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If you have seen Modern Family, you would assume Julie Bowen would like horror, hence her decision to star in Peacock's Hysteria! That could not be further from the truth.
On Modern Family, Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) loves Halloween — it has to be her favorite holiday. Every year, she attempts to scare prospective trick-or-treaters.
Speaking to ClutchPoints, co-showrunners David A. Goodman and Matthew Scott Kane revealed Bowen was legitimately scared to the point that she claimed she would never watch it.
“I couldn't really speak to her being a huge horror fan — I actually don't think she likes horror very much at all,” Kane revealed. “There were scenes on set that she would be shooting, and her scream was real. It was really [like], ‘I'm horrified of what's happening in this room right now.'
“I remember one time they called out — she's joking — but she screams to the cast, ‘I'm never watching this show! This is too scary,'” he continued.
Well, at least Julie Bowen's Modern Family character, Claire, would have been fine if she was in Hysteria!
The origins of the ideas
Still, Bowen finished the job and does great work in Hysteria! The series follows a small town during the Satanic panic in the '80s. Kane remembers pitching the series as “Freaks and Geeks and Satanists.”
While Kane and Goodman were focused on giving each character their time in the spotlight, they also wanted to pay homage to the likes of Evil Dead and the Video nasty craze.
What sold Goodman on Hysteria! was the pilot script (written by Kane). He was also hooked by the decisions made by the characters and how realistic it felt: “There is nothing scarier for a parent than, What is my teenager out doing?”
Selling Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell on the show
One clear homage to Evil Dead is casting Bruce Campbell as Ben Dandridge, the town's police chief. Goodman revealed that Campbell read the script and was drawn to the character.
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“It's a slight departure for him, but definitely hooks into a familiarity for his fans,” Goodman explained. “Obviously, Matt and I are just giant fans of Bruce Campbell, his work, and everything he has done. So the idea of having him on our show was so exciting from day one. And he delivers.”
Future hopes for Hysteria!
While neither Kane nor Goodman directed any episodes of Hysteria!, they both wrote episodes. But could they look to direct episodes in the future? Kane seemed especially excited at the idea of directing future episodes.
“In the future, directing would be awesome,” said Kane. “When I was 20 years old, my whole thing was, I'm going to be Quentin Tarantino. [chuckles] I'm going to be the writer-director. And then after a while, I was just like, ‘Maybe someone can get me a coffee for once. That would be nice.'”
He won't put the cart before the horse, though. Kane acknowledges that things have to go well for Hysteria! to get a second season. Plus, Kane enjoys watching the directors do their jobs and learning from them.
“There's a reason that I'm a writer and they're a director, and until I feel ready for it, I'm going to let the professionals do what they do,” he concluded.
For Goodman, he enjoys being an executive producer of a show because “I get to tell directors what to do.” So, he does not have the same desire to step into the director's chair.
Doing Hysteria! has helped beef up his résumé. Goodman recalls coming in for an interview with John Daley, who pointed out his lack of horror experience.
Hysteria! is streaming on Peacock.
