Standish913.com has been blessed to do an exclusive interview with...
"ALEX BUTLER"!
Let's get into some exclusive questions...
STANDISH: How did you first get involved with Piglet (2025)?
Like every other actor trying to make a living, I was working part time to keep some money flowing and I received an email from a producer who I’d spoken with previously. As soon as I saw the words ‘are you free to play Piglet’ I was in no matter what.
STANDISH: What drew you to the character of Piglet, and what did you enjoy most about portraying him?
Piglet is just an iconic character, both pre and post horror. The opportunity to play him and put my stamp on him was too good to miss. I just loved exploring how far I could take him and how much fun we could have taking him to another level. The guys who have played him before in other productions were amazing and really made him stand out in so many ways but I wanted him to be something different, something almost human.
STANDISH: How did you prepare to bring Piglet to life — any special training or research?
Not as such no, from a physical standpoint and despite being a big old lump these days, I was quite sporty as a kid with football, athletics and martial arts etc so that gave me movement and technique. That background enabled me to be able to look convincing in that sense.
From a character standpoint, I rewatched all my favourite classic horrors and slashers and took a little bit of every killer I loved and put them in there.
STANDISH: Were there any scenes that were particularly challenging or rewarding to film?
Oh god yeah, that opening sequence with that bloody bag on my head. Could not see a thing through that sack and at 2 in the morning after a full day already it was difficult to know where people were. A lot of those shots I relied heavily on instinct and listened to footsteps to almost guess where they were. Credit to the other actors involved being in the right place and making it such a legendary opening.
STANDISH: Piglet is such an iconic character — did you feel any pressure stepping into this role?
A little, but that pressure was outweighed by excitement. Once I stepped into those boots and that head was on any pressure was gone, I felt like I was him.
STANDISH: What was your favorite moment on set while filming?
Too many could answer this, but I think ultimately for me it was the scene with Tais Sholvie who played Courtney when she had her foot caught and I was stalking her. That was the first scene we filmed where I was in full piglet mode and I had that adrenaline rush and I fully felt at home. Bless her tho she was legit petrified of me and after the scene was complete we had a hug and I gave her some space. But we were best mates after that and spent a lot of time chilling out while other scenes were being shot.
In close second tho was the dinner party scene. It was a scene we nearly lost due to time and other reasons but as it was on the final day we knew we needed something special. The night before tho, after filming, in the cast house a collab between myself, Alina Desmond and Shayli Reagan brainstormed the original scene and spent a couple of hours together and came up with what you see.
STANDISH: Were there any funny or unexpected moments behind the scenes you can share?
Too many to mention, we had a blast. We all lived together in one cabin and just became a family. I love them all so much and I’ve been lucky to work with a few of them again since.
STANDISH: If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring actors, what would it be?
A famous blue fish once said just keep swimming. Basically that’s it, just keep going and never give up.
Watch films and study the actors that are in that scene and see how they’ve done it. I’ve worked on student films in the past and not one of them watched films, they knew all the technical jargon but never really studied films to see what made a shot a good one or what made an actor a good fit.
Also, Imposter syndrome is real and we can all feel like we’re no good or not talented enough or we’ll never make it. I’m guilty of this at least once a week. It’s ok to feel like that, it means you care enough about it…so just keep swimming.
STANDISH: What’s on Alex's playlist?
Could be anything haha…I’m a metal head so anything loud and fast with a filthy breakdown. Make them suffer, cage fight etc. but as all true metal heads are I’m very eclectic, I love the Irish folk band Lankum and also John Francis Flynn. Throw in a bit of my dad’s favourites when I was growing up like zeppelin and mott the hoopla and you’ll start to see what a car journey with me is like.
If I popped it on shuffle it’d go from cannibal corpse to beach boys to Disney classics to slayer and I wouldn’t even think about it.
STANDISH: Looking ahead, what types of roles or projects are you excited to explore next?
Next on the agenda is Season 13, by Jack Hoy and Lewis Santer. We’re filming that in a couple of weeks and when I saw this is going to change horror…I mean This Is Going To Change Horror.
Season 13 will be immense you just wait.
Also we have a tv pilot to be released soon called Belief, the worlds not ready for that either.
Last but definitely not least, we have a short film called Eggs which is out very soon too. Written and directed by my incredibly talented bestie Kelly Goudie. Just utterly amazing!
STANDISH: What are your social links?
Just insta for me @aka_thebigman
STANDISH: Anything else you'd like to include?
Just a thank you for having me, I appreciate you!
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