressed up in one of the costumes, which is really funny because he’s also in the scene as Toy Freddy. And then I watched the live [voice cast] announcement, and I was drawing and I threw my sketchbook on the floor when they announced MatPat. I started screaming, and my little brother came into the room and said, “Are you OK?” I was like, “No, MatPat is Toy Bonnie!” I was crying when I met him at the press junket, because he’s literally my hero, and he’s just the sweetest person.
Being a fan of the game now that you were doing the sequel, was there any particular character or part of the lore that you were especially looking forward to seeing in FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2?
Yes, Circus Baby [who makes a cameo in FREDDY’S 2]. I read that in the script and I was like, “Oh my gosh!” I was freaking out reading it for the first time with my mom, because I’ve told her a bit of the lore, and she understands that Circus Baby is an important character. So then I told Emma, “I need to meet this animatronic in person. I need to. It’s very important to the games; I have to meet this character.” And then I saw her and it was crazy, and scary. She’s terrifying.
You got to take on an evil persona yourself for a brief portion of the film when Abby is possessed by Charlotte/the Marionette. What was that experience like?
It was incredible. I had so much fun. I spent probably two hours in the makeup chair, and then they had me on a harness. I got to really embody Charlotte’s character. I studied her for a couple of weeks trying to get down her mannerisms and how the Marionette moves. And the laugh I do, that was improvised, and I was freaking everyone out on set with it, because I was in character when the camera was rolling and when it was not. I was Method acting [laughs]. And then Scott came over when I was done filming and said I was so scary, and it was just crazy hearing that from Scott, because he created the Marionette, and I’m really glad I was able to do her justice.
It sounds like Cawthon was heavily involved in the production beyond writing the script.
Yes, Scott had his own little room on the set. We called it “Scott’s cave”; that’s where he was most of the time.
Was he involved in directing you at all, or was it Tammi guiding all the performances?
Well, he was supervising everything, probably to make sure everything was lore-accurate. But Emma really honed in on the emotional aspects and the delivery.
I imagine you have a lot of friends who are into FIVE NIGHTS as well. How do they feel about the fact that you’ve been able to live in this world?
They’re very excited. I brought one of my friends to the premiere; her name is also Pyper [Braun], and she’s also in a Blumhouse movie with a murderous bear, IMAGINARY, and she’s a huge fan too. So the whole time we were like shaking each other and saying, “Oh my God!” And there was one moment, when Michael Afton is revealed, when she totally freaked out.
There are a number of hints at the end of this film pointing toward a third one. How much discussion has there been about another movie and what your and Abby’s places would be in it?
Honestly, I don’t really know much, because Scott wants to see what the fans say about this movie before he writes the next one. He takes their criticisms and stuff and implements them, like, “We want more from this specific game,” and then Scott will be like, “OK!” He’s very interactive with the fans to make sure that the movies resonate with them, and I think he’s doing a very good job with that. So I don’t know anything about it, but I’m very excited and I really hope that we’re able to do
a third one. I think the balance that they’re doing, taking influences from the games and the spinoff games and the books, is exciting. I really like the direction they’re taking it.
