Wanna play?
"Of course, I would like to play the guy next door, but nobody's going to hire me for that kind of role."
Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif (/ˈdɔrɨf/; born March 18, 1950 in Huntington, West Virginia) is a BAFTA-winning, Academy Award-nominated American actor and comedian who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles. He is best known for portraying Charles Lee Ray / Chucky (both live-action and voiceover) in the Child's Play franchise, Deputy Clinton Pell in Mississippi Burning, Younger Brother in Ragtime, Piter De Vries in David Lynch's Dune, Gríma Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Doc Cochran in Deadwood.
Dourif is an institution of the horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres, to the point where he has even been cast as a Red Herring for the real villain on shows due to his status as a legend of genre.
As of 2024, Dourif is retired from acting while making a exception to continue voicing Chucky.
Filmography on TV Tropes:
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Film roles
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) as Billy Bibbit
- Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) as Tommy Ludlow
- Wise Blood (1979) as Hazel Motes
- Heaven's Gate (1980) as Mr. Eggleston
- Ragtime (1981) as Younger Brother
- Dune (1984) as Piter De Vries
- Blue Velvet as Raymond
- Child's Play as Charles Lee Ray/Chucky
- Child's Play (1988) (1988)
- Child's Play 2 (1990)
- Child's Play 3 (1991)
- Bride of Chucky (1998)
- Seed of Chucky (2004)
- Curse of Chucky (2013)
- Cult of Chucky (2017)
- Chucky (2021)
- Mississippi Burning (1988) as Deputy Clinton Pell
- The Exorcist III (1990) as James Venamun
- Graveyard Shift (1990) as Tucker Cleveland
- Grim Prairie Tales (1990) as Farley Deeds
- Spontaneous Combustion (1990) as David/Sam Bell
- Jungle Fever (1991) as Leslie
- Critters 4 (1992) as Al Bert
- Color of Night (1994) as Clark
- Death Machine (1994) as Dante
- Alien: Resurrection (1997) as Dr. Gediman
- Urban Legend (1998) as Michael McDonnell, gas station attendant
- The Prophecy 3: The Ascent (2000) as Zealot
- The Lord of the Rings as Gríma Wormtongue
- The Two Towers (2002)
- The Return of the King (2003, extended edition)
- Vlad (2003) as Radescu
- The Hazing (2004) as Professor Kapps
- The Wizard of Gore (2007) as Dr. Chong
- Halloween (2007) as Sheriff Lee Brackett
- The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) as Ned Schoenholtz
- Death and Cremation (2010) as Stanley
- Priest (2011) as Salesman
Television roles
- Tales of the Unexpected (1 episode, 1984) as Hitch-hiker
- The Equalizer (1 episode, 1986) as Fenn
- Moonlighting (1 episode, 1986) as Father McDonovan
- Miami Vice (1 episode, 1987) as Joey Wyatt
- The Hitchhiker (1 episode, 1987) as Billy Baltimore Jr.
- Murder, She Wrote (1 episode, 1989) as Dr. Warren Overman
- Wild Palms (3 episodes, 1993) as Chickie Levitt
- Tales from the Crypt (1 episode, 1993) as Virgil
- The X-Files (1 episode, 1994) as Luther Lee Boggs
- Babylon 5 (1 episode, 1995) as Brother Edward
- Star Trek: Voyager (3 episodes, 1996) as Lon Suder
- Millennium (1 episode, 1997) as Dennis Hoffman
- The Norm Show (1 episode, 1999) as The Devil
- The Magnificent Seven (1 episode, 1999) as Rupert Brauner
- Deadwood (2004–06) as Dr. Amos 'Doc' Cochran
- Law & Order (1 episode, 2008) as Dr. David Lingard
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1 episode, 2010) as Dr. Iggy Drexel
- Fringe (1 episode, 2011) as Moreau
- Psych (1 episode, 2011) as Bernie Bethel
- Once Upon a Time (2 episodes, 2012-14) as Old Beggar / Zoso the Dark One
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1 episode, 2014) as Thomas Nash
- Chucky (2021) as Chucky
Video game roles
- Myst III: Exile (2001) as Saavedro
- Gun (2005) as Reverend Josiah Reed
- Dishonored (2012) as Piero Joplin
- Dead by Daylight (2016) as Charles Lee Ray/Chucky
Tropes in his work:
- Method Acting: In The Lord of the Rings, he kept using his character's British accent even when the cameras weren't rolling, to the point where some of the cast thought he was British. When he dropped the British accent after filming his final scene, it was so jarring that castmate Bernard Hill thought he was making a joke and mocking American accents.
- Production Posse: He's worked very often with Werner Herzog and has worked ocassionally with David Lynch.
- Real-Life Relative: His youngest daughter Fiona Dourif stars in Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky.
- Southern-Fried Genius: Fluent in many languages, and a gifted actor. Hails from West Virginia.
- Star-Making Role: He may have gotten acclaim for his turn as Billy Bibbit, but he was thrust into the public consciousness as Chucky. His later role as Gríma Wormtongue solidified his stardom.
"I have a date with a six-year-old boy."*
