US actor Nick Offerman agreed to narrate Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck, for “nothing”, according to the cult horror director who returned to his indie filmmaking roots for the genre-bender that won the prestigious People’s Choice award at Toronto 2024.
The film is an adaptation of a Stephen King short story following three chapters in the life of an ordinary man and stars Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Hamill.
Neon acquired North America rights and is opening The Life Of Chuck wide from June 13.
“We needed a narrator who could speak to the tone of the story and carry us through,” said Flanagan. “We also knew we didn’t have any money for that person.”
The film’s director of photography Eben Bolter reached out to Offerman, having directed him in an Emmy-winning performance in The Last Of Us, to see if he would be open to reading the script.
“[Offerman] was touring with a comedy show at the time, and is accustomed, rightfully so, to being paid a lot of money for his vocal studio work,” Flanagan continued. “But he not only came in and agreed to do it for the nothing that we had, but said that he believed the actors might appreciate hearing his cadence, which is unique to him, on scenes that they would be dealing with the voiceover.”
The actor, renowned for his work on TV series including Parks And Recreation, subsequently recorded a scratch track of his entire narration in his car so it could be played on set for the actors. “It did an amazing thing for morale, his voice was just perfect for this story,” adds Flanagan.
Return to filmmaking roots
Flanagan was talking to Screen at the UK premiere of The Life Of Chuck at SXSW London last week, ahead of a UK-Ireland release via Studiocanal on August 22.
The film marks Flanagan’s return to indie filmmaking after creating several horror series for Netflix, including The Haunting Of Hill House and Midnight Mass, before signing a first-look overall TV deal with Amazon Studios in 2022. He shot the feature under a SAG-AFTRA interim during the actors’ strike in October 2023, producing with Intrepid Pictures.
“I got to film this in Alabama, where I shot my first real movie. It’s where we filmed Oculus and Before I Wake and Hush and Gerald’s Game,” Flanagan explained. “I was in the same locations that my career was born in, with a lot of the same crew, people who worked as PAs on Hush were now department heads here.”
Reflecting on how the world of indie filmmaking has changed since his earlier days, Flanagan noted the “seismic” shifts in technology but said “that feeling of being in a trench without any resources and with a bunch of people who just want to tell a good story, that hasn’t changed.”
Flanagan’s upcoming projects include a series adaptation of King’s novel Carrie for Amazon MGM Studios and a feature update of The Exorcist for Blumhouse and Universal Pictures.
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