Interview with Nicholas King Bughuul from Sinister and Sinister 2

imgresWe loved Sinister here at Love Horror so when we heard about the sequel I have to say we were more than a little excited. Living up to our expectations Sinister 2 takes the story in a whole new direction but one constant is the evil demon Bughuul played once again by stunt man Nicholas King.

Taking time away from being a horror movie villain and his other work Nicholas chatted to us about making the Sinister films, the trials of monster make up, the supernatural and getting advice from Jason Voorhees.

Love Horror: Hi Nick sorry about all the problems getting this call going.

Nicholas King: That’s okay it’s all good.

Love Horror: I feel a bit like this interview was cursed. Perhaps like the cursed houses in Sinister 2 I should set fire to my phone so no one else can get it!

Nicholas King: (Laughs) Maybe.

Love Horror: I guess we should start with the biggest question which is what is it like playing a horror movie monster?fdfggf

Nicholas King: It’s honestly a blessing I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity I was given

Love Horror: How did you get to be Bughuul, it’s a weird role to audition for?

Nicholas King: Actually my Dad was the stunt coordinator for the LA part of the first film so he told me about it and he said there’s an audition so myself and my brother and about 5 or 6 other guys all went and did the audition and the director picked me.

Love Horror: It must have been uncomfortable going up against your brother for the role?

Nicholas King: Yeah I guess but it’s always a competition between us two.

Love Horror: Did they tell you why you got it over everyone else including your brother. Were you particularly gruesome?

Nicholas King: They were looking for a tall slender looking guy and my brothers on the bigger side and I was just what they wanted. I don’t have any lines or anything so they were looking for a certain body type and I happened to be it.

imgresLove Horror: One of the interesting things about the character is he is completely silent in both films so you have to give a very physical performance. You did quite a lot of stunt work before Sinister did that help you create the physicality of an otherworldly demon?

Nicholas King: Yeah I mean especially for the first Sinister the second film was more artsy but for the first one I did the fire scene, I did the pool scene and did a lot so the stunt background definitely helped me out and made me feel little bit more comfortable on camera.

Love Horror: Action-Horror is a big genre but I guess there are more stunts on your average conventional horror movie than the audience realises.

Nicholas King: Yeah there are a lot of stunts that people don’t really understand especially on horror movies.

Love Horror: It must have been better for the other actors and the crew that you did do all the dangerous stunts yourself keeping the monster consistently played by you throughout the films unlike in other movies where they have stunt doubles.

Nicholas King: That’s actually another reason why I got the role is because I had the stunt background. They were looking for a certain body type but with that they had to also be able to do stunts as well which is always a benefit.11111

Love Horror: Did you discuss the character at all with Sinister creators and writers Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. Did they give you any background to Bughuul?

Nicholas King: Yeah they kind of like gave me an idea of what they were trying to accomplish and the look that they wanted and some of that so it definitely helped me mastering the character.

Love Horror: What kind of preparation did you do for the role or was it more being physically fit and as menacing as possible?

Nicholas King: My Dad is good friends with Kane Hodder, I’m sure you know who that is, [I do but if you don’t he played Jason Voorhees in four of the Friday the 13th films] and he gave me some pointers and tips to get in the mind-set of it all.

Love Horror: Amazing and what is that mind-set?

Nicholas King: (Laughing) Just a dark depressed mind-set pretty much. I mean realistically I would isolate myself every day because I couldn’t talk anyway so I thought why not get into character.

sfsdfdsfLove Horror: That must have made you much more of a scary presence on set if no one ever saw or spoke to you?

Nicholas King: Absolutely especially in the beginning of the shooting

Love Horror: How did the cast react to you especially the younger ones, were they scared?

Nicholas King: On the first day of shooting Sinister 2 they were doing make up and I was doing make up as well at the same time and we were in the same room and so they actually saw the start to finish process of me going from being myself and then transitioning into my character so it obviously made it a lot easier for them. As far as being fully in costume going out to set there where a lot of scared crew members who had no idea what I was going to look like including Scott Derrickson.

Love Horror: That must have been something! Who came up with the look of Bughuul and were you involved at all?imgres

Nicholas King: No that was 100% them but there weren’t fully sure of what the finished product was going to be so to speak.

Love Horror: Bughuul looks amazing and really scary, what is the make-up process like?

