Created by Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner and Kieran Valla, the show follows 13-year-old Chrissy (Lucy DeVito) who discovers she is the daughter of Satan (Danny DeVito), i.e. she is the Antichrist. Her villain father is keen for her to inherit his realm, but not if her demon-fighting mother Laura (Aubrey Plaza) has anything to say about it.
The acting duo found it entertaining to portray “extreme versions” of themselves on screen, and Danny DeVito especially enjoyed how much of a family affair the animated series is with his son Jake producing and wife Rhea Perlman also taking on a guest role.
‘Little Demon’ Stars Lucy and Danny DeVito on Playing Satan and Antichrist
Reflecting on mirroring real life by playing father and daughter on screen, and what it was like to portray Satan and the Antichrist, Lucy DeVito said: “Well, short answer is it’s been great, and no it’s not weird.
“We love working together and this opportunity presented itself, and in this way where we were able to collaborate from the very beginning and [we] thought that animation too was just a fun, freeing way to explore our relationship.
“Being these characters, the Antichrist and Satan, or just these very extreme versions of ourselves, I think it’s been really fun and really exciting.”
Her father went on: “That’s one of the really big things. We always like hanging out and we love being together.”
“When Lucy actually came to pitch me the idea she had [with] these friends, […] I loved it right from the very beginning. First of all, to play an intricate character [like Satan], second of all because he’s got lots of roadblocks and dilemmas. The devil you wouldn’t think [would have] this duality. He’s somebody who’s seen a certain way on the outside but inside there’s so many levels,” said DeVito.
The actor also shared that he was “proud and happy” of the work his son Jake put into the show, saying he was “really on it in every moment” as executive producer for the series.
“Everybody, I believe, recognizes that formula of when you’re at the watercooler and you’re able to talk about stuff, [when] you’re sharing ideas. […] We feel empowered, we feel agency to say what we want to say [about] our beautiful Little Demon show,” he said. “So when it works like that it’s really exciting and fun to get up in the morning.”
On Their Characters and Why They Are Relatable
Lucy DeVito came on board the show in its very early stages as she already knew Fowler after starring in a play the writer directed in New York City, and that’s how she came to meet Kirschner and Valla.
The creative trio are “like a family,” Lucy DeVito said, and when she introduced them to her own relations they quickly became “one big family.”
But for the actor, it was the character she was playing that was the most intriguing: “One of the reasons why I love her so much is I relate to her. We’re capturing this human at the age of 13, when the world is changing around you, or you are changing and the world is staying the same.
“It’s a very formative time, and very emotional, and I’m really interested in this time of moving on from being a child to being an adult, and trying to reckon with that.”
“I think that, for me, at the age of 13 there was so much turmoil in terms of ‘who am I becoming?’ My body is changing, my relationships with my parents are changing. I’m becoming a teenager, but I really still want to just play with my stuffed animals. It’s a very confusing time and I think a lot of kids want to take control in that time because it’s so chaotic and because the answers seem so far away.
“I think that placing a character in that time, in this very crazy world, just exemplifies the turmoil that every human will go through as they’re coming of age. So, I think it’s cool to see Chrissy try to grapple with that. She makes mistakes, she’s a brat and over the top. But then she’s also very wise in her own ways, and so it’s fun to see and to play a character that is going through all of that in a season.”
DeVito added of Chrissy’s relationship with her mother, Aubrey Plaza’s Laura: “What I love about the mother-daughter relationship too is that it’s a messy relationship. They love each other and depend on each other, but they also really hate each other at times too, and I find that a really important thing to talk about.
“Also, with Aubrey’s character, Laura’s a single mom and trying to make this life workable for her and her daughter and she herself is young, so I think those are interesting themes to work with as well. I also love that Laura is such a bads, she’s tough and she’s a bads.”
Danny DeVito found Satan to be a fascinating character, not least because there’s more to him than what viewers might expect.
“It’s nice to play characters that have a duality,” the Matilda star said. “In Satan’s case he knows exactly what he needs to do because he kind of feels like [he has] to hold everything together, and because s**t happens in the realms, and hell, and all these places.
“It’s chaos and he think of himself as the Tony Soprano of that. There are a lot of elements to deal with.”
Why ‘Little Demon’ Is ‘Refreshing’ and What’s to Come
Little Demon is the kind of adult animation that isn’t afraid to include things that others might balk at, like full frontal nudity, gruesome violence, or even showing Chrissy having her first period.
For the DeVitos, this is what made the program so “refreshing” to be a part of, because the creators weren’t afraid to “push the boundaries.”
Lucy said: “I think it’s really refreshing and freeing […] to have the writers feel safe enough to express themselves and to go to these extreme lengths,
“And so, I think that it does push the boundaries and it is a bit extreme, and some people aren’t going to like that, but I personally think all the exploration of that is fun and fulfilling, and you’re having a great time doing it.”
Teasing what’s to come in Little Demon, Lucy said there would be “lots of adventure” and “demon-y characters” for fans to enjoy, as well as recurring cast members like Michael Shannon, who voices Unshaven Man, and even guest stars like her father’s Twins co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who he said was “great” in his yet-to-be-revealed role.
“You can see a funny family dynamic along with some pretty, silly jokes and characters,” Lucy said. “Everyone’s gonna have a wild ride and have fun.”
Danny added that he loved “the family dynamic […] juxtaposed with magic, and the devil has amazing powers, and he’s got some real weird characters that he has to control, or hangs around with, or are his ‘friends.’”
The actor went on: “There are a lot of surprises. Everybody gets surprised in a kind of a unique way all coming together from the mental gymnastics of Seth, Darcy and Kieran.”
Little Demon premieres Thursday, August 25, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FXX and streams the next day on Hulu.
