Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan on Childhood Memories, Generational Growth, and Facing the End in Mike Flanagan’s New Film ‘The Life of Chuck’[VIDEO INTERVIEW]
Mike Flanagan’s latest project—a cerebral adaptation of the Stephen King story The Life of Chuck—unfolds in reverse and is split into three distinct acts. Known for his mastery of psychological horror in works like The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep, Flanagan once again pushes narrative boundaries. In this film, actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan are among the first characters we meet, and in many ways, they anchor the emotional arc of the story.
At a recent press day, I had the opportunity to sit down with Ejiofor and Gillan, who portray two people facing the end of the world together. The film places a strong emphasis on memory and the weight of the past, and our conversation opened with the two actors sharing some of their own personal touchstones. They each recalled the cars their parents used to drive—details tied closely to family life growing up. “I sometimes think about that car and feel like it’s because of that time with family, and that’s a memory that is always very rich to me,” Ejiofor recalled.
Ejiofor, an Oscar nominee for 12 Years a Slave, brings his usual emotional depth to a character grappling with time and loss. Meanwhile, Gillan—best known for her work in Doctor Who and as Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—connects deeply to the film’s themes of legacy and what we pass on. “That definitely resonates with me, especially now that I’ve had a child,” Gillan expressed. “There are so many things I’m examining myself, things I don’t want to pass on to her,” she continued. “But I think that’s how it goes, we try to do a better job at parenting than the last generation and evolve,” she added.
When the conversation shifted to the on-set experience, Ejiofor praised writer-director Flanagan’s collaborative environment. “What Mike does incredibly is create a 360-dimensional experience for the actors, and every person who is working on the film is kind of working towards a common goal, which is kind of rare.” Gillan reflected on shooting one of their more intense scenes, saying, “It’s looking like it’s the end of everything,” she said. “It was just a really interesting experience to ask yourself what that might genuinely feel like, and it conjured up lots of different emotions.”
NEON will release The Life of Chuck in theaters on June 6.
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