Matthew Lillard says Five Nights at Freddy's 2 won't be the last time we'll see Skeet Ulrich as Henry Emily.
"When it came to Skeet, [creator Scott Cawthon] was like, 'What do you think about Skeet to play this role?' I thought it made total sense. The relationship between the two characters – it's on an interesting path, that's all I can say," Lillard tells GamesRadar+, when asked about the casting process.
Ulrich and Lillard played best friends Billy Loomis and Stu Macher, respectively, in Wes Craven's horror hit Scream. At the end of the film, the duo is revealed to be the knife-wielding serial murderer Ghostface (and it's still one of the coolest and most clever reveals in any horror movie ever). Despite remaining friends for nearly 30 years, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 marks the duo's first onscreen appearance since 1996.
Ulrich plays Henry Emily, the overarching protagonist of the FNAF video games, who makes his first appearance in Five Nights at Freddy's 2. In the games and tie-in novels, Henry (first mentioned in the Five Nights at Freddy's 2 video game as a missing person) is the co-founder of the Freddy Fazbear franchise who created the animatronics alongside none other than William Afton – played by Lillard.
This casting is particularly clever, as it parallels and subverts Billy and Stu's relationship. In Scream, it's Billy (Ulrich) who creates Ghostface and spearheads their murder spree, which is fueled by Billy's deeply rooted hatred of Sidney and need for revenge. In Five Night's at Freddy's lore, Afton is the one who decides to turn the pizza chain into a trap for murdering children...and it's Henry who tries to put a stop to it, rather than join in.
"Our relationship is really tight. I mean, I see him every weekend. Husbands on the road. We eat every meal together, and he's one of my dear, dear friends in the world, so I was thrilled," Lillard continues. "I realized that he would take care of the fan base like I take care of the fan base. I think both of us are fan-forward. I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think he's honored to be a part of the cast in this demographic and sort of the franchise in the world. I think he's really excited about it. I know he's excited about it."
Adds Lillard: "I think it's great for the film. I think it's fantastic in the movie. And I think fans are gonna love not only his performance here, but in success, we're supposed to do three movies. And I think that where the relationship goes is really interesting."
A trilogy makes sense, given the absolutely enormous financial success of the first live-action film (which earned a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score in my heart), grossing $291 million at the global box office against a budget of just $20 million. It's hard to imagine that the live-action franchise will stop at movie no. 3, but only time will tell. Viva la Lillardaissance!
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is set to hit theaters on December 5, 2025. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond, or skip right to our list of movie release dates.
