‘Dust Bunny’: Bryan Fuller On Monsters, Spielberg’s Notes, Hannibal’s Future, & Creative Differences On Shows [The Discourse Podcast]

Childhood fears, bedtime monsters, and the hazy membrane between imagination and trauma collide in “Dust Bunny,” the feature directorial debut of Bryan Fuller, a filmmaker whose storytelling instincts have always lived in the space between the two B’s – beauty and brutality. It is a film that feels handcrafted out of nightmares and fairy-tale sugar, a creature feature through the eyes of a child who sees the world in magic and menace at the same time. Rich with color, shadows, and emotional ambiguity, it is unmistakably a Bryan Fuller movie, which is to say that it’s tender, violent, mischievous, and sincere in equal measure.

Joining The Discourse podcast in today’s episode is Bryan Fuller himself, the writer and director behind shows like “Hannibal,” “Pushing Daisies,” “American Gods,” and “Star Trek: Discovery” (in its early days). Fuller’s signature blend of genre storytelling and emotional excavation finds a new form here as he steps behind the camera for his first feature-length film, crafting a story about a little girl who hires a hitman to kill the monster under her bed and discovers that nothing is simple when your fears have roots. The film stars Mads Mikkelsen, Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian, Sophie Sloan, and Sheila Atim.

READ MORE: ‘Dust Bunny’ Review: Mads Mikkelsen Stars In A Visually Spectacular Treat For Action Fans & Family Audiences Alike [TIFF]

When asked where the idea began, Fuller explained that it actually started life as an episode of “Amazing Stories,” prior to Fuller departing the series due to creative differences. What survived that early development, he said, was the simplicity of the elevator pitch: “a little girl hires a hitman to kill the monster under her bed and there may or may not be a monster.” He added that working directly with Steven Spielberg shaped the emotional foundation of the project. “It was an incredible honor to be sitting in Steven Spielberg’s presence and getting notes from him on the story and what things would make it more Spielbergian in his mind and more of an Amblin kind of brand.” According to Fuller, those notes had a profound influence on the heart of the film. “All of his notes went into this film, and the notes were primarily about the relationship between Aurora and her monster and what the psychology of that relationship is. And the origin story of the monster was really all Spielberg’s notes from the earliest versions of this story.”

But the film also became personal. Fuller said the story deepened once he let his own childhood experiences inform Aurora’s emotional world. “I chipped off a bit of a horcrux of my own experiences growing up in a tricky home and allowed those to breathe some life into Aurora’s story,” he explained. The vagueness around Aurora’s trauma was intentional. “She simply just says, ‘my parents weren’t very nice to me.’ That felt like an umbrella statement under which every audience member is going to see something else. If I spelled it out, then it would narrow the narrative to Aurora’s experience. It had to be broad enough to include the audience’s experience.”

Even though “Dust Bunny” leans into childhood wonder and dread, the film ultimately received an R rating, something Fuller admits surprised him. “Yes, I was disappointed. We set out to make a family film, and we set out to make a movie for kids about kids,” he said. Fuller explained that the rating hinged on one moment of bloodless violence. “The thing that put us over the edge was the non-lethal toothbrush injury in the film. And it got such a good reaction from the audiences.” Still, he hopes families will approach the movie with an open mind. “Parents will see it and say This is okay for my kids. Dave Dastmalchian’s eight-year-old, Penny, saw it, and she loved it and was not traumatized. I think it all depends on the kid.”

The monster in the film itself is a mix of practical puppetry and CG work from DNEG, which Fuller said gave the creature a unique texture. “If you saw just a head and claws, that was the puppet. And if you saw a full body, that was CG,” he clarified. Some shots still pleasantly surprised him. “There are a couple of shots where I was like, that looks great. It looks so unlike the puppet and so unlike the CG model, yet has this wonderful kind of stop motion quality to the way the fur moves.”

Of course, reuniting with Mads Mikkelsen immediately triggered a flood of “Hannibal” questions, including whether Fuller still hopes to make a “Silence of the Lambs” miniseries starring Zendaya, Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, and Laurence Fishburne. While Fuller is still passionate about it, he admitted the rights situation is tangled. “The rights are a little more complicated now. They’re getting ironed out,” he said. Fuller added that he’s been in touch with people close to Thomas Harris about the future of the characters. “It’s getting ironed out, but it’s not ironed out right now. It’s a wishlist item.”

And if such a project ever materialized, Fuller made it clear he would want Hugh Dancy involved, even though Will Graham does not appear in the original novel. “I can’t imagine lifting and separating those two characters and those two actors,” he said of Mikkelsen and Dancy. “I met with Hugh and Mads last night before the screening, and it was so wonderful to see these two guys together and their brotherhood and fraternity. I was like, we’ve got to get the band back together.”

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The conversation eventually turned to Fuller’s track record of departing major projects for “creative differences,” including “Star Trek,” “American Gods,” and “Friday the 13th.” Fuller said the phrase oversimplifies a deeper truth about the intensity with which he works. “When I do a show, it’s my life. I breathe it, I eat it, I poop it. It is so immersive,” he said. “I drop weight because I pour everything into the show. And I have to believe in it. If it’s not something I would watch, I can’t rationalize the extremes that I go to. I have to be creatively fueled.” To Fuller, the choice to leave is often about protecting the quality of the work and the humanity of the people making it. “I feel so honored that I get to do this job that I will sacrifice so much in my personal life to accomplish it. And it’s gotta be worth that time.”

When asked which major franchise he would reinvent if he had complete creative control, Fuller laughed and rattled off a list. “I would love to get my hooks into ‘Star Trek’ again in a meaningful way. I’m a big fan of ‘Battlestar Galactica.’ I love Ron Moore’s version,” he said, before confessing a soft spot for the oddball sci-fi he grew up with. “I’m a big fan of the robot dog and the little boy. I love the world. I love robots and anything. So I’m a big fan of ‘The Black Hole.’ I would love to get my hooks into that.” But Star Trek remains formative. “Star Trek taught me how to be a good person and a moral person and an ethical person. It’s about how we accept the universe and the people in it. That’s the Star Trek that really came alive for me.”

“Dust Bunny” hits theaters December 12. It is imaginative, unsettling, heartfelt, and unmistakably the work of a filmmaker making the jump to features with absolute ownership of his voice.

Listen to the full interview with Bryan Fuller below:

The Discourse is part of The Playlist Podcast Network, which includes Deep Focus, Bingeworthy, and more. We can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and most places where podcasts are found. You can stream the podcast via the embed within the article. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for listening.

Mike DeAngelo

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