Based on true events, Grizzly Night is a terrifying survival thriller that follows a rookie park ranger thrust into the fight of her life when Glacier National Park becomes the scene of deadly grizzly attacks.
As panic spreads and communication breaks down, she must lead a group of frightened strangers through the darkness, confronting both the untamed wilderness and her own fears. What begins as a quiet summer evening turns into a night of chaos that changes the nation’s understanding of wildlife forever.
In the movie, The Walking Dead and Ms. Marvel star Matt Lintz plays real-life survivor, Roy Ducat. When we sat down with the actor this week, he talked to us about how he approached the role, his experiences on set, and why it was so beneficial to share the screen with Stargirl alum Brec Bassinger.
We also hear from Lintz on the unique challenges a movie like this presents, and how the aftermath of being mauled by a bear—which required him to wear some understandably gnarly prosthetics—factored into his performance.
For those of you curious about the actor's MCU future and what it was like to tell Kamala Khan that she has the mutant gene, you can either watch the video in full below or check out what Lintz had to say here.
Here's our interview with Matt Lintz on his standout role in Grizzly Night.
This was your first time playing a real-life figure as Roy Ducat. How did you prepare and research for that? It's a lot different to something like The Walking Dead, for example.
When the project was announced to me, I didn't know too much about it. When I saw it was a true story, I was very intrigued. When I delved deeper into it, I thought, "Wow, this is very emotionally driven and scary in a lot of ways." When I got approached about the role, I wondered if I really wanted to do something that holds this much weight. But after speaking with Burke and the whole creative crew, it was something I definitely wanted to do. I was inspired to do it. I wanted to put that story out in the world. Working with an amazing co-star like Brec Bassinger, I had to say yes. Getting to work with her and delving into Roy's character and his real-life stuff was a ton of fun. I'm honoured and glad I was able to do it.
You mentioned Brec then. You had some really pivotal, important scenes together, particularly with the bear attack. What was it like working with her, preparing for that, and the more intense days on set?
When I got the role, we came out and did some fittings, and that's when I met her. We clicked right away. We had chemistry on and off the screen. Our first scene was the bear attack, which I was hoping would be more casual, but it was straight in there. The bear was like a dog. He was super sweet. We couldn't get too close to him, but from what we saw, he was the sweetest bear. I've always been terrified of bears. I saw a horror movie about a bear, and it scarred me as a kid. Working on this, I didn't want to get close to a bear. We had to figure out how to play a bear biting into your back and scratching, and rehearse with Burke. Burke was so collaborative and great to work with on that.
To get into Roy's head—he's trying to protect the woman he loves. As an audience member, you're thinking how much he's trying to protect her while fighting for his own survival. It's such an interesting thing to think about watching his story. How much time did you devote to figuring out what Roy was going through?
From when I booked it and read the script, I knew that was such a pivotal scene in the movie. What would you do as a human being with this massive bear coming up to you and your girlfriend? There's not really much you can do other than stay quiet and just pray. It's such a terrifying thing that they actually went through. You have to take a second and think, "Wow, this really happened, and we have to honour them and go through this scene." It was really scary, to be honest with you.
The real attack took place in Montana. You were filming in Utah, but being in surroundings like that and out in the forest must have helped your performance.
The locations they chose were stunning. We were based in Park City, which is a ski town, and we would drive 30 or 40 minutes into the mountains where there was nobody. It was just animals and nature surrounding you. It was beautiful. Even when you weren't filming, you could just take that in and breathe the nature. It honestly made it even scarier, especially the night scenes.
You mentioned the bear. You couldn't get too close for obvious reasons, but seeing that bear on set and having it in the vicinity—how helpful was that to dial into what Roy was going through in these intense moments?
