Interviews
[Interview] Jake Busey Details His “Stranger Things” Character, a Foul Mouthed Journalist
Jake Busey landed a role on season three of Stranger Things. The character description they released calls him “a journalist for The Hawkins Post with questionable morals and a sick sense of humor.” In a chat with us, Busey elaborated on the role of Bruce to explain how a small town journalist in 1985 would speak unfiltered.
“If you think about the way culture has changed, life was a lot different in the ‘80s,” Busey said. “This is a character who is fully living in that time period. He doesn’t mind making fun of women and children. He doesn’t mind poking fun at someone else’s expense, that type of thing. He’s just a crass newsman.”
Perhaps Bruce is living even further in the past. Busey cited some classic journalism movies as examples of his character.
“He’s one of these guys that if you watch The Paper Chase or some of those films back in the day about the big corporate newspapers, those guys were hardcore, these journalists,” Busey said.
“They always had a cigarette hanging out of their mouth and they were foul-mouthed guys. They were all about getting to the bottom line and the truth. It was before the era of pretty news anchors looking for high ratings. It was the Dan Rather days, the original 60 Minutes gang with the hard-hitting Harry Reasenor-like get to the bottom of this story. So they were tough. He’s a tough guy working on the small newspaper.”
Since Stranger Things runs on Netflix, there’s no limit to what Bruce can say.
“His sick sense of humor, he’s not putting dead animal carcasses in people’s desk drawers,” Busey said. “It’s just he’ll poke fun at anybody and everything, but he’s a little crude. He’s not the one you would bring to dinner at your grandmother’s house. He’s a trucker mouth kind of guy.”
You would imagine that a Hawkins journalist would have investigated the stranger things that happened in the first two seasons. Busey hinted that Bruce has been there the whole time.
“As Stranger Things usually does, they have been there,” Busey said. “We just haven’t seen them.”
Now that Busey is cast, Bruce will be on the case.
“Well, it’s a small town and I work at the newspaper,” Busey assured. “Yes, the show does primarily focus on the children but yes, I am involved in the story.”
Busey said that the young cast of Stranger Things recognized him. They have seen The Frighteners and Starship Troopers by now. The Duffer Brothers were old enough to see The Frighteners in 1996 so they cast him specifically because of that movie.
“They kind of wrote the role for me based on being fans of The Frighteners,” Busey said. “I owe Peter Jackson a thank you because The Frighteners has been a life identifying film for me.”
Stranger Things season three is due on Netflix in Summer 2019.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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