‘Weapons’ Actress Brags That Drag Community Loves Her Child Snatching, Witch Character

The actress who played the villain in the mystery horror thriller “Weapons” said that the gay and drag communities have really connected with her character.

Amy Madigan, who plays the child-snatching witch Aunt Gladys in the film, made the comments during a newly published interview with Variety.

“People actually like Aunt Gladys,” the actress said of the character. “They kind of want to hang out with her. I’m very, very happy and grateful that the gay community and the drag community have really accepted Gladys. The people that I’ve talked to have said, ‘We’re the other. We’re the outsider, and we’re not supposed to fit in, and Gladys does in a weird way.’ And now they have really helped her spread her magic around.”

The Golden Globes just nominated Madigan for best performance by a female actor in a supporting role in any motion picture. In the film, her character uses witchcraft to possess both children and adults, using their life force to keep herself young.

“Weapons” director Zach Cregger discussed some of his motivations for the film, including the character of Aunt Gladys with her bright red hair and garish makeup. 

“I had written another script many years ago that was kind of the Gladys story,” Cregger told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published in October. “It was told from a child’s perspective, and this crazy woman picks him up at school and takes him home and has subsumed his parents. It’s about him trying to figure out how to get out from under her oppression.” 

He said the character was inspired by a non-fiction book by Wade Davis called “The Serpent and the Rainbow” and a song called “Dancing in the Head” by the British punk band The Mekons.

There were many reactions on social media about Aunt Gladys being embraced by the LGBT crowd. 

“Uhhh, she’s a hideous, murderous monster who tortured children,” one reply said. “Come to think of it, yes, it makes sense that the alphabet cult would embrace her.”

“Extraordinary. Once again siding with an unsympathetic and irredeemable villain who preys on children,” another person said. 

“The gay and drag community loves a witch who kidnapped and enslaved children, lol, I can’t believe she just straight up said it,” echoed a third.