Interview With Chaz Bono, Star Of ‘Bury The Bride’

I spent most of 1999 and 2000 being obsessed with Powerman 5000, so I was super excited when, in 2022, Spider One, along with co-writer and star Krsy Fox, released his feature film directorial debut, the horror anthology Allegoria. So you can imagine my excitement when less than a year later, Spider and Krsy’s second film, Bury the Bride, is set for release.

Bride-to-be June’s bachelorette getaway turns deadly when her blood-thirsty fiancé and his friends show up to crash the party.

As I usually do, I went into this film totally blind and I’m so glad I did. It’s a bloody good time full of witty banter, tons of gore, and I’m not gonna lie, super hot girls. To celebrate the film’s release on Tubi, I chatted with executive producer and star, Chaz Bono (American Horror Story series), about how he came on board, horror movies, trans representation in entertainment, and more!

PopHorror: I loved Bury the Bride. I went in completely blind and knew nothing about what it was about. I really enjoyed it.

Chaz Bono: Thank you, that’s great!

PopHorror: You not only starred in the film, but you were also an executive producer. What intrigued you about the project and made you want to be a part of it?

Chaz Bono: I’d been looking for a while to start producing, and Krsy Fox and I have the same manager. He introduced us. He’d been talking to each of us for a while about the other one and was like, “You guys have got to meet. You’re going to love each other. You’ve got really similar tastes in film and everything.” And we did. We met and completely hit it off. I worked on a couple smaller projects with her. Her and Spider used to do these scripted podcasts – horror podcasts – on Bloody Disgusting, so I did a couple of those with her, and we just started talking. I let her know that I had been looking for something to produce and start producing. They’d finished Bury the Bride and I read it, and I really liked it. That was kind of it. I saw Allegoria, which was Spider’s film, which I really liked, and we were, from that point, just off to the races on this.

PopHorror: I love that you decided to jump into producing with a horror movie. I love that so much.

Chaz Bono: I don’t honestly think I would produce anything else. I certainly wouldn’t put money into anything else. Horror is such a great genre because the fans are so rabid. You know it’s going to get seen. You can make great horror on small budgets, so it’s easy to recoup. I can’t wait to start the next one.

PopHorror: That’s so awesome. Your character Puppy doesn’t speak for most of the film. Was there anything that you were adamant about bringing to your character?

Chaz Bono: Not really. When I first read the script, Puppy talked less originally. I had to get over the shock of barely speaking. As actors, we like to talk. That was the first thing. Krsy said to me, “Look it. This character is going to be extremely impactful and be pivotal to the story, and this thing we want to do with it, it’s going to work great. Please trust me.” And I did. I had to pay attention to slightly different things most of it. I had to act without speaking and I wanted this character, so when I do speak and this character’s story comes out, that the way I’ve been behaving starts to make sense. I ended up looking at it really as a challenge and it was kind of great. It was freeing on set too. I wasn’t stressed out about lines ever. I walked on to set completely prepared, and as I was watching other actors as we got ready to do a scene going through their lines, I was like, this is a breath of fresh air. I’m going to speak less more often!

PopHorror: I’m not an actor. I’ve never acted in anything. To me, I would think that not speaking and having to convey your feelings and emotions and everything through just your body language and facial expressions would be harder than being able to speak. But at the same time, I’ve never had to memorize lines like that, so I really don’t know which would be easier.

Chaz Bono: It was definitely a different challenge. I had to try to give Puppy substance and lay down this story that I knew I was going to eventually tell and have it make sense. It was a challenge. It did feel weird at times. But one of the great things is I knew there was good coverage. Spider and those group scenes would give great coverage on everybody, and so I knew that my reactions would be seen. In a sense, all acting is reacting. So I got to really fully put that to the test because that’s all I got to do for 90% of the film. And then when we finally shot the scene where I do talk, it was all the more impactful and exciting as an actor because I had to put everything in that. And I think that worked really well.

PopHorror: I agree, it did. This is not your first foray into horror. You’re amazing in American Horror Story, and you were also in 3 From Hell and some others. You kind of touched on this earlier, but what draws you to the horror genre?

Chaz Bono: As an actor, I love horror because it allows me to play very bold characters, and that’s the style of acting that I love, that really excites me. And then from a filmmaker perspective – as a storytelling device – I think horror is so effective because it’s guttural. You could tell things in much more of an extreme way. You can use metaphor in horror so beautifully. And you can make any statement you want through horror in a different way than you would ever see it in a non-genre film. I just personally happen to love the genre. Always have. I’ve been a horror fan since I was young, and as I’ve gotten older I’ve become a bigger and bigger and bigger horror fan.

PopHorror: That makes me so happy. I’m sure you get asked this quite a bit. How do you feel about trans representation in entertainment today?

Chaz Bono: I would like to see more trans actors playing non-trans parts, honestly, and I think everyone feels that way. That’s another reason why I’ve gravitated towards horror because I don’t find the stigma attached to it. With other things, I think most people – producers – have this idea of why would I hire this guy? This isn’t a trans part. I’ve never experienced that in horror. I hope that starts to translate more and more. That’s what I’d like to do, and I know a lot of trans actors that I know really want to be able to play parts that are both trans and non-trans.

PopHorror: That’s what I really liked about this movie. It wasn’t a part of your character, or the storyline, and it wasn’t brought up. 

Chaz Bono: Honestly, the only time I ever played a trans character was on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and that was amazing and had a different, whole new set of challenges as far as working in improv and stuff like that. I want to just step onto a set and disappear into a character where you don’t have any idea that it’s me. That’s what really turns me on about acting. So for me to just be playing trans characters is just not what would be fun for me.

PopHorror: The thing about acting is playing someone else and inserting yourself into a character.

Chaz Bono: Exactly!

PopHorror: If you weren’t acting, what do you think you would be doing?

Chaz Bono: I don’t know. I would probably not be nearly as fulfilled as a person. My story is a little different. I first started acting when I was 14 and I went to a performing arts high school in New York as a drama major, which is the Fame school. Then I stopped acting after that because I didn’t know exactly why, but I couldn’t play female characters very well. Coming into doing what I wanted to do since I was a kid – now as an older adult – I’m just so passionate about it because I’ve waited so long to be able to do this. I’m somebody who’s always happy on set and I kind of live for this. I don’t know what else I would do because I’ve done other things and I really enjoyed them, but nothing has fed my soul, my creative soul, like this work.

PopHorror: I’m glad you found your way back. I think that you were made for it and I’m glad that you decided to give it another try. What is up next for you?

Chaz Bono: I have another film coming out I believe in the fall, that’s called The Bell Keeper and that’s also a horror film. It’s very different from this and I play a character that has a little bit of comic relief to him, so that was super fun. We’re now in pre-production with Spider One and Krsy Fox for a new film, and that is something I’m really excited about. I’m looking forward to producing again. It’s a very different film than Bury the Bride. Very, very different. Much more intimate and it’s going to be really good, I think. Audiences are going to dig it. I’m excited.

PopHorror: That is exciting! I’m glad to hear they have something new coming out. I have just one last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?

Chaz Bono: The Exorcist.

PopHorror: Great answer! You didn’t even have to think about that.

Chaz Bono: I watch it every Halloween. That’s my thing.

Thank you so much to Chaz for taking the time to speak with us. Bury the Bride is currently streaming on Tubi.