Disney+ is bringing an all-new live-action Goosebumps TV series to audiences of a certain age, and the creative team pulled in quite the A+ actor to appeal to both those who grew up with the books and younger generations: Justin Long. He isn’t just the bridge between millennials and Gen-Z, though, but also an actor capable of walking the fine genre line the Disney+ series has to walk. Executive producers for the show recently spoke the show’s praises when talking to CinemaBlend, and namechecked New Girl and Barbarian as prime examples for why Long was the ideal talent for this lead role.
I was honored to speak to executive producers Conor Welch and Pavun Shetty about Goosebumps‘ first streaming series, and why Justin Long was a go-to casting choice. Welch was quick to bring up that there aren’t a lot of actors in Hollywood who jump between comedy and horror as often or successfully as Long, and how that familiarity with both cinematic moods translated to working on the R.L. Stine adaptation anthology.
His resume and pedigree is just comedy at the highest level and horror at the highest level. So he really nailed that sort of small purple sliver of the Venn diagram between those genres in a way that really, I can’t think of any other actor out there does. It was just really fun to watch him work…it was interesting to watch our younger cast members remember Justin from the movies that he’d done in their childhood as well and really elevate their game because they were in a scene with him. He really was a great captain of our cast.
Justin Long appears in Goosebumps as Mr. Nathan Bratt, a new English teacher in town who moved into the creepy Biddle house. The house has a sketchy history known to some in the town, and will be central to the five teens who come in contact with it throughout the series. As a teacher and owner of this mysterious house, it goes without saying he’ll come into contact with the main characters a fair bit.
Pavun Shetty continued praising Justin Long and brought up his previous work that helped lead to Goosebumps. Shetty had some personal experience in seeing the actor during his guest role on New Girl and noted his part in the cast of Barbarian was out in the world not long before filming on the Disney+ show:
I’d gotten to work with him before because I produced the show New Girl and he did an arc on it. He was so funny on it. And then, right before we started shooting [Goosebumps] Barbarian came out which was just on the other end of the spectrum and was so bonkers. Barbarian was such a scary movie and he was really funny in it and too and played such a weird character that it was kind of perfect timing for him to come and do something like this because he gets to embrace elements like that, but kind of make it his own as well.
As someone who was honored to see the first batch of episodes in advance, I can confirm Justin Long embraces both elements in Goosebumps. While the horror isn’t quite as grotesque as what one might see if they check out his wild performance in Kevin Smith’s Tusk, there’s a lot of fear to draw in the role.
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I think audiences will be surprised to see just how scary he can make a middle-aged geeky English teacher look. I was impressed and agreed with the EPs that not everyone could play this role as well as he did.
Goosebumps has long been an entry-point for Horror to young audiences, and as such, has to navigate between being spooky and fun at the same time. Those who tune in with a Disney+ subscription can expect a performance from Justin Long that is as frightening as it is funny to watch. It’s a bit more extreme than previous live-action adaptations, but it’s a treat and great for family watching this Halloween season.
Goosebumps premieres its first five episodes on Disney+ and Hulu on Friday, October 13th. Viewers beware they’ll be in for a scare, but also some delightful fun and acting that might just reinvigorate the series once more for audiences.