Scott breaks down Spider One’s deeply personal horror film, collaborating with Krsy Fox, and channeling the fear of putting your art into the world.
Last week, ahead of its digital release, I had the chance to sit down with Brandon Scott, the star of Spider One’s latest horror outing, Big Baby. Scott plays Adam, a struggling creative whose fragile confidence shatters after a pair of horror podcasters brutally eviscerate his work online. What begins as an all-too-relatable tale about artistic insecurity soon spirals into something far darker as Adam becomes haunted by the titular Big Baby—a monstrous physical manifestation of every creative fear, doubt, and insecurity threatening to consume him.
While Scott is probably best known for his television work on This Is Us, 13 Reasons Why, and Grey’s Anatomy, genre fans will also recognize him from 2016’s criminally underrated BLAIR WITCH. We talked about what drew him to the project, collaborating with Spider One and Krsy Fox, channeling the anxieties that fuel creativity, and why he’d love to spend more time playing villains.
Dan Tabor: First off, congrats on the film. I really enjoyed it. Big Baby has one of those titles that immediately makes you do a double take. What was your first reaction when you read the script, and what made you say, “I have to do this?”
Brandon Scott: When I first read the script, I fell in love with it because, much like the title, it works on two levels. It’s about a slasher dressed up as a giant baby, but it’s also about Adam being a “big baby” in the way he handles creativity, criticism, and his own insecurities.
As a creative myself—and as someone whose wife occasionally reminds me that I can be a big baby—I immediately connected with that. I’ve played a lot of genuinely nice guys over the years, and those qualities are important because Adam needs to be likable. But he’s also narcissistic at times and incredibly self-absorbed, and watching him unravel was fascinating.
I think every creative can relate to the sacrifices, self-doubt, and vulnerability that come with putting your work into the world. Once I read the script, it was an easy “sign me up.”
Dan Tabor: The title lures you in, but underneath it’s a surprisingly personal and meta film. What kinds of conversations did you and Spider have about Adam? Did he have a very specific vision, or did he leave room for you to make the character your own?
Brandon Scott: It was very collaborative. Spider definitely had specific ideas because he’d experienced the sting of online criticism. Not necessarily this exact story, but he understood what it feels like when people tear apart something you’ve poured yourself into.
I loved picking his brain about where those feelings came from because it helped me understand Adam. I joked that I almost bleached my hair and just played Spider.
What I appreciated most was that Spider and Krsy hire actors they trust. Spider would send movie references and help steer the tone, but he was always open to hearing ideas. It was a genuine collaboration.
Dan Tabor: Chemistry is one of those things you can’t fake. Watching you and Krsy together, it genuinely feels like these two people have built a life together before the movie even begins. How do you create that kind of shared history when it only exists on the page?
Brandon Scott: You hope there’s some natural chemistry to begin with.
This was a fast shoot, but Krsy and I clicked almost immediately. We had breakfast with Spider before filming, and because she was producing too, we were constantly talking and solving problems together. Before long, it felt like we’d known each other for years.
She’s incredible. She’s producing, acting, editing, handling a hundred things at once, then effortlessly stepping into the scene. I also create theater and wear a lot of hats, so I had enormous respect for how hard she worked. We’d be running lines while she was in makeup or juggling production issues.
She’s just a boss, and we naturally found a rhythm together.
Dan Tabor: For creatives like us, imagination is fertile ground for stories—but it can also be a dangerous place to spend too much time. Do you ever find yourself mining your own anxieties because they’re simply too valuable not to use?
Brandon Scott: Absolutely. Sometimes probably more than I should.
Whether I’m writing or acting, I try to bring something authentic from my own life. That’s what gives your work its own point of view.
My favorite films leave me feeling like I’ve learned something or discovered a new way of looking at the world. For me, those anxieties, dreams, and lived experiences become the raw material. Then imagination takes over.
It makes the work richer—for the audience, hopefully—but it also makes it more interesting for me.
Dan Tabor: What did making this film teach you about yourself? You’ve worked in horror before—I still think BLAIR WITCH is wildly underrated—but what did you discover through Adam that surprised you?
Brandon Scott: That’s a great question.
One thing I keep thinking about is what happens to the stories we never finish. I’ve been writing recently, and I remember talking with a writing partner about all these characters sitting in unfinished scripts, almost waiting to exist.
This movie made me want to finish those projects.
It also reminded me that creating anything takes courage. Hopefully that helps protect us a little from criticism because, at the end of the day, you actually made something.
I think people deserve credit simply for bringing an idea into the world. There’s so much blood, sweat, love, and effort behind every project.
Even when I’m tempted to criticize something, I try to stop and ask myself where that reaction is coming from first.
Mostly, though, I’m just a huge supporter of artists.
Dan Tabor: If people know you primarily from your television work, what do you hope they discover about you through this performance?
Brandon Scott: I love playing villains.
Hopefully Adam isn’t simply a bad guy, but I don’t often get opportunities to explore darker, more complicated characters.
Selfishly, I hope somebody watches this and thinks, “Let’s cast him as the villain.”
Give me magic. Give me a sword. Let me cast spells. I just want people to see a different side of me and realize, “Oh, that’s actually a lot of fun.”
