'The Spiderwick Chronicles' - Christian Slater and Joy Bryant

Premiering on The Roku Channel on April 19th is the new series ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles,’ which is based on the popular series of books and stars Christian Slater (‘True Romance’), Joy Bryant (‘The Skeleton Key’) and Jack Dylan Grazer (‘Shazam!’).

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(L to R) Christian Slater and Joy Bryant talk ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Christian Slater and Joy Bryant about their work on ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles,’ Slater’s first reaction to the screenplay and his approach to playing his character, why Bryant’s character moves her family to this town, discovering family secrets, and working with the cast of young actors.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Slater, Bryant, Lyon Daniels, Noah Cottrell, Mychala Lee, Jack Dylan Grazer and Alyvia Alyn Lind.

Christian Slater in ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’. Photo: The Roku Channel.

MF: To begin with, Christian, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and your specific approach to playing this character?

Christian Slater: My reaction was, “This is going to be a lot of fun.” I was really excited about it. I kind of couldn’t wait. It was the type of character that I enjoy playing. There were no limitations. Once I saw what the special effects team was doing and they sent me some videos of the actual Mulgarath character, just knowing that gave me something in my brain that gave me the freedom to be as nuts, dangerous and as scary as I possibly could be.

Joy Bryant in ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’. Photo: The Roku Channel.

MF: Joy, can you talk about why your character moves her family to this new town and the family secrets they discover?

Joy Bryant: I mean, she’s kind of having a rough go. She’s divorced and she wants to get a fresh start with her family. Also, help her child deal with some things that he’s going through, and getting him the proper care that he needs. So, it’s a lot on her shoulders. Then inheriting the ancestral home, and for them to find this hidden world of magic and mythological creatures and all this, it’s a lot. This poor mama is dealing with a lot and then she gets involved with a monster. But like most mamas do, she’s going to make sure that her family is taken care of to the best of her abilities and they’re going to fight this good fight together. I think in the process of all of that, all of them just really learn the importance of family, trust, love and sticking together.

(L to R) Joy Bryant, Mychala Lee, Lyon Daniels and Noah Cottrell in ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’. Photo: The Roku Channel.

MF: Finally, Joy, what was it like working with the young actors that play your children? Did you all bond on set like a real family?

JB: I mean, I’m so lucky to have such great TV kids. I’ve played so many moms in my career and we just all hit it off right away instantly as soon as we met. Whether they’re kids or adults, whatever, I mean chemistry is that thing that you can’t fake, you can’t front on that. I’m so lucky that these kids are awesome. We just hit it off as soon as we all met. So, all of that was very natural and as we spent more time together on set, it grew from there.

The cast of ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ at WonderCon 2024.

What is the plot of ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’?

Helen (Joy Bryant) and her children, 15-year-old fraternal twins Jared (Lyon Daniels) and Simon (Noah Cottrell) and their sister Mallory (Mychala Lee) move to their ancestral home, Spiderwick. Jared discovers a boggart and realizes that magical creatures are real! The only one to believe him is his great-aunt Lucinda who implores Jared to find the pages of her father’s field guide to magical creatures and protect them from the murderous Ogre, Mulgarath (Christian Slater).