Jess McLeod portrays Bernie in It’s A Wonderful Knife, which is in theaters and will begin streaming on Shudder on December 1. This interview will contain spoilers for the new horror comedy.

A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers’ life is less than wonderful — but when she wishes she’d never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE by way of SCREAM.

I had the chance to catch up with the actor over Zoom and discuss the fun of improvising, relating to their characters, seeing how a horror film is made for the first time, their One of Us Is Lying fans, the power of on-screen LGBTQ+ relationships, dream roles, what’s next for them, and more. Keep reading for everything Jess shared!

What do you love most about the genre? I feel like horror and comedy is just such a perfect mix and being in a theater, you get to hear the reactions. Plus, who doesn’t love a good holiday story mixed in with the horror and comedy? You have so many fun aspects.
Jess McLeod: So true. Yeah, it’s [horror comedy] honestly, I think, my favorite genre to do because it feels so similar to playing a creature in a sci-fi thing. It’s in the same vein of it really feels like play, it feels like everyone’s just there to have fun, everyone’s there to kind of let out their inner child and especially with this character, I felt like I was given such a gift of she’s so open and she’s so innocent and so, just truly everything was so fun. It was just all so fun and yeah, I love it for that reason. It’s just playful. It’s a playful genre.

Did you get to improvise at all?
Yeah, I did get to. I’ve been very lucky with the projects that I’ve done for the most part. I’ve gotten to improvise a lot. With One of Us Is Lying, I got to improvise a lot and then with this one, I also did. They were super collaborative, they were super open to offers and I really appreciate that. Sometimes I do improv and it’s bad but nobody sees that part. But it’s nice to have kind of the floor a little bit and I did get some — a lot of my improv made it in the movie, which I was really excited about.

Yeah, I feel like that’s such a funny, proud moment for an actor because I personally love finding out that a scene, moment, or line that I like was improvised just makes me so happy because they really understand the character and the project they’re in rather than just reading the lines. I also imagine it must be cool when the fans appreciate those moment, especially for One of Us Is Lying. I feel like if a fan notices something that you threw in, it must be rewarding.
Yeah, totally. It’s nice watching all of the fan edits and stuff and seeing what people respond to and yeah, I mean, it’s delightful. It’s one of the most fun parts of the job of just getting to — if you’re with a team that allows you to kind of think on your feet and to be spontaneous like that, and if you’re also with a cast that can follow along, that’s so fun to just get to kind of riff and play. There was a line in It’s A Wonderful Knife that I improvised and I saw on Twitter that that particular line is quite popular and that did make me feel good.

I love that, you can make it like your little holiday catchphrase now.
The Bernie catchphrase, yeah.

Did you get to take anything from the set of It’s A Wonderful Knife?
I’m trying to think if I did. Well, the production designer is one of my closest friends, so if I had wanted to take something, I think they probably would have been like, that’s fine. But I don’t know that I did take anything. I feel like because it was a really fast, fast, fast shoot, it was really so quick, so I think sometimes when you’re in a space for a longer amount of time or you’re even in the clothes for a longer amount of time, you go, “Oh yeah, I would like this.” I took a couple of things with One of Us Is Lying, but this was very, very quick. So, I don’t know that I even had the time to covet anything.

Do you prefer longer or shorter shoots? I feel like shorter shoots might be interesting because you get to switch characters quickly but then longer shoots, you get to truly embody them and maybe get a little more familiar with them. Which do you prefer?
I don’t know, I think I like them both for different reasons. I do feel like I liked this character so much and I liked working with Jane so much that I do wish that this one had been longer because it was just so fun. It was just so fun and honestly, the hours that we worked were pretty grueling, so I wish also for the crew’s sake that it would have been a little longer but, you know, things happen the way they do. I feel like it kind of depends on the project. Sometimes I’ll do something and I’ll be like, “And that’s it, I don’t want to do that anymore,” which is kind of true with — I did a really small part in a movie for Netflix before, or I guess it came out during COVID, and that character was quite tough and tough emotionally. I think I don’t even find that to be true, even if it’s a very dark subject matter, I don’t often find an experience where I will take it home with me at all, but I think that one was just due to a number of factors. I think that one was a little tough for me and so, I was good when that was done. I was like, that’s all I need there, did it, it’s over. I wouldn’t want to do that again, that particular project. I was so grateful to be a part of it, but it was just tough. And so, I think things like that, it just depends on the character, I guess, is what I’m saying. That’s my answer, it depends on the character, and with this one, I would have wanted to do it for a long time.

