Amy Madigan has been acting in films and TV since the early 1980s, but she’s having a breakout year thanks to Weapons. Aunt Gladys anchors Zach Cregger’s complex tale with a reminder that pure evil can be found just about anywhere, even in the form of an aging relative passing through suburbia. Gladys’ distinctive style has spawned countless Halloween costumes—as well as Oscar buzz for Madigan. And if she gets a nod, know that she did the physical work necessary to make Gladys come to life, especially in Weapons‘ grueling final scene.
Though Madigan has previously talked about doing all the running in Weapons‘ climax—the big tackle was a stunt double—she discussed the scene in even more detail in a recent Entertainment Weekly interview.
“‘Oh, no, I’m running,” she recalled telling Cregger about the scene, which sees Gladys frantically racing away from the kids she’s bewitched when the spell is broken and they all turn on her at once. She knows what they’ll do to her if they catch her, which they do in the movie’s most gruesome sequence.
“‘I’m definitely running. I’m doing it.’ So all of that, just revving it up that the payoff, I thought. was great. It’s like, yeah, just rip her apart. I think some people find it funny. Some people are like, ‘I don’t know about that ending.’ Some people find it justice has prevailed, so that’s good.”
She had “a blast” doing the scene, though she did take the time to make sure all the child actors weren’t actually scared of her. Considering how frightening she looks on screen, that probably was just as tough as all that sprinting.
Madigan also spoke a bit about how audiences have interpreted Aunt Gladys—and her delight that the character has resonated so deeply.
“People were pulling out threads of things and they interpreted it in a way, and that’s the fun about it. That’s what’s exciting about it,” she said, then referenced one fan theory in particular: that Elvis Presley’s mother, who was also named Gladys, helped inform the character. “I never would’ve ever thought of Elvis’ mom. So it’s like, yeah, go ahead and run with that. I’m not saying yes to that or no to that, but okay, that’s a theory.”
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