Five Nights at Freddy's Star Reveals Wild Death Wasn't Originally in the Script

Horror movies are living, breathing entities. They grow and change with time, adding extra set pieces and gore when the right cast members come on board. Posting one of her audition tapes on TikTok this week, Five Nights at Freddy's star Kat Conner Sterling revealed that one of the movie's gnarliest kills wasn't added until she was cast to play Abby Schmidt's babysitter, Max.

While initially framed as a sympathetic character, Max turns out to be a mole hired by the scheming Aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) to unearth damning evidence against Mike (Josh Hutcherson). When that plan proves futile, Max's brother, Jeff (David Lind), hatches a plan to trash Freddy's in an effort to get Mike fired.

RELATED: How Matthew Lillard's Kids Convinced Him to Play the "Voldemort" of Five Nights at Freddy's

A scene from Five Nights At Freddy's. Photo: Universal Pictures

This also goes sideways when the possessed animatronics come to life and defend their territory against the hooligans. Max gets the worst of it when she's literally chomped in half by Freddy Fazbear himself. Given the adaptation's PG-13 rating, the gruesome kill is shown in silhouette, but that doesn't make it any less gruesome. In fact, it brings to mind Marlena's explosive demise in Cloverfield. According to Sterling, however, Max was originally supposed to die "in blue paint," which raises more questions than it answers. Was she going to be tossed into a vat of the stuff and drown in it?

Five Nights at Freddy's best kill wasn't originally in the script

How to watch the Five Nights at Freddy's movie

Five Nights at Freddy's is streaming exclusively on Peacock. The NBCUniversal platform currently offers two monthly subscription plans: Premium ($5.99 a month with ads) and Premium Plus ($11.99 a month with no ads and download access for certain titles). If you're a student, you can enjoy the Premium plan for just $1.99 for an entire year!

The film is also playing in theaters nationwide (click here for some tickets). To date, it has netted over $287 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing horror release of the year. In the context of all theatrical releases, it is the fifteenth-highest grossing movie of 2023 between Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Creed III.

FNAF is also available to rent and/or purchase on several formats — 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital — from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Looking for more theatrical action? The Exorcist: Believer, Asteroid City; Fast X; Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken; and Strays are also streaming.