Posted in: Paramount+, TV | Tagged: jennifer tilly, Josh Zuckerman, School Spirits

School Spirits: Tilly & Zuckerman on Hunter-Price, Martin, Showrunners

Jennifer Tilly and Josh Zuckerman spoke with us about Paramount+'s School Spirits Season 3, Dr. Hunter-Price, Mr. Martin, and much more.

With season three of School Spirits looming, things are uncertain as we deal with the aftermath of Maddie Nears (Peyton List) leaping back into her body. Among those lingering is Everett Martin (Josh Zuckerman), the former science teacher who has more than enough skeletons in his closet and has a past with Janet Hamilton (Jess Gabor), an aspiring student who we discover occupied Maddie's body as Maddie was trying to find out how she died. New to the series is Jennifer Tilly (Chucky), who plays Dr. Deborah Hutner-Price, the new superintendent at Split River High School, with plans for the school that chagrin our heroes. Tilly and Zuckerman spoke to Bleeding Cool about what we can expect from Hunter-Price; Mr. Martin's complicated journey and struggle to be the responsible "adult" among the spirits, working with showrunners Meagan and Nate Trinrud, and if their series' run altered their perspective spiritually.

School Spirits Stars Jennifer Tilly and Josh Zuckerman on Deborah Hunter-Price & Mr. Martin's Journeys

Jennifer, as the newest addition to the cast, aside from the script, was there any additional inspiration that you tapped into for your character?

Tilly: Well, when they called me up, and they asked me if I wanted to play a character in a recurring role on School Spirits, I was so happy because I loved the show. It's such a cool, dark, edgy, cult show, cult television show, 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, just like Chucky was when we got canceled. When I got the script, and I saw Dr. Hunter-Price, I loved that character. I mean, she's very bitchy, self-involved, and greedy, as it turns out. As the Nears will see, she's pretty evil, and the evil characters are so much more fun to play than the characters who are merely nice.

Josh, going through Everett Martin's arc this season, what did it feel like to navigate everything with his secrets and interact with the students?

Zuckerman: It's so fun to work with this cast. Everybody's so talented, and the writing does a tremendous job with Mr. Martin, his secrets, revelations, and his emotional journey tied to everyone else's. That's super fun for me as a performer because I feel so responsible for this group, as the only teacher and "adult in the room," so to speak. What's ironic about that is that it becomes clear that Mr. Martin isn't really the adult in the room. He's on the same level as the students, so that's a fun dynamic to explore, especially in light of the mistrust he's engineered for the last two seasons. It's a great place to play.

What did you like working with Megan and Nate as creatives, going through your respective journeys on the series?

Tilly: Megan and Nate, first, are so young. They're so unjaded and enthusiastic. When they come in the trailer and tell you where your character is going, their faces light up, and their enthusiasm is infectious, but they're so brilliant! In fact, the whole crew is very young. Our cinematographer and Hannah [Macpherson], one of the other producers who directs some episodes, is very young, but I loved working with Megan and Nate. They are two rays of sunshine, and that's why it was such a happy set.

Zuckerman: Yeah, it usually comes from the top down, and Megan and Nate are very open to any questions you have or any discussions you want. They're so supportive, and they're the first to say, "Oh, yeah! Actually, I think we could clarify that" or "How do you feel about that?" They want to be collaborative, and that's the spirit of our show: this collaboration. That's part of what makes it so successful. What's also cool about this season, when it comes to Nate, is that he had the chance to direct one of the episodes.

Tilly: Oh yeah.

Zuckerman: That was a really fun experience for all of us, because he brings that energy and inspired enthusiasm to his directing style as well.

Tilly: Their writing is so good and so layered, but they also encourage you to improvise, or they don't mind if you improvise. It's nice that you have a tremendous amount of creative freedom working with them.

Zuckerman: Yeah, there's a lot of respect, both ways, so it's really cool

Josh, having been on the show since last season, has it affected how you feel about life and spirituality?

Zuckerman: Probably in ways that I'm not even aware of, but, yeah, it's a really good question. I think I'll always be wondering, as we do, about what it all means. First, I wonder what the living thing is about, but also what happens when we're gone. Also, the decisions and choices you make. I mean, a story usually makes the most sense from a distance, so when someone's life is over, you can look back at the decisions they made and where they ended up, and it's a whole story, a beginning, middle, and an end. That's what these characters in the afterlife are faced with on a daily basis.

Now, they're given an afterlife "life," they have to make decisions within that as well. Over and over again, it's very touching. I think about it in a lot of ways in terms of the decisions or regrets I've made, decisions I've made that I regret, and I don't know if it really affects…I don't think I'm going to be stuck in a school when I'm gone [Tilly laughs], but it's possible.

Tilly: Yeah, it makes me think, too. I think it's very biblical; some of the themes in the show are about the battle between good and evil. What is the measure of a man? It's by the things he does, not the things that he was meaning to do, so I think that it will really make the audience think also of these things. It can't help but make you think when you see the show.

Season three of School Spirits, which also stars Kristian Ventura, Milo Manheim, Spencer MacPherson, Kiara Pichardo, Sarah Yarkin, Nick Pugliese, and Rainbow Wedell, premieres with its first three episodes on January 28th on Paramount+ with new episodes on Wednesdays through March 4th.

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