It’s a brisk fall day as I sit down at my desk to prepare for a video interview with someone who quickly became one of my favorite people to meet on Twitter in 2019, when I found her page titled “Fantastic Tilly.” I was very intrigued because duh, Jennifer Tilly is a goddess and an amazing actress and I wanted to know more about who or what was driving such a dedicated fan page. Luckily an instant connection was made with a woman by the name of Kassidy Watson-Perry, a young woman in her early 20’s who truly takes the cake when it comes to all things not only Jennifer Tilly, but Meg Tilly as well. As someone who has personally interviewed, has chatted with, emailed back and forth, and even pitched to Meg Tilly a comedy project I have an idea for to do with her and Jennifer together in the vein of a Best in Show or This is Spinal Tap ( I own my own production company for film). I was intrigued to also get to know someone who loved the talents of the sisters as much as I do. Ever since connecting with Kassidy, she has been a light of not only happiness in my life but for many other Tilly fans as well. We now send each other gifts throughout the year, Halloween, Christmas, random times- she sent me wonderful feel good gifts during a break I had this year, I sent her Tilly craft pieces I’ve found in my hometown of Cleveland, I mean the relationship is there for not only a personal level now but a deep shared love for Jennifer Tilly.
When I wrote my first piece on Jennifer Tilly for this website called “A Diamond in the Rough”, I sent it right over to Kassidy who was ecstatic with the work and has continued to support and share it since its release. It only felt right to not only develop a follow up to my first Jennifer Tilly piece but follow it up with the person who is the epitome of a number one fan, dive deep into what makes Jennifer her absolute favorite, why more people should realize the talents of Jennifer herself, and what makes Jennifer, Kassidy’s favorite actress. This is not only the story of a small town girl who created a fan page that now functions on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok (and has spawned many copy cat styled fan pages) – but it’s the story about how the talents of an actress is so beloved she has continued to bring fans from all over the world together in droves with one thing in common, the love of Academy Award nominated actress, Jennifer Tilly.
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT OF MY HOUR + LONG CONVERSATION WITH KASSIDY ON JENNIFER TILLY. EDITED AND SHORTENED FOR THIS PIECE. ( Full uncut and unedited version of the interview will be available on the InsessionFilm Youtube channel)
JOEY GENTILE: Alright Kassidy, welcome. Let’s start with how old are you and where are you from?
KASSIDY WATSON-PERRY: I am 25 years old, and I am from North Carolina if you can’t tell by the accent (her accent is as smooth as southern sweet tea, truly).
JG: Own that accent! – So, you have this amazing Twitter and Instagram presence with something called Fantastic Tilly, tell us what that is and how it got started.
KWP: So back on December 4th, 2017 (I literally remember the date specifically she adds) my mom had the television on and Bride of Chucky was on, and know that my mom is not a big horror fan, she’s spooked by virtually everything, so her having it on was odd. She knew I grew up on that movie so I vividly remember her getting that VHS tape from Blockbuster growing up and I loved Jennifer Tilly in it, little did I realize though at a young age that I first discovered Jennifer in Stuart Little, but that specific day at my moms house I rewatched yet again Bride of Chucky and was just enthralled still. There was something about her screen presence that really just took me, I mean first of all she’s very unique looking, she’s gorgeous and secondly it’s her unique voice, so I will admit it was vain at first but then I realized I had never really seen anything of hers outside of the Chucky series or Haunted Mansion and all of the mainstream stuff, so I go through her IMDB page and started from her first credit in 1984 and worked my way up to present day. There’s something about her that captured me, her screen presence, her interviews, she’s just so much fun and it really cast a spell on me. So my page which yeah it started as a fan page, Fantastic Tilly started after that and as much as I hate to use the word “influencer” I do believe it’s graduated and evolved to such when it comes to Jennifer and her work because it has become a media outlet, and as a practicing journalist in real life it’s truly such a blessing to have such fun work outside of work.
JG: I think it’s safe to absolutely say you are an influencer on Fantastic Tilly, not only do you have direct contact with both Jennifer and Meg due to your work but I know when we connected back when I was doing the podcast, Academy Queens and we did Meg’s episode- but it wasn’t until we reached the 1985 episode and your work you had put in on FT that you started noticing many other appreciation accounts starting to pop up.
KWP: I really do appreciate you pointing that out, and I’ll call it out but I have seen a lot of imitation accounts coming out that take the work I have done and they claim it their own. From fonts, to music, to content, it’s crazy really.
JG: So, you start in 2017 with Fantastic Tilly and you build up such a rapport with both sisters to the point that I know when I spoke with Meg last she was raving about you, saying how she is constantly in awe of what you find, whether it’s something she or Jennifer have never seen or have forgotten about, so you have the attention from them and when did that dam break, and who contacted you first, Meg or Jennifer?
