'Weapons' actor Callie Schuttera on her breakout horror role

When Callie Schuttera first put herself on tape for Zach Cregger’s mysterious “untitled project,” she couldn’t have guessed it would become Weapons — one of the year’s most chilling, acclaimed horror films. For her, what began as a quiet audition spiraled into a role that has critics talking and audiences shifting uneasily in their seats.

“I did it the way that I think it's supposed to happen, but doesn't happen very often, is with an audition,” she says in a Zoom conversation with City Times.

Unlike the film’s big-name co-stars who walked straight into meetings with Cregger, Schuttera’s journey began humbly — an audition tape, then a Zoom callback, and finally, a flight to Atlanta. “I was a big fan of Zach's Barbarian. I went from that audition tape… to a callback… and then flew out a couple of weeks later.”

When she got the role, disbelief hit first. “I was kind of dumbfounded, to be honest. I think I walked around going like, what just happened?” she recalls. The excitement was tempered by a bittersweet reality: it meant leaving her family for months, the longest she’d ever been away. “That was hard. But,” she admits, “it was worth it.”

Becoming Mrs. Lilly

What makes Schuttera’s turn so unnerving is that Mrs. Lilly rarely speaks, yet commands unease with every frame. Her performance is suffocatingly trapped. “I wanted to feel like I was still Mrs. Lilly but trapped somewhere deep inside,” she explains. “That we weren't just totally vacant, that there was something that still wanted very much to get out inside and maybe never does.”

To find that tension, Schuttera tapped into her own experience as a mother. “Parents can get so overwhelmed that they think, I just need to shut all this out. What if a parent got their wish… but then was stuck there forever? Free from responsibilities, but missing their son. That was the haunting part.”

Callie Schuttera with Cary Christopher and Whitmer Thomas

Director Zach Cregger nudged her even darker. “One of the things that he said he liked about her was that she wasn't necessarily a great mom,” she says. It was a note that shifted her entire approach. “It's always scarier to see horror layered over something that’s already a little eerie. A boy overlooked by his parents, and then trauma on top of that — that’s even scarier.”

The psychology of fear

For Schuttera, Weapons works because it doesn’t rely on gore. “I think it's harder to construct something that's eerie and haunting,” she notes. “Everybody’s house feels like a house you've seen before. That was so bothersome in a good way. It feels too familiar.”

Even on set, that eeriness bled through. The Lilly family home was mostly a soundstage build, but it still got under her skin. “It wasn’t that scary, but the vibe was creepy. The exterior of the house felt creepier. Inside, though, everyone was happy. It felt light and joyful — until the cameras started rolling.”

Not every scene was joyful, though. The fork sequence — already infamous among fans — was as disturbing to film as it is to watch. “We rehearsed it, tried different forks — styrofoam, real, CGI attachments. I find it disturbing also to watch.”

Callie Schuttera during the chase sequence from 'Weapons'

Still, the fork wasn’t the hardest part. That honour goes to the chase scenes. “That was the only time my (on-screen) husband and I were truly demonic. There was no mom left. It was just about the darkest feelings you could imagine, which was like, you know, I want to kill this young man.”

On co-stars, creeps, and childhood Ddeams

Despite the dark subject matter, the set was full of warmth. Schuttera beams when talking about Cary Christopher, who plays her son. “He’s such a wonderful, not just kid, a person. He was a blast to work with. And everyone else, even the big players, were just lovely. Amy Madigan is so kind and open, and Josh Brolin is completely down-to-earth.”

Watching the final cut was another surreal moment. “It's fun. Most actors hope they get to play a big range. And I love that this one character has so much range. As a kid you dream of putting on weird makeup and looking gruesome and doing something like this.”

The gruesome isn’t confined to the screen for Schuttera, either. She shares a story of a paranormal encounter during meditation: “I suddenly felt there were presences near me. I said, I need to know if I’m insane or if there’s really another being next to me. And then I felt my back being pushed forward. I freaked out. There was no denying it for me.”

What’s next?

If Weapons was her initiation into horror, it won’t be her last. “In a few days, I am going into production on my next horror thriller and I'm also producing it and I'm one of the writers. We're filming at a very beautiful location in Malibu. It's about American citizens trying to flee the country. I think the horror bug has bitten me. Weapons was not enough.”

Callie Schuttera in a scene from 'Weapons'

Still, she’s not locking herself into one lane. “I'm very interested in magical realism. Fantastical things happening, but in this world. Horror fits really nicely with that too. I mean, you could even argue Weapons is that in a way.”

When asked about her favorite scene, she doesn’t hesitate. It’s not her own — it’s Amy Madigan’s. “When she looks at Alex and says, there are things I can do to your parents and I could make them eat each other if I wanted to. Oh, that was creepy. It's fabulous. She says it in a way that makes you think she's done that before.”

Chilling words, delivered with chilling precision. And for Callie Schuttera, they’re the perfect reminder of why she’s ready to keep exploring the darker, stranger corners of storytelling.