I think that’s an interesting take because I feel like the performance really shines through when you get deeply invested in a character and I’ve felt that with all of your performances, but it’s interesting to think of the background of having to get in that mindset for the more emotional, vulnerable, and open characters. But yeah, I would imagine it depends on the role because some of them are really challenging. Do you usually try to find inspiration from anywhere specific whether it be your personal life or something you’ve seen?
Yes, and the answer is constantly. I feel like I have never… people talk about transformative acting, right? They talk about Daniel Day-Lewis, he can do anything and be anything, or Joaquin Phoenix, or people who really kind of take on a whole new personality almost and a whole new way of being with every character. I think that’s so impressive and I don’t know if I can’t do that or I won’t, but I just have never done that. And so, I feel like every character is me. I try really hard to find something that I can relate to and often there’s a lot that I can relate to. I think that for better or for worse, I’ve kind of been put in a bit of a box, in a good way, of playing outsiders and playing people who deal with a lot of mental health struggles with a sense of humor. I think that that is kind of the sandbox that I most often get to play in and I feel like that is because that is very similar to me, and the way that the characters kind of express that is often very different from Bernie, but I think that at their core, they’re actually quite similar and that’s because that is also my core. So I think the answer is yes, almost everything is me.

Which death scene was your favorite in this movie and how do you feel about seeing the behind-the-scenes process of how it’s done? It’s one thing to see the scene as an audience member, but to kind of see how it’s made must be fascinating.
Yeah, I mean, my first horror film was when I was 18 or 19 and I just had been very not into horror before that and then, I think doing it and seeing how it works and how fun it is kind of changed my perspective on everything. So it was just delightful, it’s delightful to get to see people with blood packs and squirting everywhere, dirty, messy. It’s also really cathartic because so often you get to scream and be really physically in it. It’s very cathartic to do. So I think my favorite death scene… I mean, when I found out that Justin Long was playing the mayor and then I got to stab him, I was like, “That is so cool.” I’ve been a long, long-time, Justin Long fan and to get to beat up Justin Long with Jane and then, to stab him was so fun. It’s just so fun, and he has all these hilarious lines in that sequence too and I loved working with him. I would love to work with him again. And so, it was just really delightful, truly. I had a blast, I did if that’s not clear. I had a really good time.

Is it a lot of technical work to fake stab someone?
Honestly, by the time we got to that part of that scene, we were running out of night time, it was sun up. So that particular thing wasn’t very technical because we just kind of had to do it, but the punching him was quite technical. I remember them having to do it a couple of times because the angle at which I was punching had to change for different camera angles.

Do you have a story that you consider to be your favorite memory from the project and that you feel like no matter what, you’ll remember this particular moment just because it was just something really fun or special?
I think I have a whole bunch from this, but the one thing that came to mind was… so one of the days, I think I was just there much earlier than when my scene was happening, my scene was one of the last to film, so I was just hanging out on set and they were filming the scene between Jane and Joel, kind of the big talking emotional scene, the biggest one in the movie. And so, I was watching them do that and I was just so struck by Jane’s artistry and technical ability, every take on the same line from the eye that was lit, dropped a single tear every time. I was just… I couldn’t believe it, it was every take, I was like, “Yeah!” It was so exciting. I couldn’t believe it and they would say I was very jazzed by that, but I think it was cool because we worked together then for, I don’t know, a few days or a week I can’t remember, and I knew that they were great and they are great, but that was just such a level of skill that I feel like is rarely seen. And so, it just was really cool to see that. Yeah, Jane’s awesome. Jane’s very, very talented, but that was so skillful, such craft.

