Jennifer Tilly is known for voicing the murderous doll Tiffany in the Chucky franchise, but she hasn’t always been an outspoken scream queen.
“I was shy as a child,” the pro poker player, 64, exclusively told Us Weekly, adding that she would “hyperventilate” when she had to present book reports at school.
These days, however, the California native isn’t so bashful anymore — and says portraying Tiffany on Syfy’s Chucky series is a real thrill. “I love playing Tiffany because she’s such a campy character,” the Oscar nominee tells Us. “She gets to kill people and looks sexy doing it.”
Tilly debuted as Tiffany in 1998’s Bride of Chucky, in which the titular doll (voiced by Brad Dourif) reunited with the woman he loved when he was still human serial killer Charles Lee Ray. The Modern Family alum then reprised the role in 2004’s Seed of Chucky, in which she also played herself.
The Saturn Award nominee returned to the Child’s Play franchise again in 2021 for Syfy’s TV adaptation of the beloved horror property, again voicing Tiffany in addition to playing a fictionalized version of herself. “I’m proud to be part of it,” Tilly told Horror Obsessive earlier this month. “It’s like a coming-of-age story, but tagged as a ‘coming of rage story.'”
Check out Tilly’s favorite foods, poker tips and more below:
1. I’ve had a poker game going on for 20 years. We buy in for $20 and play for nickels and quarters. More fun than losing money with degenerates!
2. I have a psychic ability. It helps me in poker and when I need my boyfriend to bring something home and he’s not answering his phone.
3. The key to a good poker face is behaving “as if.” When I’m bluffing, I pretend I have pocket aces, and that makes me feel serene.
4. My first paying voiceover job was adding “oohs” and “aahs” over a girl who was naked in a bubble bath.
5. I was most starstruck when I met Sharleen Joynt, the opera singer from The Bachelor.
6. In 1998, I was nominated for a Saturn Award for playing Tiffany in Bride of Chucky. Now I’m nominated again for Chucky, the television series!
7. My favorite cheat meal is fried chicken, biscuits [and] cherry pie.
8. On a Sunday afternoon, I’m usually swimming naked in the pool with my boyfriend.
9. On Saturday nights, Phil [Laak] and I build a fire, make popcorn and watch Alone.
10. Carrie Fisher wrote a song for me. She was the script doctor on Made in America and thought it would be funny if I sang an inane song. It was!
11. I made King Charles III laugh. He apologized for not seeing my films and said he only saw films on the plane. I replied, “Then all the best parts are taken out!”
12. If there’s a ghost, I’ll see it. In college, I woke up to a man sitting by my bed smiling. He looked like Chucky.
13. Our Christmas tree almost killed somebody. It fell off the roof of our car … and skidded into oncoming traffic. We took it home and put it up anyway.
14. I was shy as a child. [During] book reports, I would hyperventilate.
15. I own a bracelet that used to belong to Joan Crawford. It has hanging charms with messages from her lovers and mini Academy Awards.
16. Like all poker players, I believe $50 bills are bad luck.
17.My face is on a stamp in Republique de Côte d’Ivoire.
18. My first car was a ’69 Mustang I bought for $500. At times, the brakes didn’t work and I’d flip through the intersection, blaring my horn. It looked cool, though.
19. My favorite book is A Moveable Feast.
20. I love playing Tiffany because she’s such a campy character. She gets to kill people and looks sexy doing it.
21. I was the best softball player in the neighborhood [until] puberty happened and the boys could hit farther.
22. In high school, I was in a Happy Days sketch where I played a girl who kissed the Fonz. I wrote in my diary, “Some day I’m going to Hollywood and will kiss the real Fonz!” Later, I played Henry Winkler’s girlfriend on Out of Practice and got to kiss him every week!
23. My go-to karaoke song is the gay anthem “I Will Survive.”
24. Licking a Popsicle stick gives me the heebie-jeebies.
25.When I was a kid, we had a pet deer.
Chucky airs on Syfy Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
