Matthew Lillard Wants More Out Of Afton In The Five Nights At Freddy's Sequel
This post contains spoilers for "Five Nights at Freddy's."
Matthew Lillard is a man of many talents. He can shapeshift into characters of various tints with ease, oscillating between roles that paint him as a loveable clown (such as Shaggy in "Scooby-Doo") and characters that take on more complex, macabre aspirations. Lillard's presence in the "Five Nights at Freddy's" ("FNAF") movie adaptation is foundational to the core mystery of the film — although his character, William Afton, only appears in a handful of scenes, Afton's legacy feels pronounced in the film's lore-heavy world. As the co-founder and owner of Fazbear Entertainment and Afton Robotics, LLC, Afton always seems to come back in one form or another, fulfilling his troubling vision that dictates the fates of the animatronics that linger in the abandoned spaces brimming with malice.
Lillard imbues Afton with restrained malice when he is first introduced in the film offering a security job to Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) without revealing his identity. This seemingly innocuous job offer is the catalyst for the horrors to come, plunging Mike into a massive web of lies and conspiracies that tie back to the disappearance of a loved one. When Afton's motivations are finally revealed, and he dons the olive-hued Springtrap suit, there's a palpable sense of dread felt by every character involved. In the end, Afton is considered dead, but anyone acquainted with the larger "FNAF" lore will know that this is just the beginning of the end for the villain.
Although a "Five Nights at Freddy's" sequel has not been officially greenlit as of yet, Lillard spoke to Collider about his expectations for Afton's character and the scope of his role in the follow-up (which will almost certainly be developed down the line).
Fleshing out a Five Nights antagonist
Although Lillard was able to make Afton convincing enough despite the limited number of scenes he was in, there's much more to be explored about this enigmatic "FNAF" character. In the video games, Afton is overarchingly evil and thoroughly committed to his experiments, no matter the cost. Moreover, he never falters due to moral limitations and does not feel remorse after setting off a chain of tragedies that has impacted countless lives over decades. Lillard's rendition harbors similar motivations and worldviews, but the live-action "FNAF" films have a unique chance to fill in the blanks and present Afton's point of view, no matter how twisted it becomes with time.
Lillard spoke about this need to flesh out Afton to better understand his motivations — while we know about his horrific deeds, there's little insight into the kind of man he was before these events, and what shaped him to walk down such an extreme path. Lillard hopes that the sequels can help us understand Afton better:
"[...] I mean, I barely got to touch him, right? I got to kill my daughter [Vanessa], but we know nothing about him. We know nothing about his history, about his journey. All those things that the fans have filled in for year after year, I'm excited to, with Scott [Cawthon] and Emma [Tammi], fill in all those pieces that the fans have always wondered about. That's the thing is, how do we fill out expectations and how do we fill out the lore? I'll be excited to be a piece of that story."
If Lillard returns as Afton in a "FNAF" sequel, there is a chance to weave something more terrifying than killer animatronics and missing children who are caught in a loop that is seemingly impossible to break.