Posted in: Interview, Nerd Food, Pop Culture | Tagged: Cross, daredevil, Find Familiar Spirits, Ghost Face Vodka, Macrabe Spirits, Matthew Lillard, scream 7

Interview: Matthew Lillard Chats Ghost Face Vodka, Scream 7, Daredevil

Matthew Lillard sat down with us for a chat about the new Ghost Face Vodka, as well as some bits on Scream 7 and Daredevil: Born Again

Matthew Lillard has had a pretty full plate of awesome things happening over the past year. Among the highlights are his role in Five Nights at Freddy's 2, a comeback to the Scream franchise in Scream 7, a new role in the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again, a new pair of Star Trek tabeltop titles being made through Beadle & Grimm's, the second season of Cross happening on Prime Video, and a new whiskey on the way from Find Familiar Spirits. The latest addition to this roster of awesome items is the new Ghost Face Vodka from Macrabe Spirits, released as part of their horror-themed spirits. We got to chat with Lillard once again, this time about making the new vodka and several of the projects he's involved in.

BC: Hey, dude! So, you got vodka coming!

ML: Yeah, it's crazy. We had vodka coming. Vodka sold out in less than two hours. So, it's pretty incredible. We signed up 45,000 people for early access, which is crazy. We originally had planned to make 2,000 units, and we sold over 10,000 in less time. I literally took off from Oakland Airport and landed at Burbank, and while I was in the air, by the time I landed, we had a hundred boxes left to sell. So it was pretty crazy.

What influenced you to choose vodka specifically for this batch?

So the good news is that with that success, we were able to go out and secure a national distribution through Total Wine and Spirits. The thing that we like about it, vodka specifically, is that it's accessible. So much of our whiskey is expensive because it's ten years. The age statements are really high. The producers are really significant. So we wanted to make something that was available and accessible to everyone. Because we think that there's a world in which we can create a sort of following around Ghost Face Vodka so that it comes out every spooky season. It's a little like the Cadbury Egg of Halloween. So we're going to do different flavor profiles, like blood orange vodka or ghost pepper vodka, and create a staple around your Halloween parties.

Was there anything particular about this specific flavor profile that you're doing for the first run that you liked the minute you tasted it?

This one is a plain, straight-up vodka. Which doesn't have that sort of great varietal like a mezcal, a tequila, or a whiskey. The great thing about this vodka, though, it is a German vodka made from potato. So one of my favorite bottles of liquor in the world is called Manifest's Citrus Vodka. It's so delicious and ridiculous. Our partners that bottle our product down in Jacksonville, Florida, make this vodka. I'm like, "Dude, this vodka is so good!" So our chief operating officer, David Cohen, he runs Manifest, and I was like, "We want that same vodka for Ghost Face."

What was it like figuring out the partnership to use the Ghostface brand? I know there's been a lot of talk in the news lately about the ownership and rights, so what was the talk of getting the deal to make that happen?

Well, Fun World has been an incredible partner. That's who owns the rights, and they've been incredible partners for us. We came to them with the idea, and they really liked it. It took us a while to figure out how to do it and create an operating relationship that worked for both of us, but to their credit, every step of the way, they were working with us to try to figure that out. Like our merch, our T-shirts are super dope; they helped us put that together. They've been great partners.

Do you have any specific marketing plans for this beyond just tying it into the upcoming movie?

Yeah, this Halloween season, you can imagine being in Total Wine and Spirits. It's huge for us. You can imagine Ghost Face in your Total Wine and Spirits store holding a bottle of vodka instead of a knife. It's going to be fun. I think people will be able to find opportunities to take a photo with Ghostface. We'll have a great line of merch that goes with it. One of the cool things that we love about the bottle and creating the products is that it's not just about slapping something that you love on a bottle and selling it to you. We want to create something for that fandom that they're going to love. We actually created a game that's on the back of the bottle called Killer Bash. Everyone you're hanging out with at a party or you're drinking with can load onto the QR code and play a game of Mafia. It's super fun. You can play with two people, or you can play with 10 people; it doesn't matter.

