The besthorrormovies are often defined by their villains. Those antagonists whose iconic methods and devilish motivations act as a catalyst for the plot, with every project trying to imagine some horrifying new devil to scare audiences for years (and hopefully many sequels) to come. This effort has created countless kinds of killers across the genre, with each one offering some lethal new flair to shock watchers — still, nobody could’ve expected that sweet ol’Jack Quaidwould become one of the medium’s newest, biggest monsters. His reveal as one of the Ghostfaces inTyler GillettandMatt Bettinelli-Olpin’sScream 5startled viewers; a filmography consisting mostly of “adorkable” protagonists meant most fans discounted the actor as a murderous contender before the franchise reboot even premiered. It’s how the performer knew this preconception and drew from it that allowed him to embody such an unnerving character, to twist his “nice guy” persona so that everyone in the audiencewas even more disgusted with his actions onscreen. It was a role that taught Quaid to use his previous roles to terrify audiences in his current ones, a talent that prepared him to portraya new insidiously volatile villain: Josh inDrew Hancock’sCompanion.
He Can’t Be a Villain – He’s Jack Quaid!
WhileScream 5excelled at using Jack Quaid’s famous persona to disturb unsuspecting audiences, this method of terror was actually perfected by another director many years before:Emerald Fennellin her 2020 thriller,Promising Young Woman. This movie is filled with hauntingly realistic portrayals of abusive and manipulative men, roles that Fennell filled with comedy actors who viewers knew from previously uplifting performances.The director’s aim was to remind everyone that real “villains"are almost never the visible creeps of Horror movies,they appear just like normal people— or, sometimes, the nicest men. She wanted to confront audiences with the unfortunate truth that men’s abuse and manipulation are too often ignored in favor ofthe kind demeanor they present to everyone… besides their victims. By featuring Quaid as one of the killers and placing him within such a self-absorbed, narcissistic, and thoroughly “incel” character,Screamhighlights this unfortunate truth of how the most abusive and manipulative men often get away with their misdeeds because people take them at their (thoroughly fake) face value.
Quaid’s part inScreamcame after he’d achieved acclaim for roles like the goofy yet well-meaning Hughie inThe Boysor the hilariously inept Brad inStar Trek: Lower Decks.These performances saddled him with an overwhelmingly “good” image that the actor furthers in every interview with his gentle demeanor and warm jokes. It’s a kind of charismatic presence that so many people yearn for, one that he brought to portray Richie as a caring yet extremely in-over-his-head boyfriend during Scream —which made watchers feel even more betrayedwhen he was revealed as one of the film’s antagonists. Even though this past existed for the actor instead of the character, it still made viewers extra sickened to see someone they’d come to trust through the screen turn out to be such a monster, a method of multi-faceted terror that Hancock uses inCompanion.
While a wildly different plot, viewers can see traces of Richie in Quaid’s latest role asCompanion’sresident boyfriend/jailer, Josh. Following him as he spends a weekend away with his robot “girlfriend,” Iris (Sophie Thatcher), even with the movie broadcasting the darker aspects of its plot early on, viewers will find themselves being charmed by Josh. Aided by Quaid’s wealth of work as the nice guy, there are many moments early in the film where his well-meaning foolishnesshas audiences questioning if he could really be that terrible. It’s a subtle humor that casts his clear manipulations in a warmer tone, drawing on society’s tendency to excuse these kinds of people (just like what Fennell called out) to have audiences question whether he could really be so bad — before unequivocally answering that yes, he is. It forces viewers to question their own assumptions and reminds them that a person’s kind exterior can easily be used to disguise something nefarious.
‘Companion’ Understands that Horror Comes in All Forms
While bothCompanionandScream5used Jack Quaid’s previous perceptions to make their twists extra gut-wrenching, this kind of tactic won’t work on every horror viewer. Genre fans have been trained to suspect everyone — largely thanks to Scream — and even nice guy Quaid won’t be completely free of suspicion in whatever slasher he’s placed in next. Yet despite this trend of thinking that anyone could be a cold-blooded killer, it’s undeniable how much Quaid excels at using his established imageto make even the most diehard horror sleuths suspect everyone but him. Through his gentle energy and the way filmmakers know to sprinkle in the moments of warmth he’s become known for,Quaid was able to fly under the radar in Scream, making his final reveal so much more devastating. It’s a skill that set him up to be a surprisingly unsettling monster inCompanion, and it’s sure to make audiences even more nervous about whatever villainous role the actor manages to score next.