It’s funny you point that out because I feel like a single tear is one of the things that fans notice when they’re watching a show or a movie and they’re like, “Oh my God,” so it’s funny to know that you did too and we’re like, “That’s so good!”
Well, for that to happen once, it’s like, “Oh, what a lovely moment,” and like, they’ll probably use that take, but what was so incredible was that it was so purposeful. It’s just every single time Jane found their way to that at that line — and the thing that got me was the fact that it was the side of their face that was lit; one side of their face was quite dark, and then one side had light on it and it was that side and that was what I couldn’t believe. I was like, “How do you do that? How do you do it on one side of your face versus the other?” It was so cool.

You obviously have an established fanbase now from One of Us Is Lying and I’m curious, what does it mean to you when you see them follow you onto the next project? I’ve seen that with you and a lot of different projects, and I know everyone loved One of Us Is Lying, myself included. The fanbase is there and they were very passionate about the show, so how does it make you feel that your work affected them so much that they’re like, “Well, we have to follow them now and see what else they’re doing.” Does that catch your attention?
Yeah, I mean, it’s honestly very… it’s amazing, it’s very strange for me, I think, just in the way of that’s not a normal human experience to have all these people that you don’t know interacting with you online. It’s a pretty new concept. So I think, in some ways, I had to learn a little bit with One of Us Is Lying kind of where to draw boundaries and who to draw boundaries with and how, because I get very emotionally invested in everything, so I had to draw emotional boundaries with myself. But what I think will be really cool and really rewarding is to see people’s lives kind of expand and grow, a lot of those people found One of Us Is Lying when they were late teens, and I think what will be so cool is to kind of get a little snapshot every once in a while of their lives and how their lives are changing. Again, it’s just not an experience that everybody gets to have and I think it’s a a real privilege. And so, yeah, I think that part of it is really cool.

I love that you want that sort of relationship too to know where everyone is and follow their lives. That’s awesome.
I think it’s the only way that I can have a relationship with people who know me from work and who I don’t know personally because I do care and I wanna see how they are and who they are becoming. I think that that was really interesting and I would also be curious as to how my personal growth or journey is similar. I’m sure it is. So I think, yeah, that will be interesting, when we have an interview in like five years we can talk about it then.

Is there a personal takeaway that you got from either the story overall or your character in particular that you either related to or made you think and stuck with you after the project was over?
I think, honestly, I’ve played so many characters including Janae that are so guarded because of their mean and they’re so isolated and kind of honestly mean, a little bit like an angsty, and I think that there is obviously something to that and I have enjoyed playing those characters, but I think what I love about Bernie is that you just would never know. She’s just so openhearted and so full of joy and I think that that is actually closer to who I am, how I process my pain, trauma, and all that stuff. And so, it really kind of felt like freedom a little bit to get to have all that stuff still happening, but then also just be so open and so in love. I mean, the whole movie is just as soon as I see Jane, all I have to do is watch Jane and go, “You’re amazing. How can I support you?” And so, Jane really is carrying everything on their back and I’m just watching them in awe of them, and I think that that was really rewarding. I think it kind of loosened something in me after so many years of having to play people who really go internal and who really go prickly, whereas Bernie is just all joy, all open, vulnerable, emotional, just full of love. So I really enjoyed getting to do that and it felt like something new for me.

What was it like working with Jane and creating that dynamic for your two characters? What did you enjoy most about the experience?
I think it was really easy. So, initially, it was on the page, kind of, it was a friendship and I already knew it was Jane when I was auditioning, and then as soon as we started talking, I think one of the first things I asked was, “So, they’re like — it’s gay, right?” And they were like, “Yes, absolutely.” So then, I think it was just really natural for us the first time we got into the room together and read, we just had a lot of very queer pauses in scenes where it was just kind of friendship on the page, but then we would just be looking at each other and Tyler would be like, “Are you about to kiss?” And we’d be like, “I don’t know.” I think that it was just very natural for us. If they had cast different actors, it might not have gone that way but I think it was all there on the page and then kind of our… energetically, I think, we really connected as those characters. After that, it was just kind of trying to support each other through this super nuts work schedule and try to be there for each other the way that the characters are, and I think it just all became melded into one thing that I think turned out really beautiful.