Beyond the vodka, what else do you guys have coming up with Find Familiar Spirits?

We have another growing line of whiskey that continues the saga of our Paladin, Sarin of the Pit. Each bottle is a continuation of an ongoing story with art by Tyler Jacobson, world-renowned Dungeons & Dragons high fantasy artist, so that lands with Wizard in the next couple of weeks. And then it will end the season with Revenant, which we're really excited about. We're bringing in an Irish whiskey that we imported that's delicious. Wizard's great! The book's super fun, so we're excited about that. We've got another Macabre Spirits coming out in the not-too-distant future. We've got a couple of relationships that we're building. We're doing a new line with a world-renowned artist, and we'll be building an art box with a whiskey in it. And Ghost Face, in stores everywhere this Fall. So we have a lot on our plate. It's a big year, and we're excited to see what happens next.

Along those lines, it's been fun to just share those spirits and drink those with friends, have that shared experience.

Yeah, that's the idea. We are a community-brand-first that builds around spirits, instead of a spirits company. Which is only to say that our goal is to help bring people together. We have a whiskey called NPC, which stands for Non-Player Character, but each bottle comes with a D20. Again, we created a game to play with your friends around the table. So for me, it's sort of our mission to make the world a better place by finding ways to bring you together with friends.

I know you can't talk much about Scream 7 before getting into spoiler territory, but specifically for you, what do you think has made Stu stand out as one of the Ghostface killers that resonates most with fans over the years?

It's a good question, and I had to figure out the answer. To me, I think it's because I'm so damn good-looking. I think that there's something about the end of Scream that he has these couple of human moments, right? That he's like, "My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me," he's crying on the phone. I feel like he's under peer pressure. I feel he's identifiable.I think, just to be honest, Skeet Ulrich is gorgeous, and he looks like a movie star in the movie. That my character is a little more sort of an everyman, and people can relate to him better. I'm sure there are just more people out there that relate to Nev or relate to Jamie; it's up for debate who's the most relatable Ghostface, that's for sure.

Just for fun, who would win in a fight? No holds barred, Stuart or William?

Oh, William. Oh, God. I mean, William Afton kills children. There's no regulator on that motor.

You're also appearing in the second season of Daredevil: Born Again series. What was it like to get the call to be a part of that?

Super fun. I'm good friends with the showrunner, Dario Scardapane, and he's an unbelievable writer. He took over the middle of last season, and I think the last season finished great. I will tell you, this season, under his direction, the entire year is going to be an incredible year of Daredevil. It's everything you want in that series. It's as violent as you want. It's as smart as you want it to be. I think the characters have real growth, and I think that fans of Daredevil are gonna lose their mind. Deborah Ann Woll's back in a great way. Charlie Cox is incredible, and I get to play a small part in a big tapestry of great characters.

What would you say viewers should keep in mind about your character going into the season?

That he does not give a shit about Kingpin at all. He is like… he don't care.

Does this feel like a season that's more true to comics? Or does this feel more like it's branching out to be its own thing that just happens to be from a comic universe?

That's a great question. I think Dario does a really great job of capturing the tone. I know that Frank [Miller] is really happy with it, and I think that that's really important to everyone. I know he's seen elements of it and that he has given his approval. And I think that Dario is really excited about that. I think Dario does a great job of capturing the tone and intention behind the comic book. Is it actually ripped from the pages of the comic book? No. But I think that he does a good job of painting the really high emotional stakes that you find in comics, which is why people are so enamored with that type of writing. Every page has impact. You're not wasting much time. And I think he does a good job of capturing that same vibe with the show.

Is there anything else on your mind you'd like to promote before we head off?

Cross Season Two is on Amazon Prime, and that show is incredible. It's one of the best shows in America for Prime, and it's there for a reason, I feel like. To me, if you haven't checked it out, it's great, and I play a character on there this season. I think people will love it.

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