'We always blame Chuckesmee': Twilight museum director explains why infamous doll has a chilling reputation
A creepy animatronic baby from The Twilight Saga has become a celebrity in her own right, with fans traveling thousands of miles to see her, buying merchandise and even getting tattoos of her face.
Meet Chuckesmee, the famously unsettling doll created for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, which has since found a home at the Forever Twilight in Forks Collection in Washington State, US.
And while the doll might not have been quite what filmmakers had in mind, she's certainly found her audience.
Lissy Andros, executive director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce, which operates the visitor centre and supports the collection, has revealed how the bizarre doll became a beloved mascot – despite her rather terrifying appearance.
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Speaking to UNILAD, Lissy explained that Chuckesmee was originally created to portray Renesmee, the daughter of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen.
According to Lissy, the filmmakers struggled to find a child who could do everything the character needed to do on screen, leading them to create the animatronic instead.
She said: “She's supposed to be the most beautiful baby, born to the most beautiful vampire couple. Unfortunately, the doll missed the mark a little bit!”
And it's fair to say that fans have never quite forgotten her unusual appearance.
The doll's strange facial features and unsettling movements quickly made her infamous among Twilight fans, with the production's cast and crew reportedly giving her the nickname Chuckesmee after the murderous doll Chucky.
But rather than fading into obscurity, the bizarre creation has developed a cult following of her own.
Lissy explained that Chuckesmee arrived in Forks after the museum acquired a collection of props and costumes from the films, thanks to benefactor Jack Morrissey, who purchased around 90 per cent of the items on display.
She said: “Jack reached out to me one day and said, ‘Hey, I have something coming your way, and it's going to be a fun little addition to the collection.’
“So Jack and Bill sent Chuckesmee to live with us because she needed a good home.”
And it seems she's certainly made herself comfortable.
According to Lissy, the doll has become such a fixture at the attraction that staff now blame her whenever something goes wrong.
“Whenever anything goes wrong, either here at the visitor center or at the Twilight Museum, we always blame Chuckesmee,” she explained.
However, it's not just her appearance that has made her famous. Some visitors are convinced there is something downright spooky about the animatronic.
Lissy recalled several strange incidents involving the doll, including one occasion when staff tried to separate her from a life-sized Jacob wolf prop.
The wolf was used during filming to help actors understand where the CGI wolves would appear in the finished scenes.
But when staff attempted to move the two props apart, something strange happened.
“We noticed that we couldn't get Jacob's head to stay up,” Lissy said. “It was as though they had some kind of connection.”
The team eventually managed to separate them, but the incident only added to Chuckesmee's growing reputation.
And that wasn't the only strange occurrence.
Lissy also claimed that the doll's socks seemed to get progressively dirtier, leaving staff wondering what she might be getting up to after the visitor centre closes.
She said: “You start wondering, ‘What is she doing at night to make her socks look so much worse?’”
Perhaps most bizarrely, Lissy described an incident in which a group of visitors reportedly made unkind comments about Chuckesmee before leaving the gallery.
Moments later, the fire alarm sounded.
The alarm happened to be located directly behind the doll, leading staff to joke that Chuckesmee had taken matters into her own hands.
“We felt that Chuckesmee was angry and had evacuated the building because she wasn't going to tolerate that kind of disrespect,” Lissy said.
She added that the doll had even appeared to blink at people before.
While there is no evidence that the animatronic is haunted, these stories have certainly helped cement her reputation as one of the strangest attractions in the Twilight universe.
And despite her creepy reputation, Chuckesmee has attracted a surprisingly devoted fan base.
Lissy revealed that people have travelled all the way to Forks specifically to see the doll, with some fans even arriving with permanent tributes to their favorite unsettling character.
“She has such a huge fan base,” she said. “We've had people come with Chuckesmee tattoos.”
Fans have also purchased Chuckesmee-themed shirts, while her likeness has become a popular subject for internet memes.
Lissy added: “She's a huge star, and she knows it.”
The doll has even found herself posing alongside actual Twilight stars.
Lissy revealed that actors Jackson Rathbone and Ashley Greene recently visited the Twilight Festival in Forks and posed for a photograph with Chuckesmee.
The picture subsequently went viral, with fans sharing it widely across social media.
It's quite the transformation for a doll that was originally intended to be a realistic representation of a beautiful half-human, half-vampire baby.
And although her appearance might have horrified audiences when the film was released, Chuckesmee has since become an attraction in her own right.
Lissy even admitted that she is reluctant to remove the doll from her protective display case, despite concerns that she could use a little restoration.
“I'm so afraid to take her out of her case, though, because I'm worried that one of her arms might fall off or something,” she said. “She could definitely use some TLC at the moment.”
The doll reportedly arrived in Forks with her hair missing, and she has since been given a replacement. Even so, Lissy believes there is still work to be done.
But with Chuckesmee now such a beloved part of the collection, the thought of sending her away for repairs is difficult to contemplate.
“She's so precious to me, and I don't want to let her out of my sight,” Lissy explained.
And it seems the attraction's staff aren't the only ones who have grown attached to the strange little character.
With the Forever Twilight in Forks Collection preparing to celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2027, Chuckesmee will also be approaching a decade at her adopted home.
Lissy believes the doll was originally created in 2011, which would make her around 15 years old.
Asked to sum up the unlikely star, she offered a fitting description.
“She's just a very strange little creature,” Lissy said. “She's difficult to explain, but she's very much loved.”
Topics: Film and TV, US News, Viral
Thomas Bamford