Nicholas King: For Sinister 1 it was about 3 hours to put on and then about an hour and half to 2 hours to take off and then for the second movie it was about an hour and half to 2 hours to put on and then about an hour to an hour and half to take off.

Love Horror: Wow that must have been hard on you especially if you wanted to go to the toilet.

Nicholas King: Yeah especially for the first one I was wearing that thing all day long so when I wanted to eat I would have to drink out of a straw instead, I would rarely say any words. It was a little difficult but it was all worth it to be honest in the long run.

Love Horror: Did they at least let you borrow the costume for Halloween?

imgresNicholas King: (Laughs) No actually for Sinister 1 there were two masks made and I have one and they have one. So when I do conventions and stuff I bring the mask for everyone to see so they know it’s me, they all enjoy that at conventions.

Love Horror: What do you think it is about the character of Bughuul that is so Sinister?

Nicholas King: To be honest I think it’s a new age horror. There really hasn’t been too many masked monster horror movies in the last decade or two you know and all those other old school horror movies like Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street those are all in the 80’s so all the people that love that stuff loved Sinister. From what I’ve been told there hasn’t been really a good horror movie till mine came out.

Love Horror: Has the character changed at all between Sinister and Sinister 2 or is Bughuul a character who simply doesn’t change being a demon from Hell and all?

Nicholas King: To be honest I think it’s kind of the same but I think there is a lot more that can be revealed in my character if they were to pursue a Sinister 3 or 4 for that matter I think there is still a lot more to be established.

Love Horror: Definitely I think your right. In Sinister 1 you don’t really know where it’s all going until your character is revealed half way through and 2 is more about the new family so if they did a Sinister 3 it could really uncover the origins of Bughuul as it would be an interesting way to go.11111

Nicholas King: I think so too. Like I said I hope that if they do a third one I hope they go more in-depth with my character and explain why I’m doing what I’m doing. I hope it goes back into the 50’s and 60’s ere as that is when some of those home movies take place in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s. In my opinion that would be cool if they went back in time and we could see that stuff.

Love Horror: Are they thinking of making a third film or haven’t you heard?

Nicholas King: I have no idea to be honest I’m trying to find out but I honestly don’t know.

Love Horror: Apart from Bughuul who is your favourite horror movie monster and why?

Nicholas King: I always liked Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger but obviously they are both very different. Freddy Krueger has so many different variables that can hurt you with his fingers and he can disappear and get in your dreams but then Jason Voorhees is obviously Jason Voorhees and he’s got a machete and no matter how fast you run he’s going to follow you and chase you down.

Love Horror: Jason is silent too so he shares that with Bughuul as well.

Nicholas King: (Laughing) Yeah!

sdfsdfLove Horror: Do you believe in the supernatural at all or do you write it off as something for the movies?

Nicholas King: No at first I didn’t really believe, I didn’t know too much about it so I didn’t know whether to believe it or not but I actually did a convention in Buffalo New York at an old haunted train station and that was like eye opener it was honestly unbelievable all the stories and all everything that was going on. They were telling me about this little kid who kicks a ball around and so many more hauntings it was crazy and really eye opening.

Love Horror: So that convention made you a believer?

Nicholas King: Yeah absolutely.

Love Horror: What’s next for you, more horror?

Nicholas King: I can’t say who but I am doing a music video for an extremely popular metal band that I’ll be doing in about a month and then I have another possible role for another horror movie which unfortunately I can’t say either but we’ll see.

Love Horror: So it’s all pretty secretive stuff then?images

Nicholas King: Yeah I’m hoping for them both to happen so we’ll see. I think I’m starting to transition more into horror you know same thing as Kane Hodder, Kane Hodder started out doing stunts and now all he does is horror, horror stunts, horror movies, stunt coordinating horror movies everything you know. Hopefully I am going to transition into doing the same thing as well.

Love Horror: Thank you for talking to us and I have my fingers crossed for Sinister 3 and a Bughuul backstory.

Nicholas King: Me too and thank you!

Sinister 2 is out now on Blu-ray and DVD!

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Alex Humphrey

Alex studied film at the University of Kent and went on to work for Universal Pictures in their Post Room gaining an inside look at the movie industry from the very bottom. Constantly writing reviews in everything from local magazines to Hip Hop sites Alex honed his critical skills even spending a brief period as a restaurant critic. Read more

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  • I wish Nicholas King would host SNL and he could play Mr. Boogie in one skit!

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