Like many aspiring actors, Hunter Doohan had a suitcase and a dream when he first moved to Los Angeles in 2012 during his college gap year, as he was initially planning to attend Oklahoma City University.
“I loved the blind optimism delusion that I had to move out to L.A. with not a lot of proof to back that decision up,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. Though that gap year turned into a gap decade, it’s also turned into dreams becoming realities.
Doohan, now 32, admits that “there was so long when nothing was happening,” but after grinding for several years, he finally landed his industry break in 2019 playing the younger version of Aaron Paul’s character in the Apple TV+ drama Truth Be Told. He garnered more attention after starring alongside Bryan Cranston in fellow Apple show Your Honor the following year.
But it would be his next role that catapulted him to new levels of fame. In 2022, Doohan starred opposite Jenna Ortega in the Addams family-centered series Wednesday, playing Tyler Galpin, the show’s love interest turned Hyde monster. He’s since reprised his role for two more seasons, including season three that’s currently in production in Ireland.
“I always have been scared since season one, kind of knowing my arc and being a villain in some people’s eyes, that a death would be around the corner,” he quips of his character’s storyline. “So to be here in season three is amazing.”
While Wednesday is a dark comedy, Doohan decided to lean even darker with his latest role, taking on Evil Dead Burn, the gruesome sixth installment in the long-running horror franchise that just hit theaters and which has amassed $17 million domestically to date.
There’s no doubt that Doohan has showcased a wide range of characters in his film and television resume so far, but there’s one notable role missing from his list of credits. Despite being a gay man, Doohan has yet to book an LGBTQ character, but not for a lack of trying.
He notes that it’s been completely out of his control as he has auditioned for many gay roles. While Doohan would still love to tackle that type of character, he’s also grateful for the opportunities he’s received thus far. “It’s kind of my little revenge against all the straight actors taking gay roles. I’m going to take some of theirs,” he quips with a laugh.
Below, Doohan catches up with THR to chat about Evil Dead Burn, including how one of his scenes almost landed the film with an NC-17 rating, Wednesday season three, and his goals to move behind the camera.
How did you first get attached to Evil Dead Burn?
The 2013 Fede Alvarez one [Evil Dead], that’s still one of my favorite horror movies. And I had first watched Evil Dead 2 while we were doing season two of Wednesday because my friend Owen [Painter], it became a reference for fighting his own hand, [like how] Bruce Campbell so brilliantly and campily does in that film. Then it was just an audition process and then a Zoom callback with Sébastien [Vanicek], the director. I think he was already over in New Zealand. Then before the final edition, I got the full script and was like, “Oh, OK, I’m so in. I really want this. I’ll do whatever crazy thing I have to do over Zoom for this movie.” (Laughs.)
Take me inside the set for a moment — is it an intense and scary filming as the final cut looks?
The amount of my friends that have been like, “Love that for you, will not be watching.” (Laughs.) … It’s so fun. Or sometimes covered in really sticky blood for hours, that’s not so fun. But it’s amazing. I mean, the practical effects and makeup they did on this movie was insane. And so that was cool to look at and made it a lot easier to get into. But no, when they call cut and then all of a sudden Luciane [Buchanan] drops her Deadites thing and is the goofiest person overall, you would immediately come out of it.
Hunter Doohan in Evil Dead Burn.
Warner Bros.
When it comes to different directors’ styles, how quickly are you able to adapt to the different approaches to filmmaking, such as with Sébastien?
With Séb, I love him dearly now, but he told me when I first got there, he’s like, “Yeah, you were my first choice.” And I was like, “What are you talking about?” I got off that Zoom, I was like, “That guy fucking hates me because he’s French and you just cannot tell what he’s thinking at all.” And he’s so dry and blunt. But it became an amazing way to work and we got such a shorthand going pretty quickly. But I mean, he could come up and be like, “That was not right.” (Laughs.) OK, this is not personal. This is just how he communicates.
What are you most excited for fans to see in Evil Dead Burn?
