Weapons Star Callie Schuttera Talks Haunting Role in Zach Cregger’s New Horror Thriller – INTERVIEW

Weapons continues Cregger’s streak after Barbarian.

From New Line Cinema and Zach Cregger, the creative force behind Barbarian, comes Weapons, a chilling new horror-thriller that has left audiences shaken. The story follows the mysterious disappearance of nearly an entire class of children in one night, leaving a community desperate for answers.

The film stars Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan. Cregger wrote and directed the film, also serving as producer alongside Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz, and Raphael Margules, with Michelle Morrissey and Josh Brolin as executive producers. Among the standout performances is Callie Schuttera, who portrays Alex’s mother in one of the film’s most unsettling storylines. Read my movie review.

Landing the Role

Unlike much of the Weapons cast, who were approached directly by Cregger, Schuttera earned her role through what she calls “the old-fashioned method of auditioning.” While many went straight to meetings or chemistry reads, she submitted a tape for what was then listed as “The Untitled Zach Cregger Project.”

Just weeks later, she was on set. A longtime fan of Barbarian, she had no idea until she booked the role that Cregger was also part of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’ Know—a discovery she called “a surprise celebrity moment.”

Building Tension Without Gore

One of the film’s most talked-about moments involves Schuttera in a scene that manages to terrify audiences without relying on blood or jump scares. She said the response to the sequence has been “amazing” because it proves “it’s not a gory or a jump scare moment, but it’s still getting such reactions out of people. It’s like a master class in how to create tension.”

That level of precision extended even to her character’s chilling walk, which Cregger had her rehearse over Zoom before she was officially cast. Schuttera admitted she spent “two and a half months in my hotel room working on this walk” and felt the weight of expectation each time the cameras rolled. “We probably did five or six takes before we were really happy with the timing,” she recalled.

Cregger’s Unique Directing Style

For Schuttera, what stood out most on set was Cregger’s hands-on approach. “He’s very in the moment with you,” she explained, adding that he wasn’t the type to stay behind at Video Village. “You always feel almost like he’s just right in the scene with you. He has the vibe of someone who’s doing their favorite thing in the world all the time.” That playful energy, she said, translated into the finished film, which shifts effortlessly between dread and dark humor.

She noted that Cregger’s comedy roots connect him to filmmakers like Jordan Peele. “Even traumatic films or abstract films do well with laughs,” Schuttera said. “I knew Zach was funny, but the cast took it even further. Austin Abrams is a great example of how anyone could predict how funny that would be?”

Exploring Horror and What Comes Next

Although Weapons marks one of her first major ventures into horror, Schuttera isn’t leaving the genre anytime soon. She is already at work on The Day After Tomorrow, an indie horror-thriller she co-wrote with her wife, who is also directing. She said the project has “a political dystopian vibe” but added that she’s also drawn to magical realism and even religious horror “when it’s done well.”

When asked if she would work with Cregger again, her answer was immediate: “Of course. I don’t think anyone who’s been in the presence of his directing or his writing would ever turn it down, because you know it’s going to be good.”

A Must-See Horror Event

Having watched the film with multiple audiences, Schuttera said the reaction has been consistent. “I saw it at the premiere, at an IMAX in Burbank, and even back in November before it was finished, the response was loud,” she said. “It’s been amazing to see everyone having such a good time at the theater.”

With strong box office numbers and buzz building around its inventive scares, Weapons has solidified Cregger’s reputation as one of the most exciting horror filmmakers working today. For Schuttera, being part of the project has been both thrilling and affirming, and her eerie performance ensures that audiences will not soon forget Alex’s mother.

Weapons is now playing exclusively in theaters.

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