KWP: The day of the Oscars in 2019, which I know you’ll be excited to hear because this is YOUR realm, you are after all Joey Gentile of Academy Queens (laughs). So I’m an Oscar girlie and I love the show, the red carpet, so of course with both Jennifer & Meg they’re Oscar nominees, so of course I’m going to put that on Fantastic Tilly. So I posted a picture of Jennifer in her iconic Oscar dress the year she was nominated, and I posted a photo of Meg and just hyped them up like crazy, I posted that and tagged Jennifer and low and behold Jennifer sees the post and comments on it and reposted it, so I’m hyperventilating with excitement and then I get a DM from Jennifer herself saying “I just showed Meg this photo, she loves this photo”, and from that point on she knew I wasn’t just some troll out there spamming content on her.
JG: Amazing, and honestly I think I would’ve died from that- so one of my favorite quotes of all time about acting and Hollywood actually comes from Jennifer herself and I say it all the time, she once said “If you want to be a serious actor you go to New York, if you want to sell out you go to LA. I went to LA”. It’s such an amazing quote that makes me laugh always, so we know that Jennifer left for LA first and Meg went to New York but an injury stopped her dancing career and then she came to LA and lived with Jennifer. Was there any type of talk after their success for the sisters to work together before the eventual second season of Chucky?
KWP: Actually yes, a little known fact is that there was talk for them to do a stage adaptation of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?
JG: OH MY GOD! WHAT?!?
KWP: YES!
JG: Hurry, quick! Cast the Tilly sisters, who is playing Blanche and who is playing Jane?
KWP: Oh, Meg is definitely Blanche and Jennifer is Jane, and what’s nuts is that at that time Jennifer was so booked and busy doing film roles and Meg was busy writing her books that in the end it was just scheduling conflicts. Thankfully for Don Mancini, he wrote the role of Meg in the second season of Chuckyand that push for it really came from Jennifer herself.
JG: Truly thankful for all things Don Mancini, without a doubt. ( Beat) What is your end goal with Fantastic Tilly?
KWP: You know, when it comes to Jen and Meg I joke that they’re my “aunties on the west coast”, I talk with them, write with them but haven’t been able to actually meet them yet and would really like to do that. When it comes to the work that I’ve put into the brand of Fantastic Tilly I hope that I can translate this into working within the industry, my end goal is Los Angeles. I’m a country bumpkin at heart but I need to be in LA and be with my people, so segwaying into entertainment journalism.
JG: I fully believe you will get there, and when it comes to journalism and publicity I’d love to get your two cents on this theory I have, and I’d like to note that I am not saying this with a bias towards Jennifer but I fully believe that in 1994 she was in second place behind Dianne Wiest and here’s why- the hardest, point blank, part about the Academy Awards is getting the nomination (sure it’s hard to win one too) but the nomination is what secures your one in five chance to actually win, and my theory is is that these out of left field nominations like Diana Scarwid, Penelope Milford, Catherine Burns, Marina de Tavira, Jacki Weaver etc. are in second place because the amount of support one needs to get the nomination means those still supporting them are voting for them. Remember, that year was stacked with people in contention, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kirsten Dunst, Sally Field, Robin Wright- and Jennifer essentially gets that fifth spot.
KWP: Absolutely, I do believe that she was in second place, and that’s a really good theory actually because remember she didn’t even get a precursor so the support she had to have had is insane.
JG: Okay, some fun now, Speed Round: Tilly Edition! You ready?
KWP: Oh goodness. Okay!
JG: A movie of Jennifer’s that more people should see?
KWP: I actually have this written down because I knew this would come up, I have two because of course. Hide and Seek is my number 1, because that movie deserved to get her another Oscar nomination, she plays crazy so well. If you like Misery with Kathy Bates you’ll love this because its almost the same premise. The other is Dancing at the Blue Iguana if you want to see her more dramatic work, this movie is super long at 2 hours and 30 minutes but you have this movie with Sandra Oh, Daryl Hannah, Charlotte Ayanna, and Jennifer and it tells the lives of strippers and it’s so well made but went so under the radar in 2000.
JG: I would like to add one here, Goosed!, where you have a young Danielle Harris playing a young Jennifer, and Joan Rivers is her mom.
KWP: Yup, that would be on my list too! And it’s her most recent leading role, which is bizarre.
JG: What is something TV or movie wise you would’ve loved to see Jennifer be in? For me, I always say she would’ve rocked it in American Horror Story: Coven.
KWP: Oh my God, yes! She would have been perfect for that, but wow that is a hard question. I would say she would’ve loved to have seen her in The Breakfast Club, Jennifer actually auditioned for Ally Sheedy’s part in that movie so every time I see it I can only imagine a 1980s Jennifer Tilly in that role. The other one as a southern girl is Steel Magnolias, the role of Annelle played by Daryl Hannah actually came between Jennifer and Daryl and that movie is my bible and gosh I would’ve loved to see her in that.
JG: I always love the “what could’ve been” moments, many people don’t know as they always mention Michelle Pfeiffer but Meg Tilly was actually wanted by Jonathan Demme for Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs before both Michelle and Jodie and shes confirmed that on her Youtube channel, but Meg said she read the script and found it way too disturbing and didn’t want to go there at that time raising such young kids.
KWP: Exactly!
JG: So to prove you’re not biased, ready for this?
KWP: Oh boy!
JG: What is one thing, as much as you love Jennifer, what was the one movie that made you tilt your head and go “gurll”…?
KWP: (Laughs) okay, here we go. Have you ever seen the movie Fast Sofa?
JG: I cannot say that I have.
KWP: It’s with Jake Busey whose character becomes obsessed with a porn star named Ginger Quayle, and guess who plays her? Jennifer Tilly. It is ridiculous and I try to give it the benefit of the doubt because Jennifer has said herself she has done some pretty shitty movies to pay off a jewelry bill for an example.
JG: I love that honesty and I appreciate that because there’s nothing more aggravating than when someone is asked if they love all of an artist’s work and the response is “of course I do”. Like no you don’t, not a single person loves every single body of work by someone. So thank you for answering that. So next I want to just spout off some titles of Jennifer’s films and get your instant reaction.
KWP: Let’s do it!
JG: Empire of Silver
KWP: Very underrated, I love that it is a representation of Chinese culture and with Jennifer being half Chinese not only do we get to see her speak Mandarin but we really get to see her tap into her heritage here.
JG: The Caretake
KWP: Oh boy (laughs). It’s so mid-00’s teen horror. It’s like a knock off of Jeepers Creepers where she’s incredibly gorgeous in, she nailed the slutty teacher vibe for sure.
JG: Relax! It’s Just Sex
KWP: Oh, I love this movie! It’s honestly one of my favorites. It came out in 1998 and it’s such a good representation of the LGBT community at a time when we didn’t see as much of that in the mainstream. It’s so funny and the ending of that movie has such a surprise ending so it makes it extra enjoyable.
JG: Liar Liar
KWP: Ah, so now we’re getting into the mainstream Tilly film realm. While not one of my favorites she’s not in the movie a lot but a lot of people know her from that, and the fact that it’s got a resurgence this last year makes me happy.
JG: Rented Lips
KWP: WOW! We went back with that one. Okay, if you want to see a young Robert Downey, Jr. before his downfall you can watch this movie. It’s very campy, it’s one of Jennifer’s first roles where she is doing her peak 80s Tilly voice.
JG: And finally, a question that just popped into my head. Now I cannot believe that she’s never hosted but is it true that she almost became a part of the cast at one point of Saturday Night Live?
KWP: It is absolutely true, she auditioned and she was with a group of other people who also believed they got it so they went out in Manhattan to celebrate and the one person she did mention in that group with Jon Lovitz who didn’t think he was gonna get it and turns out he was the only one from the group that night who got on the cast.
JG: Final question- If Jennifer was sitting across from you right now, and you were able to tell her what she’s meant to you, and how her work has inspired you, what would you say?
KWP: (Sighs and smiles) I would just really want to thank her for her impact, because her work has introduced me to people like you, Joey (and I love you and your work so much and I consider you one of my really good friends). But I definitely would thank her for all of her work and the opportunities it’s given me to not only meet people but making me feel so special because she is a celebrity and she doesn’t have to talk to people who aren’t in the limelight but she does and she makes me feel so so special every time I talk to her. It’s just a constant boost of encouragement, like with Fantastic Tilly I go to bed loving it, I wake up loving it and that’s something really special that only Jennifer could provide.
JG: Wow! Thank you, that’s so sweet of you. – Well Kassidy you have been amazing to talk to this last hour and it’s been especially great because we got to discuss all things Tilly with both Jennifer and Meg. Now I fully believe (and you deserve it) that you’ll have your chance very soon to have a cocktail dinner with both of them, but I am not going to lie- I fully look forward to the cocktail dinner that includes Jennifer, Meg, you, and myself- and this becomes a full full circle moment.
KWP: Thank you so much, this has been great and truly I look forward to that too. It will definitely happen!
JG: Tell everyone where they can find you.
KWP: You can find me @FantasticTilly on Twitter and Instagram as well as YouTube and TikTok. If you wanna follow my day to day on Twitter it’s @SassFactoryKass