You can never tell what the reaction will be, but we teased it when I wrapped. I’m smashing something over and over again. And I know that that scene particularly had to be edited down because it kept us getting an NC-17 [rating] instead of R for just gruesome brutality. So I’m so excited to see how that turns out.
The horror genre really is having such a moment, especially after Sinners and Weapons last year, and now Obsession and Backrooms this year. Why do you think audiences are resonating with it so much at the moment?
I feel lucky to get my debut in [the genre] at this moment because I feel like audiences have been there. I feel like the industry is catching up. You said Sinners, with Oscar nominations and wins for horror movies, is incredible and should have been happening a long time ago. I mean, fucking Hereditary. [Toni] Collette should have been nominated for that for sure. Yeah, it’s just exciting this moment we’re in, especially with Obsession and Backrooms. All these young filmmakers making their own way into the industry and so successful when everyone’s been so doom and gloom about the future of the industry and theaters specifically, it’s exciting.
Turning to Wednesday, Tyler definitely had a glow-up in season two. What was your reaction to all the fan reactions and fan edits on social media?
So funny. And we would send them to each other, too (Laughs). I would send them to Owen, and me and Emma [Myers] always send each other really stupid, funny things we see about each other. That’s great. Love it (Laughs)!
Hunter Doohan in Wednesday season two.
Netflix
Were you expecting that reaction from fans or did it come as a surprise?
It’s kind of like the horror thing, me and Jenna [Ortega] were laughing and having so much fun. They’re coming in and literally spraying me down when I’m chained up, and she’s like, “This is fucking ridiculous.” And we’re laughing. And then I watched it and I was like, “Oh my God, is this too whatever?” And then you see it and it’s like, “Oh, it’s kind of BDSMy. What have we done?” But I’m glad that people still found the fun in it (Laughs).
With Wednesday filming for months in Ireland, do you just get used to being away from home for such long periods, and is it exciting to be in all these new places?
Exciting and weird. This time I had kind of a deja vu,Twilight Zone moment because I’m in the exact same apartment I was in last time, because it was the only place I could find that would let me have my cat here. And so to walk in and be like, “Wait, was I here a year and a half or two weeks ago?” But it was nice to settle back into a routine pretty quickly. I brought my cat. That helps. I’m having one-sided conversations, but at least I’m not in a totally quiet apartment. (Laughs.)
Can you tease anything for fans for season three? I know Wednesday is headed to Paris, so could we see Tyler in the City of Love as well?
Yeah, it’s actually for our honeymoon. (Laughs.) No, of course she’s there for her dark reasons. I think it’s kind of a continuation of where you see her going off looking for Enid (Emma Myers) at the end of season two. You get to see where [Isadora] Capri was taking Tyler at the end of season two, and that storyline for me has been amazing because I’m just such a big fan of Billie Piper and her work. So yeah, anything other than that, I’d probably get fired. (Laughs.)
Hunter Doohan in The Wilderness.
Everett Collection
Do you see yourself producing or directing or writing in the future, in addition to your work in front of the camera?
For sure. I got to produce the indie movie The Wilderness that came out last year that I was in and loved that. And I’ve been writing basically the last 10, 12 years. My senior drama three play in high school was a play that I wrote. And then I wrote just short films as real material when I was first in L.A. But yeah, definitely been writing a lot, trying to get my first feature off the ground that I’ve written and want to direct.
What’s one of the biggest challenges you’ve been able to overcome to get you where you are today in your career?
Just finding amazing people to surround myself with back home in L.A. because I think the most challenging practical life thing has been overcoming this stop-start feeling of your life. You’re almost on and off your real life for six months at a time. But I’ve just got these relationships and people around me now that we prioritize that, and whether it’s visiting each other more, trying to figure that out, or just the kind of friendships that pick up right where you were and can survive over text and FaceTime for six months. And also making a real effort to make friends in whatever city I am in quickly and not treating it like I’m away, but accepting this is part of my real life too.
