Courtney Gains, who played Malachai in the 1984 horror classic, shares firsthand stories about his audition, filming with Linda Hamilton and John Franklin, and bringing one of horror’s most memorable villains to life.

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There are certain horror movies that stick with you long after you've watched them, and for me, Children of the Corn is one of them. I'll never forget seeing it for the first time, hearing the creepy music, and watching Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton fight for their lives against a cult of bloodthirsty kids.

In particular, Malachai stands out as one of the most terrifying villains, carrying out Isaac's dirty work with a chilling smirk on his face. ("We want to give you peace!")

As Halloween rolls around, it was the perfect time to hop on Zoom with Courtney, over 40 years after the film's release, to hear his behind-the-scenes stories from making the horror classic. Here's everything we chatted about, from his wild audition to the unexpected experience he had while filming in the cornfields.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Courtney: The famous story is that during the audition, I pulled a plastic knife under the reader's throat. He couldn't tell what it was, and he was terrified. The director and the producer could clearly see that it was safe, but he had no clue.

The reader was a guy named Jeff Greenberg, who went on to be a very big casting director. (Laughs) He went on to tell that story many times, saying to never do that in Hollywood. And he's right. You shouldn't do something like that. It's called a risk for a reason. I just had it in my back pocket, and I went with the moment.

I did audition for Jeff many times later, but he never cast me in anything!

Courtney: I only had Stephen King's short story to go off of, so I had to dig into the script and make my choices from that. The bottom line is, Malachai was the enforcer. The number two guy is always more fun to play. The second-in-command is usually the more unhinged one and can have more fun. That was certainly Malachai.

I trained for five years with a guy named Virgil Frye before I got this break. It was heavy-duty method acting, so it was internal acting, coming from the inside out.

As I was building this character's intensity, when I thought I was in a good place, I'd check the mirror to see if I had the intensity in my eyes that I wanted. Finally, I looked in the mirror, and there was the Malachai glare. 

People always talk about how intense my stare is, and I literally worked on that. But it wasn't a facial expression as much as it was the attitude.

Courtney: We had to walk through the corn to get to that open field area. The walk felt like going into a football arena or something. You're just psyching yourself up, and by the time I would be there, I was already fully in character.

Something about that cornfield — I can't explain it. It's the experience they talk about where the muse happens, where something comes through you. Literally right before "action," I'd feel this energy go through my body, and I've never had anything quite like it since.

It kind of opened my mind to spirituality because I knew something bigger than me was happening. Even though it's a horror film, and it's supposed to be dark, it felt very positive. I knew something good was happening with that.

Courtney: The first scene I shot was actually Malachai's first scene, where he comes out of the cornfield. There was no dialogue, right? Come out of the cornfield, walk toward the car. So it was a pretty easy first moment, but it was kind of an epic one.

Shortly after we did my scene, somebody goes, "Watch this! Watch this!" I'm thinking, What's going on?

When Linda Hamilton leans down to see the kid under the blanket, they actually put the kid under the blanket for real. He jumped up and scared her, and she jumped back like 10 feet, literally. The whole crew was laughing. Never has a better joke happened on a set since.

And Linda Hamilton was great. She was a great sport about it.

Courtney: I was told by Fritz Kiersch, the director, "Don't be nice to the kids," even outside of the shooting. I worked with Fritz a couple of times and loved it. He's a great guy, and we still keep in touch.

It created an intimidation factor that he hoped would come across in the film, and I think it did. I'd like to ask the kids what that was like for them. I haven't had a chance to talk to them as adults.

Courtney: I was not in any way, shape, or form ready for the reaction when the film came out. I'm talking about little kids seeing me, crying, and going running to their mother and stuff like that. It was a big adjustment for me, being in my first film and then having such strong reactions from people.

People would be walking down the street, or people in cars would go, "Malachai! He wants you too," or "Outlander!" in the malls.

I was just like, "Wow! That was a little overwhelming."

Courtney: At conventions, people always ask for "Outlander!" But when people ask me what my favorite acting moment is in the movie, "We want to give you peace" is the one. That's where I learned "less is more," as they say.

That scene was just between Linda Hamilton and me. She asks, "What do you want?"

That little smirk and not over-dramatically doing the line was way more chilling. I remember thinking, Aha! I've learned something as an actor today.

Courtney: The fight was, again, a valuable lesson. We shot it late at night. It was cold, and the ground was hard. In hindsight, I know that they're supposed to dig up the ground to make it easier for you when you're doing stunts. I didn't know better at the time. I was too young and just geeked up, right? 

From that point on, I would never let something like that go. It's hard work, and you get beat up a little bit. So I was like, "No, let's not do it like that again." You learn to take care of yourself the best you can under the circumstances.

But it was late, and we were shooting a short, low-budget movie, trying to beat the daylight. No one thought about it.

Courtney: We are still in touch to this day, which is not always common. It's because we both had this shared experience. It was both our first films, and it went on to be so impactful.

Both our characters went on to be voted, like, top 10 creepiest kids of all time, and we both went through the same thing of people seeing us on the streets. It was an experience only we could share, because no one else would really understand it. Then we started doing shows and conventions together, and so we've been able to keep in touch over the years.

John had been performing in the theater in Chicago for several years, so he was very good in the role. One of my favorite parts is that scene in the diner when they cut to Isaac looking through the window. That is just an absolutely great cinematic moment.

Courtney: The whole scariness of the movie is that less is more. You rarely see the deaths on the screen. Back then, it wasn't CGI to do everything. Probably the most memorable, sort of shocking moment is the opening scene when they put the hand in the meat grinder.

There are people who will swear to you they saw the hand getting cut, and that's not true. It cuts right to Job's face with the blood going on it, and the rest is all in your mind. That's worse than what they can make up with effects, and that's the genius of it.

Courtney: The Barn Part III is a horror film that is the third installment of a 10-year series. It's absolutely killing it in the film festival circuit. It's exceeded my expectations. It just won Best Film at GenreBlast in Virginia and Best FX for old-school practical effects. No CGI, nothing like that. I couldn't be happier about that.

My new record just came out a few weeks ago. It's called Liberation Day, and there's a lot of variety on it. It's a fun kind of '90s rocker. There are some bangers, and then there are also three or four Americana songs. There's a little bit of something for everybody in it.

I always say, "Here's the deal, right? I can act. Take 30 minutes to find out if I can rock. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Keep up with Courtney on Instagram (@courtneygainsofficial), and check out his new album on all platforms.