Andrew E Interview Billy Brannigan (Mrs. Claus)

Hello Grue-Lings,

We are happy to have interviewed Mrs. Claus star Billy Brannigan. He plays Kyle in Mrs. Claus. Billy is no stranger to the horror world or to the director Troy Escamilla. He as worked on another horror film that Troy directed called Party Night where he plays Travis. 

Billy Brannigan began auditioning for television/film after graduating high school. He actually studied at James Franco’s school in New York and worked numerous tv shows, shorts, and films.  He took on a lead role in the television show “A Crime To Remember.” He portrayed William Heirens, a historic, young, real serial killer from the early 1900’s. He has also done many horror films. One of these performances lead to a nomination for a “Best Actor” award at a large horror festival in early 2017. Here is my interview with Billy Brannigan:

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Check out the below interview with the lovely actor Billy Brannigan star of the new festive horror film Mrs. Claus that stars Brinke Stevens!

Andrew E: Hello Billy, thanks for chatting with Gruemonkey!

Billy: Really Happy to be here, and to be talking with you.

Andrew E: Can you tell us about Mrs. Claus, and your role in the film?

Billy: Mrs. Claus is one of the independent horror movies created by Troy Escamilla that I am fortunate enough to be a part of. Troy and I got to work together on his first feature film “Party Night” a few years ago, and then he reached out to me after writing Mrs. Claus to ask if I’d be interested in playing Kyle. This character, Kyle, is definitely a character that I loved creating because of how different he is than other characters I’ve worked on – Kyle is in my opinion; the nice guy.

Andrew E: How did you bring Kyle to life? and what’s the hardest thing about making a horror movie?

Billy: Horror movies are definitely tough. Fear is an interesting emotion and a lot of people experience it differently, so attempting to portray it really isn’t an easy task. But, at the same time, it is incredibly fun to put yourself into that state of panic and think not only what I would do if a crazed killer was attacking me, but what would my character do? It involves a lot of thought and even sometimes physical preparation to allow yourself to really get scared. I wanted people who watched this movie to ride along with Kyle and relate to him, and that includes when he’s fighting for survival when the chaos finally breaks out.

Andrew E: Can you tell us a funny memory from the set of Mrs. Claus?

Billy: Wow, there are so many great memories from our shoot. We all had such a fun time and grew super close over the few weeks we were together. I had worked with two of the cast members before (Ryan Poole & Drew Shotwell) and we always love cracking jokes. Troy definitely had to get us under control a few times because we definitely got a little bit wild on certain days. As you know, the opening scene of the film involves a sex toy, and we managed to get our hands on that prop and had a lot of fun hiding it around set. When the camera was rolling, we were always super serious because we wanted to make sure our characters came through correctly, but behind the scenes, there was a lot of joking around.

Andrew E: You got to star alongside some real horror royalty, What was it like working with the legend Brinke Stevens?

Billy: She’s incredible! It’s always such a cool experience working with actors that have experience. In a movie like this, all of the main cast members are young and pretty new to the acting world. So, when someone like Brinke Stevens steps on set, you can just feel the intensity. She is so talented and absolutely killed every scene she was in, and I was lucky enough to be in a few of those. I was very in awe watching her work, and I knew that not only was I having a good time – but I was learning. On top of all that though, she’s so nice and friendly which was great.

Andrew E: Do you think Mrs. Claus could return for a sequel?

Billy: That’s a tough one to answer, I’d love to see it though. As far as I know I don’t think Troy will be writing a sequel any time soon, but if he does I hope we will get some more of my character in it. I loved the idea of this killer, and I thought it was really original. I’ve seen lots of Christmas movies but none that really deal with Mrs. Claus, so when Troy told me the idea I immediately fell in love with it. I’m still in love with it. So, I’m hoping for more! 

Andrew E: Favourite kill in Mrs. Claus?

Billy: They are so cool, how can I pick just one?! I really dig each of the kills in their own special ways, but I guess I would have to say that Tyler’s death (Jace Greenwood) is my favorite. The candy cane gets shoved down his throat and I actually sat and watched them shoot the scene. I hope I don’t sound crazy but I thought it was quite the creative way to kill someone!

Andrew E: Who have you stayed in contact with the most since filming ceased?

Billy: I’ve stayed in contact with so many of the cast/crew members! People probably always say stuff like this in interviews, but it was amazing how close we all grew. Seriously! The shoot lasted a few weeks and a lot of us stayed together during that time so we became a family basically. I love them all! Ryan Poole though has definitely become a big part of my life over the last few years. We met on the set of Troys first movie “Party Night” and we became super close. Then we were reunited for “Mrs. Claus” and now we’re basically brothers! I look up to him a lot and I’m happy to have such a close friend that also loves acting. 

Andrew E: What have you got coming up next?

Billy: Next up is the “Mrs. Claus” sequel about Kyles revenge. No, I’m kidding! I’m always working. I’ve been working on a few television shows lately – A Crime To Remember, Shattered, etc. I’ve been able to create some really awesome characters with those so definitely check them out! I’ll definitely be working with Troy Escamilla in the future down the road, I’m not sure on what yet but I can promise it’ll be bloody!

Andrew E: Thanks for chatting to us – Last question, I promise – Do you have another festive horror favorite?

Billy: I saw a movie last year that really stuck with me called “Better Watch Out,” it’s a Christmas horror movie about a few kids. Go watch it if you haven’t! It’s great. Aside from that, I haven’t really seen much Christmas horror. I have to change that! 

Andrew E: Ok I lied – one more question, outside of the horror Christmas world – what’s your favorite Christmas movie?

Billy: My favorite is the same as everybody’s else’s favorite Christmas movie – Elf. I think it’s because I grew up with it. That movie always makes me smile. The only problem is there’s definitely not enough slashing of college kids – so I think Mrs. Claus has got it beat!

Andrew E: Thank you so much for chatting us!

Billy: Thank you, anytime! I hope people like the movie!

Mrs. Claus is available now to stream and buy on AMAZON

Check out Billy’s profile on IMDB

Check Billy out on Instagram

Check Billy out onFacebook

Check out the trailer for Mrs. Claus below: