Emjay Anthony Unleashes '80s Chaos in Peacock's Hysteria! | Playing Dylan & BTS Stories

[00:00:09] MJ, thank you for joining me today on Pop Culture Unplugged.

[00:00:13] Yes sir, thanks for having me.

[00:00:14] Excited times, my friend. We have Hysteria on Peacock. First of all, I know you've been dropping interviews, I've been watching a few also. What's been going on through your emotions right now? We had the season drop last week. What's been going through your head?

[00:00:30] I just, I can't believe it. Like when I see my name come up first in the credits, like it's just, it's like mind boggling to me. You know, never did I imagine that I'd have my, like a show that I'm starring in. You know, I'm just so blessed. I just, I really cannot believe it. And I saw today that we're number five on the trending for Peacock. It's just, it's unbelievable. It really is.

[00:00:47] And then we get more episodes. Hopefully you guys will bump up even more.

[00:00:50] Yeah, hopefully.

[00:00:52] We'll jump into the show in a few minutes, I feel like I was doing some research on you and everything, you know, you started off young in the industry.

[00:00:59] Yes, sir. I was five years old.

[00:01:01] What made you fall in love with it?

[00:01:04] Um, well, this is kind of a funny story, but I started it because I didn't want to go to school. When I was like, I started doing it because I was like, Oh, I did you homeschooled, you know?

[00:01:13] But then, you know, when I actually got a job and worked on set, I just fell in love with it. You know, you get to meet all these amazing people and, you know, work on these crazy scenarios that you never get to do in real life. You know, so that's, that's definitely one of my favorite things about it. It's just like the people you meet and the crazy stuff.

[00:01:28] You get to do.

[00:01:29] Hmm. What's been like one of your, uh, your favorite projects you've worked on other than hysteria. Cause I know you apply to tell me hysteria now.

[00:01:35] Of course. Of course. Um, I would probably say chef with, uh, John Favreau. That movie was such a blessing. You know, John Favreau is such a great person. He taught me a lot about like, you know, how to act and just like a bunch of little things, you know, he taught me like how to be a professional actor.

[00:01:50] Pretty much. Yeah. Professional chef too. From what I see now, you love cooking.

[00:01:54] Yeah. Yeah. I actually, I do cook now. Surprisingly, I couldn't believe it before. I was like, Oh, I can cook with cereal, but now I could actually cook.

[00:02:01] Did you, uh, when you were, uh, when you said you fell in love with, uh, also with cooking, like, did you like after the finished filming the movie, did you, uh, go out and like try to learn more about the craft? And what did you, uh,

[00:02:13] It took about six, seven years. Cause I was like 11. I'm and my mom was for me at the time. So I definitely use that for as long as possible, you know, but when I moved out and started living on my own, that's when I started cooking.

[00:02:23] Yeah. What's the, what's the, what's the goal, my friend? And you've done a little bit of everything. What's the goal?

[00:02:28] Uh, the goal is to, let's think here, probably buy an icon pass for, uh, for snowboarding this season.

[00:02:37] No, uh, no dream role that you want to try to get your hands on.

[00:02:40] Um, no, I'm not too picky, you know, just anything that comes my way. I'm just more than happy to, to do, you know, I definitely, I love horror though. Horror is really fun. Um, but I'd say one of the dreams is probably to work with like Tom Hanks or something like that. If he still works.

[00:02:53] I think he's going to work till the end. What do you think?

[00:02:55] Yeah, probably, you know, a guy like that. It's so good always, you know?

[00:02:58] Right. So let's jump into, uh, to hysteria then, uh, tell us about the process. Uh, how were you approached for the series? Was this just like an audition?

[00:03:05] Did you know somebody that you worked with that told you, Hey, we might have a role for you.

[00:03:09] No, just super, super general audition, you know, um, like, like all of them, except, uh, when I got the script, I was like, what is this about?

[00:03:15] You know, cause I only got like one page of it or two pages. I was really curious about what it was about, you know, cause, um, in the page, it mentioned all the bands and everything, you know, so I was really captivated right away.

[00:03:25] Um, and then it was actually a super lengthy process. It took about six months for us to hear back, which is like really long, you know?

[00:03:32] Um, but yeah, and then we got, we went to the chemistry read, you know, and it just ended up going from there.

[00:03:37] Tell us a little about Dylan. What was the description like when you first got his hands on that paper?

[00:03:42] Well, I think, um, the, the description for Dylan, it was kind of vague at first, you know, because there's a lot of growth, you know, so he definitely changes a lot.

[00:03:50] You know, he's just an unpopular, um, and the start, he's just an unpopular kid who plays as a guitar, you know, he's kind of a nerd.

[00:03:56] Um, it doesn't have any friends except for his, you know, his two best friends, which is really all you need.

[00:04:00] But, um, but yeah, that's pretty much pretty, pretty basic character description.

[00:04:03] And it definitely arced into something a lot more.

[00:04:07] What's, uh, like, so after you started jumping onto the series and started filming and everything, uh, you were going through the scripts, like, how did you decide, like, you wanted to play this character?

[00:04:15] I mean, the music, you know, the music was such an art of it, you know, I'm a big metalhead, you know, so that was definitely something I was really excited about.

[00:04:22] But one thing I was pretty hesitant about is I had to learn the guitar for it.

[00:04:25] And I was just absolutely terrified of that because I had never touched a guitar in my life.

[00:04:30] And, um, they gave me three weeks to learn number of the beast by Iron Maiden.

[00:04:34] I was definitely, that was a challenge.

[00:04:37] Now, now do you, do you still play it?

[00:04:39] Uh, yeah, I do.

[00:04:40] I actually have the same guitar from episode one.

[00:04:42] Wow.

[00:04:43] So like, I love how, like, uh, you said the metalhead everything.

[00:04:45] Cause I like, you know, I grew up in the eighties too, but I'm more of like, uh, I, you know, I have two young kids.

[00:04:50] I always love playing them like Van Halen and stuff like that.

[00:04:52] Nice.

[00:04:53] Nice.

[00:04:53] So what about you now for like, you know, it takes place in the eighties.

[00:04:56] Uh, how much did you know about that period?

[00:04:58] Like, how did you, uh, kind of research did you do?

[00:05:02] I actually knew a lot about the period.

[00:05:03] Um, I've, for some reason I've watched a bunch of videos on the eighties and that specific thing before I got the job.

[00:05:08] So I was, I was pretty educated on it.

[00:05:10] Luckily.

[00:05:12] How, how, how would you describe the story of, uh, of the series?

[00:05:15] Um, the story is, uh, it takes place during the eighties, you know, the satanic panic and, um, my character, Dylan Campbell's in a, in a high school heavy metal band, you know, and nobody pays attention to us until one day the, the star quarterback of the school, Ryan Hudson, he goes missing.

[00:05:30] And it's kind of a ritualistic kidnapping.

[00:05:32] So people start to, you know, give us attention because we're a heavy metal band.

[00:05:35] And that obviously means for Satanists, cause that's the eighties, you know?

[00:05:38] So we ended up just kind of going with it and it turns into a, it turns out to be a lot more than we anticipated.

[00:05:42] Hmm. What's great about this series that I've enjoyed so far.

[00:05:45] It's like, you know, you mentioned, you know, it's got the little horror.

[00:05:48] Then we had the little comedy in there too.

[00:05:50] And like supernatural elements, like for you, what would you say was like the most exciting or challenging part about, uh, this show?

[00:05:57] Well, the most challenging part was definitely being buried alive.

[00:06:00] That was, that was real.

[00:06:01] They, they actually, you know, got a coffin and they dug a hole in the ground and they, they shoved me in it.

[00:06:05] That was, that was terrifying.

[00:06:07] You know, I was not acting at all right there.

[00:06:08] That was, that was intense.

[00:06:10] Yeah.

[00:06:11] What about for like an exciting moment in the series for you?

[00:06:14] Uh, the concert stuff, you know, all the performing stuff.

[00:06:16] I felt like a real musician, you know, like up on the stage and like, I have all these people who are like super pumped, you know?

[00:06:21] And like, it was a really cool, cool experience for sure.

[00:06:24] I felt like a, like a musician.

[00:06:26] You mentioned, uh, you know, you were a metalhead and everything.

[00:06:29] Was there a specific song that you were excited about that you knew you were going to hear throughout the series?

[00:06:34] Uh, just a lot of Ozzy Osbourne, you know, and Randy Rhodes.

[00:06:37] He's a huge inspiration of mine.

[00:06:39] Um, he doesn't, there's not too much in this, in the show.

[00:06:42] I kind of, but my, my character has a shirt, um, that's like Randy Rhodes and Ozzy Osbourne.

[00:06:46] Um, so that's pretty cool.

[00:06:48] And then, uh, I don't think they got too many Ozzy songs in there, but, um, but yeah.

[00:06:53] Without, you know, I don't want to talk too much about spoilers and everything without giving too much away.

[00:06:57] Can you tease anything bizarre about like the events that happened in this town and like, uh, challenges with, like we said with Dylan that he faces with his band?

[00:07:07] Hmm.

[00:07:08] Let me think about that.

[00:07:12] Without spoiling, nothing really comes to mind.

[00:07:14] I'm not very good at like the vague, like super, you know, I'm not a writer, you know?

[00:07:19] I, I, I get it.

[00:07:20] I get it.

[00:07:20] How about, uh, working with Julie Bowen?

[00:07:21] I mean, she, you must've been excited when you heard that she's going to play your mother on the series.

[00:07:25] I couldn't believe it.

[00:07:26] Cause when I was 12 years old, um, Sophia Vergara actually played my mom in chef.

[00:07:30] So now I've had two, um, my mom.

[00:07:34] So that's pretty cool.

[00:07:35] And yeah, she's just such a legend, you know, and it's the same thing with Bruce, like working with someone like that.

[00:07:39] You just learn so much subconsciously just by being around them.

[00:07:41] You know, it's, it's really a blessing.

[00:07:44] How would you describe like the relationship between Dylan and, uh, Linda in the storyline?

[00:07:50] I think she's a great mom, you know?

[00:07:51] And she's like any mom, you know, like it's just like Ted Bundy's mom.

[00:07:54] She didn't want to believe that her son did anything bad until the very end and still didn't believe it.

[00:07:57] You know, a mother just never wants to believe their son does wrong, you know?

[00:08:00] So she's just a very sweet mother, you know, very understanding.

[00:08:04] Um, and, uh, ends up kind of, you know, biting her in the butt.

[00:08:09] You mentioned Bruce Campbell, you know, he plays the chief in the series.

[00:08:11] Uh, can you share any, like share any scenes that you enjoyed with him or moments or even like the tension between like the two figures with each other?

[00:08:21] Yeah.

[00:08:21] One of my favorite scenes was the first one I did with him.

[00:08:23] Um, it was, uh, the interview scene when, uh, after I get, um, this is episode one.

[00:08:27] So I'm going to spoil it.

[00:08:28] When, after I get arrested, episode one.

[00:08:30] Um, yeah, that was just such an honor.

[00:08:32] Like just the way he works is just, it's, it really is like, you see why he's a pro, you know, like you definitely see why he has this name for himself.

[00:08:39] Cause he earned it.

[00:08:40] Yeah.

[00:08:40] He's played in a lot of a series and, or movies like, like with this kind of like theme and everything.

[00:08:44] Any pointers to you about your character or about the series?

[00:08:48] Uh, no, pretty much.

[00:08:49] He just, you know, um, he has like this little speech before we start acting, you know, he's like, I wish I could remember it.

[00:08:54] It was so like, good.

[00:08:54] He's just such a pro.

