Exclusives
[Exclusive] “Channel Zero”: Meet the Woman Who Plays the Terrifying Tooth-Child
Now two episodes deep, Syfy’s new show “Channel Zero: Candle Cove” has proven to be one of the most unsettling things on the small screen at the moment, centered on a Creepypasta about a bizarre children’s television show that’s linked to the deaths and disappearances of several children. The six-episode first season of the anthology series features a host of nightmare-inducing puppets, but easily the creepiest thing about it is a character known only as the Tooth-Child. Pure nightmare fuel, my friends.
We don’t yet know all that much about the Tooth-Child, but from what we’ve gathered so far, he (or she) not only eats human teeth but also wears them. The character is decked out head to toe in both a costume and mask made up of literally hundreds of human teeth, and the image is enough to send shivers right the hell up your spine.
So what’s underneath all those teeth? Believe it or not, a beautiful actress by the name of Cassandra Consiglio brought the Tooth-Child to life, and in this exclusive chat, we peel back the layers of teeth to talk with Consiglio and “Channel Zero” creator Nick Antosca about the most terrifying new character on television.
But first, how do you land such a bizarre role?!
“We really didn’t want to make the Tooth Child CGI. That seems to be the studio instinct — everyone just assumes you’re going to do it CG,” Antosca told us. “And we decided against a puppet because we wanted to distinguish it from all the other puppets we’re using. So we wanted to go old school and do it practically with a person playing it. The Tooth Child is supposed to be exactly that — a child, roughly young adolescent in height — so we needed someone who could fit inside a suit that size, with movement training and experience. Cassandra Consiglio is a very talented 19-year-old local Winnipeg actress and dancer. She’s super nice, so we cast her as our loathsome dental nightmare.”
“How I landed the role was kind of a fluke,” explained Consiglio. “I didn’t realize that they were even casting the show when I got a call from a friend of mine saying she sent my information to casting as I fit the requirements and have done a lot of costume work before. I ended up going through a few auditions. In my callback Nick asked me if I knew much about what I was auditioning for. When I told him I honestly didn’t know much about the character he showed me a sketch of the Tooth Child and I was blown away. The Tooth Child is such a different character that doesn’t resemble anything I’ve ever seen before and when I found out it was something that Nick had actually dreamed about I was so excited to have the opportunity to bring the character to life. When I got the call that I landed the part I was so eager to start.”
Consiglio’s prior acting experience? You might be surprised!
“Cassandra had worked on Disney cruise lines,” said Antosca. “In the audition she kept offhandedly saying that she was ‘friends with Mickey’ which I didn’t realize at first is the euphemism they use for wearing the Mickey Mouse costume. So she had valuable experience playing a terrifying beast.”
Let’s talk about that costume, shall we?
“I had to do a full body and head cast in order for the suit to be made so it would fit exactly to my body,” Consiglio revealed. “The suit is actually quite soft and has sort of a rubbery feel to it which is surprising because it looks like super hard teeth. We have made many estimations of how heavy the suit was and came to the conclusion it is about half my body weight which made it quite heavy due to the extensive amount of teeth. It was a two-to-three person job to get me into the suit and it took about 20 minutes to fully get into. The suit pretty much absorbed the temperature around me and intensified it. So most of the time I was more cold than hot surprisingly enough. There was very minimal sight in the costume as one can probably tell. My vision really depended on the lighting. Sometimes I was truly blind.”
Despite the hardships, the actress had nothing but positive things to say about her unique experience on set.
“Tooth Child was a super interesting character to create and discover,” she told us. “I had a wonderful time exporting the character with [director] Craig Macneill, Nick Antosca, along with other cast and crew members. One thing that really stuck with me was when I first met [actor] Paul Schneider he said to me, ‘You have no idea how much of a presence you have.’ I am still so thrilled that I got to bring The Tooth Child to life.”
Hang out with the Tooth-Child and friends on “Channel Zero,” Tuesday nights on Syfy!
Exclusives
‘Late Night With the Devil’ – Exclusive Clip Begins the Supernatural Horror on Halloween 1977
The upcoming Late Night With the Devil is one of the most buzzed about horror movies of the year, currently 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and earning rave reviews from both Stephen King and Kevin Smith. King raves that the film is “absolutely brilliant,” adding that he couldn’t take his eyes off it. Smith comments, “I love it. It’s Rosemary’s Baby meets Network.”
David Dastmalchian (Dune, The Suicide Squad) stars as the host of a late-night talk show that descends into a nightmare in the Ghostwatch and WNUF Halloween Special-inspired film.
IFC Films & Shudder will release the hotly anticipated Late Night with the Devil theatrically on March 22 before it heads to Shudder exclusively on April 19, 2024.
Begin the horror with a brand new EXCLUSIVE clip below…
David Dastmalchian stars as Jack Delroy, the charismatic host of “Night Owls,” and the film traces the ill-fated taping of a live Halloween special in 1977 plagued by a demonic presence.
The energetic and innovative feature hails from Australian writing-directing team Colin and Cameron Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres, Scare Campaign).
The film premiered last year at SXSW. Meagan wrote in her review out of the fest, “Late Night with the Devil captures the chaotic energy of a late night show, embracing the irreverent comedy and stress of live television with a pastiche style. It’s a clever trojan horse for a surprising horror movie that goes full throttle on unhinged demonic mayhem.
“The ingenuity, the painstaking period recreation, a riveting performance by Dastmalchian, and a showstopper of a finale make for one Halloween event you won’t want to miss.”
Spooky Pictures founders Roy Lee (It, The Grudge, The Ring) and Steven Schneider (Pet Sematary, Paranormal Activity, Insidious), Derek Dauchy (“Al Kameen”) and Future Pictures’ Mat Govoni (“Lone Wolf”) and Adam White (“Lone Wolf”) and John Molloy are all producing.
Joel Anderson (Lake Mungo), Rami Yasin, and David Dastmalchian executive produce.
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