We had scenes in the chalet where the bear is eating the trash, and just seeing how big it was and the physicality. You know how big bears are, but when you see one in person, it's completely different. I remember when I first saw it, I thought, "This is terrifying." We met the bear from a distance, per the rules. After that, going into the scene, you're like, "Oh my gosh." They didn't have the bear close to us when filming the attack scene, but having that memory of how big the bear is—it's very friendly, but bears in the wild, some may not be. It definitely added to the fear factor.
In a lot of ways, this film is a drama, but there are animal survival thriller elements to it, a little bit like Jaws. Was that something you'd been looking for as an actor, to tackle this kind of story?
I used to do a lot of horror stuff when I was very young, before I understood any of it. My first movie was Halloween 2 with Michael Myers, and I had no idea the gravity of that. Delving back into that was very interesting. A lot of people might go into it thinking it's a very horror movie where the bear's chasing with crazy fictional elements, but really, we're telling a story of what happened on that day. It is a horror movie—it's terrifying—but it's more to explain what happened.
When you're mixing genres like that—elements of horror, but it's a drama telling this upsetting real-life event—how challenging is it for you to mix those genres? Is it quite natural to know what to expect going in?
You kind of get the gist reading it, but you don't understand the full scope until you're filming and talking with Burke. When I was offered the role, Burke and I had a great conversation discussing Roy and Julie and that relationship and how it would go. When you're on set, you're not really thinking about the genres. You're just going through the scene and what he's experiencing prior to and in the scene. When I'm in that mode, I'm not even thinking about it.
With this being set in the 1960s, was there anything you particularly enjoyed about going back, whether the fashion or just exploring that world?
The fashion and the truck we were driving were the coolest things ever when Roy and Julie were first introduced. But you had to be very careful with the words you used, especially during that time—you can't say modern stuff. There were a few times I was like, "Oh, can't say that."
You mentioned the nighttime scenes as well. Were they particularly more difficult than the daytime ones, especially since the attack happens at night?
It was harder because after the attack, there were all the prosthetics on my back with a bunch of blood, and it was really cold at high elevation in the mountains. The only issue was having wet, sticky, freezing stuff all over my arms and back. It was fine—we had heaters. But I've always been terrified of bears, so filming any of those scenes related to the attack was a little bit scary.
I always like asking about the fake blood because every actor I speak to says what an absolute nightmare it is, saying it's sticky and they can't get rid of it. Was that your experience, playing this poor guy who's just been mauled by a bear?
We had a fantastic makeup team—they were the sweetest. Thankfully, it was just one prosthetic on the back right shoulder. You'd have it on for 10 hours at night and get it off in the morning. All you have to do is take a 45-minute shower, and it's off. It wasn't fun having it on, but that's what you have to do for the movie magic.
Having a prosthetic like that on for so long kind of helps with your transformation into the character, I guess.
For sure. You can't see it when they're putting it on, but you go in the mirror and see all the blood on you—this is terrifying to look at.
I do want to give [director] Burke [Doeren] his flowers here. The way he balances the horror elements with the drama, and the deeper themes about nature versus humanity—how was it working with him to build out Roy as a character?
Burke is one of the nicest, most genuine people I've ever met. Directing is one thing, but working with him as an actor is something else entirely. He's so collaborative, which is exactly why I love this job. Even on the first day, I came to him with ideas about how to play the pain from the bear mauling, and he was completely open to it. He put full trust in me, and I trusted him completely. We had a really great creative relationship.
Without getting into spoilers, those title cards at the end about the aftermath and the response to the attack are pretty shocking. Did putting yourself in Roy's shoes and learning about the broader impact on bear policy and camping safety stick with you after filming wrapped?
Definitely. You read about bear attacks in the news and think, "Man, what if that happened to me?" But this one hit different because of what Roy and Julie actually went through. It's a strange feeling stepping away from it, but at the end of the day you just take a breath and remember you're doing it to honour them and everyone affected. The whole approach to bears and camping safety changed forever because of what happened that night.
Grizzly Night is now available on VOD and Digital.