[00:08:55] He's like, if I mess up, you know, and he, we just kind of like bounced back.

[00:08:58] And he just told me like, you know, it's cool, man.

[00:09:00] We're just going to do this.

[00:09:01] You know, like we'll play off each other's energy.

[00:09:03] If you need anything from me, I'll give it to you.

[00:09:04] And, you know, vice versa, you know, so that kind of stuff.

[00:09:07] What do you think has been like your favorite, uh, like scene to shoot in the series and why?

[00:09:13] Favorite scene to shoot?

[00:09:15] Uh, the church stuff at episode eight was pretty cool.

[00:09:18] And also getting slapped in the face was pretty fun.

[00:09:22] Can you tell us who slapped you or would that be a spoiler?

[00:09:25] Uh, I'm going to leave that one to, to ambiguity.

[00:09:29] Yeah.

[00:09:29] Uh, what do you hope like the audience will take away from this series and, uh, both,

[00:09:35] uh, you know, this from the series and from your, uh, from your role also, uh, don't be

[00:09:39] a follower.

[00:09:39] You know, that's definitely something that's really important.

[00:09:41] Um, you know, make your own decisions and, uh, try not to be a Satanist, you know, is there

[00:09:47] a specific episode that you can't wait for the viewers to watch?

[00:09:51] Oh, I'm probably most excited for the finale.

[00:09:53] You know, like it's just, there's so much that happens and it just all ties together.

[00:09:57] So perfectly.

[00:09:58] It really is like, it's like an art, you know, seeing it all come together.

[00:10:00] Cause there's so many like little subplots here and there.

[00:10:02] And then like by episode eight, just the way they all tie together.

[00:10:05] It's just, it's beautiful.

[00:10:06] You know, the, the writer, Matthew Scott Kane, he really is so talented and it's hard

[00:10:10] to believe that this is his first show that's been picked up that he's written, you know,

[00:10:12] cause he's just so amazing.

[00:10:15] You mentioned the writer.

[00:10:16] I, if he could give you a piece of paper and a pencil or a pen to say, write something

[00:10:21] you want to change about Dylan, is there anything you would change about him?

[00:10:25] Hmm.

[00:10:27] I don't think so.

[00:10:28] Cause his, his problems make for like good TV, you know what I mean?

[00:10:31] Like his stupidity is pretty entertaining, you know?

[00:10:34] So I don't think there's anything I'd change unless it's like me as a person, you know,

[00:10:37] then I would probably change a lot of things about him, you know, but from a TV show

[00:10:40] perspective, I definitely think it's perfect.

[00:10:42] Amazing.

[00:10:43] Now, could you see this series keep going for a couple more years?

[00:10:46] Absolutely.

[00:10:47] Yeah.

[00:10:47] There's, I can't even wait to see what Matt would do with season two.

[00:10:50] There's just so many possibilities.

[00:10:52] I would really like to see that.

[00:10:53] Amazing.

[00:10:54] MJ, is there anything else that you, you got coming up that the viewers can know about

[00:10:59] or look out for that you got working on?

[00:11:00] Not that I'm allowed to say, but it's going to come out in 2026 and I'm pretty excited

[00:11:04] for it.

[00:11:05] Amazing.

[00:11:05] MJ, how can the viewers find you on social media and I'll keep up with you for, see what

[00:11:09] if you're posting about the series and everything.

[00:11:11] I have an Instagram.

[00:11:12] It's MJ Anthony.

[00:11:14] It's E-M-J-A-Y and then Anthony.

[00:11:16] Amazing.

[00:11:17] MJ, I want to thank you for giving me today.

[00:11:18] This was great.

[00:11:19] Let's get you back on.

[00:11:20] Hopefully we'll see you season two and we continue on.

[00:11:22] Thank you so much, Elias.

[00:11:23] I really appreciate you having me.

[00:11:24] Amazing.

[00:11:24] Listen.

[00:11:24] Thank you.

[00:11:25] Bye-bye.

[00:11:25] kar...