What I’m proudest of in the movie is that relationship. I’ve seen so many films where the two lead characters of the same gender are so clearly in romantic love and then just nothing happens, and I find it so dissatisfying and so frustrating and Jane and I both, we were like, “Okay, if we’re going to do this, we have to do it. They have to kiss and they have to be together at the end and it can’t be implied.” Jane and I were just coming into the movie being like, “These people are gay,” and to their credit, the whole team was kind of like, do what you want. So, we were like, “Yeah!” Then they kind of said initially that we would shoot the ending in a couple of different ways and we were both like, whatever, and then they did it, which is so true of them. I know this question started with my relationship with Jane, but I think it is all kind of in the same realm of we just supported each other and we really both believe in the power of gay relationships on screen and gay relationships off-screen, and I think we’re just very on the same page about most things if not all things.

I love that so much. I love that you both made that happen and I want to ask you about that next. What did it mean to be able to advocate for that relationship or just say like, “This is what it is, let’s not just hint towards it,” and to actually have the team be like, okay, because we live in a world now where we can just be like, yes, instead of, “Well, no, that might not give views,” or “That’s not how it was written.”
Yeah, it means a lot. I think that it always makes the art better, whether it’s when it’s an offer that it’s very supported by the script and then also, very supported by the dynamic between your actors. I’m glad that now things are at a place where people can just be accepting of what’s in front of them and I think that, as a filmmaker and as someone who’s been behind the camera now and wants to be more, one of the bravest things you can do as a writer or a director is to see something in front of you that’s better than what you had and allow it to be. I think that is the most powerful and also, humbling thing that you can do as a filmmaker and I always really appreciate when people can acknowledge that someone is bringing to them a better idea than they have. I think that that is very cool and very brave to be able to do. So, I’m really glad that it went that way.

What you would consider to be a dream role or a career highlight?
I feel like my truest form as an actor would be to play some kind of mythical creature. I think that everything I am gives mythical creature. I just got to do a short film that exists in the Star Wars universe and I got to play a creature, an actual — like this, according to my friend who’s a big Star Wars fan, is the most terrifying creature in all of Star Wars lore, and when I was doing that, I felt so empowered. I was like, “Oh, I never get to do this,” so I would love to do more things like that and I just think that it’s so me. Like, make me a fairy, make me a shapeless entity, I think that is what I should be. So I’m putting that out into the world, into the universe that that is something I think I should do and something that I think I could bring something interesting to. So universe, if you’re listening, I would love to do that, let’s go.

I feel like a fairy would be such a fun vibe. I love it.
Thank you, yes! Honestly, they’re doing the live-action Zelda, and if I’m not Link… I don’t know, I’m ready.

I expect to see you on my screen in that and I expect to talk to you about it.
I’m ready. I’m open, I’m ready. If they’re open to hiring somebody who’s not very famous, I’m right here. I just think I’m giving androgynous king in the way that in the way that Link does.

Lastly, what’s next? What can fans expect from you going forward? Do you have any new projects coming out that they should look out for? And if not, you mentioned that you wanted to get behind the camera more, so what would you like to do with that?
I mean, yeah, behind the camera, I definitely wanna do more directing. I’ve done a decent amount of writing at this point. I’m trying to get the series version of A Little Vacation, the short film that we made, off the ground, so I hope that will happen in the next five years. That would be cool. Then in terms of acting, well, I’ve been doing a little bit more theater. I’m about to do a play in Calgary, so if anybody lives in Calgary and wants to come see it, they can. I have something this year that has kind of been percolating in the works for a while, I guess, and that’s with a team that I’m so excited about, and if that all comes to fruition and works out with timing, I think that will be really, really exciting for me. And so, hopefully, people can look forward to that, I hope. I’ve been looking forward to it.