Why It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Got Rid Of Cricket's 'Freddy Krueger Face'
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has an incredible cast of characters that fill out the world around the central group, "the gang," and few are as funny or tragic as Matthew "Rickety Cricket" Mara, played by the fabulous David Hornsby. Hornsby is also a writer and co-producer, bringing his slightly twisted sense of humor to the series in more ways than one, but it's hard to deny his impact as Cricket. The first time fans met Cricket, he was a handsome young priest who had intense unrequited feelings for Dee (Kaitlin Olson). He went to high school with the gang, which is where he earned the nickname "Rickety Cricket" because of his leg braces, and they only continue to make his life worse as the years go on. After Dee convinced him to leave the church and told him that her love for him was only because he was a priest and unattainable, he started doing drugs, became homeless, and essentially fell apart. Then the gang trapped him in a burning apartment during a botched beef-ending Thanksgiving dinner, leaving him horrifically scarred.
Those scars, when first revealed in season 10, are really pretty intense. The entire side of Hornsby's face is covered in thick, knotted scar tissue, and half of his hair is missing. As time has passed, the scars have gotten less pronounced, but why? On an episode of "The Always Sunny Podcast" where Hornsby joined the guys of the gang and writer/co-producer Megan Ganz to chat about the series, Hornsby revealed the reasoning behind toning down Cricket's serious scarring.
The gang can't agree on Cricket's burns
When Cricket's face is first revealed in the episode "Psycho Pete Returns," the gang is taken aback by it. The prosthetic makeup is excellent, with all kinds of rippling and pulling of the skin that occur from severe burns, and it really drives home the damage the gang has done to poor Cricks. In season 11, however, the prosthetics were softened, and they've gotten even less extreme as time has passed. On the podcast, Hornsby, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day all discussed the intensity of the makeup, which Day described as "hamburger face." Howerton, however, had an even more apt description:
"Freddy Krueger. Like Freddy Krueger, half face, and I was like, I didn't see a problem with it. You guys were like, 'It's really disturbing to look at,' and I'm like, Yeah, it's f***ing amazing.' That was one of those things we could not agree on. But you guys were on the same page. I wanted it to be as grotesque as possible."
Hornsby was apparently on the team that wanted the whole look toned down a bit, which might have had something to do with the amount of time he had to sit in the makeup chair, and he explained that they "softened" the makeup over time because "it probably healed over a little bit over time." That's actually pretty realistic in a series that frequently goes into extremes, and it helps add to the overall continuity.
The downward spiral of Matt Mara
Fans can document the downfall of Rickety Cricket entirely through his appearance, with his internal changes reflected on the outside. By the time Cricket has been burned, he's lost all sense of his former self and has become a feral human being, and his appearance reflects that like a sort of reverse Dorian Gray. Sure, most of the awfulness in his personality is a direct result of the gang's actions, but he's become just as deranged as they are by this point, perhaps even more. Though his scars have softened a bit since season 10, his teeth have deteriorated, he now has long stringy hair, and he no longer has any pretense of being a functioning member of society ever again. The transformation from Matt Mara to Rickety Cricket, a street rat, has been astounding, and Hornsby's performance has as much to do with it as the prosthetic makeup and costume changes. Cricket is a fascinating character in a series full of them, and hopefully, we'll get to see him go wild for years to come.