Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice's Creep franchise has become an iconic staple of the horror genre over the years, which isn't surprising given how effective and unsettling the first two films were. Even less surprising was how Shudder wanted to capitalize on that with a new television show, The Creep Tapes, which is airing its third season.
The performance of Duplass' Peachfuzz, the iconic killer at the center of the series, has always invited strangeness to the franchise at every turn. However, somehow, the first episode of Season 3 might have taken that to a whole new level.
The Direct sat down with Shudder's The Creep Tapes Season 3 star Kate Siegel, who plays Crystal, where she revealed that this role was "[the] most bizarre thing that has ever been asked of [her]." Nonetheless, she trusts Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice implicitly, so joining the show was a no-brainer.
For those still hoping that Creep 3 will happen one day, Duplass and Brice confirmed last year that they have ideas for what the story will look like.
This Is the Weirdest Stuff Kate Siegel Has Ever Filmed
"[The] Most Bizarre Thing That Has Ever Been Asked of Me."
- The Direct: "Is this some of the weirdest stuff you've ever filmed? Like, how high is it up there?"
Kate Siegel: I mean, as a woman who has had her face ripped off by chimps and watched the love of her life burn to death in front of me, yes, this is the strangest and most bizarre thing that has ever been asked of me.
- The Direct: "How was it pitched to you when it was first brought to you? What was this pitch?"
Siegel: Mark [Duplass] called me up or emailed me. I can't remember at this moment which one it was, and said, ' have an insane idea,'... And I just said yes. I said, "I'm in, whatever it is.' Because I'm a huge 'Creep' fan from the very beginning, from the first movie, and I trust Mark and Patrick [Brice] implicitly. I know them to be like creative, moral, kind, good men, and so I knew that it was going to be good, and it was going to be handled with respect, whatever it was. And so I just immediately jumped right in.
- The Direct: "Were you able to add anything to the concept after you came on board and you knew what it was?"
Siegel: Absolutely. There was so much. They gave me a light sketch of who Crystal was. That she was an underwear model in the '90s, and then they were just like, 'Go.' And so I got to go crazy with like what the hair looked like, what the makeup looked like. We talked a little bit about, I think maybe Patrick mentioned once, like what about a big fur coat? And I was like, say less. And I showed up with a giant fur coat.
"They really let me go crazy with her," Siegel explained:
Siegel: And then you know how Peachfuzz is always calling his victims animals? I knew early on that she was a raccoon. Like it just felt that way to me. And we got to throw in that line where he was like, 'You're raccoon,' and she says, 'This is my only coat.' To me, that, like, [for] Crystal, it's her only coat. All she has is a giant fur coat. And so they really let me go crazy with her, and every single whim that I wanted, I got.
Why Did Crystal Stay on the Boat?
"I Want to Believe That This Person Isn't Dumb."
- The Direct: "When you see these victims with Peachfuzz, you always kind of wonder, why are they here? Why are they still here? Can you kind of break down her reasoning and motivation for being there from the onset, and then what keeps her there in her mind?"
Kate Siegel: So it was so important to me as a fan of all of the 'Creep' world that we believed that Crystal would stay. You know, ever since I did 'Hush,' my whole thing has been like, I want to believe that this person isn't dumb. Let's all, as the audience, agree that she's not dumb.
The actor noted how she was "able to extrapolate the type of woman" who Crystal was:
Siegel: And so I, having grown up in Hollywood in the early 2000s, was able to extrapolate the type of woman who was approaching 40, and had to take gig jobs that she may not want to take. That she's on Craigslist and she's doing it, and she was an underwear model, and then she was a promo girl, and then she was a bottle service girl, and then maybe she did some nude modeling, and you know, finding this woman who, in the course of her life from 20 to almost 40, she has been in some strange situations.
"I don't think this is the first time she's been on a boat with a scary man," Siegel added:
Siegel: Like, she says [that] this isn't the first time someone asked her to shoot a Pam and Tommy sex tape, and I don't think this is the first time she's been on a boat with a scary man. I don't think this is the first time Crystal felt like her life was in danger. Like this is what happens when you put women at the edge of capitalism, where they have to pay their rent, and you know society values their sexuality.
"She is a savvy, intelligent, self-assured woman," she described Crystal as, adding that for most of her time on the boat, she truly "believes that she could get out of it:"
Siegel: And I don't judge her for that. I think she is a savvy, intelligent, self-assured woman who comes on this boat, being like, and she says, 'Well, you know, I knew you weren't just paying me to record this,' and she also believes that she could get out of it, and I think she believes she would survive until the second she doesn't.
Siegel added one final note: when just looking at Timmy for Timmy, without the Peachfuzz context, "he's kind of sad and weird," not scary at all:
Sigel: Because, just taking Timmy for who he is, without none of any of the knowledge of Peachfuzz, he's not that scary. At least in this episode, he's kind of sad and weird, and he's like clearly a liar, full of bullshit. But like he's not scary until the second he's scary, and then the second he's scary, she's scared, and she tries to escape.
Kate Siegel Changed the Fate of Her Creep Tapes Season 3 Character
"This Is One of My Proudest Moments as an Actor."
- The Direct: "Were there any kind of alternate endings, or at least variations of how that ending played out?"
Kate Siegel: This is one of my proudest moments as an actor. So, originally, Crystal is murdered brutally on screen with an axe. There's like blood spray and all of that stuff, and then because we got to shoot chronologically, we did the scene in bed, and after we shot it, Patrick and Mark were kind of like, 'I don't know if we can kill her. I think people will be too upset. It's too sad if, after that thing, that sweet moment of her vulnerability, of trying so hard in the bedroom to get out, she can be brutally murdered. I think it's too much for the tone of the show,' and I literally texted my friend and said I acted so well, I saved my life.
She said that the existence of these Creep Tapes does imply that its victims are dead, but with how the Season 3 premiere played out, Crystal could be alive:
Siegel: Then, of course, they do the thing because you have to have the story of the tape because these are the tapes he's watching, which implies that all of them are dead, or else he wouldn't really save it. I know there's some back and forth with that... But, so they put it in a place where it could be, maybe, maybe not, who knows? And I was like, yes, nailed it.
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