Dead Boy Detectives: Jenn Lyon Talks Bringing Fan-Favorite Esther Finch To Life

Dead Boy Detectives is currently streaming on Netflix, and fans of the series have been taking to social media to praise their favorite characters and plead with the streamer for a second season. The show is based on the comics by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III, and ComicBook previously talked to some of the show’s stars about bringing their characters to life. This week, we had the chance to chat with Jenn Lyon, who plays the evil (but lovable) witch, Esther Finch. During the interview, Lyon spoke about her inspiration and the fan reactions to her character. 

“Freeing, because I think the best evil is casual,” Lyon said when asked if balancing a character who is both fun and evil is a challenge or freeing. “You know what I mean? If somebody’s too sinister, you’re like, ‘Well, they’re about to get me,’ but if it means nothing to them, it’s scarier to me.” 

“I am always 100% stealing from Madeline Kahn, Judy Holliday,” she added when asked about her inspirations. “It’s not even that they played witches, they are actresses that I love. Parker Posey in Blade Trinity. When she came in – because she’s playing the queen of the vampires – I think any other actress would’ve been like, ‘Oh, it’s you Blade,’” Lyon said in a menacing voice. “And this bitch came in and was like, ‘Hey,’” she imitated in a disinterested voice. “It floored me.”

“Well, the babies – they’re full grown adults – in the cast [have shared reactions],” Lyon explained when asked about fan reactions to Esther. “I’m not on social media anymore, for almost two years, so they send me stuff, especially Josh [Colley] who plays Monty, the crow. He’s just the sweetest baby. He’ll send me stuff and it’ll be like, ‘Esther is mother,’ and it’ll be somebody that’s made a weird little TikTok, and it makes me feel good.” 

During the chat, Lyon also recalled an interesting day on set…

“Doing fantasy and sci-fi stuff, you’re just using your imagination so hard and hoping that it works out,” Lyon explained. “Whenever I had to be up on that – we called it the funeral pyre – but I never got burned on it. But I’m over the water and bleeding and there’s a blood rack, and it’s the coldest that it’s ever been in Canada. And the makeup lady kept having to squeeze blood in my mouth because when they would yell action, I had to blood drip out and act like I was seeing a big head rise out of the water.”

“But you can’t even hear the director. They have wind machines going, too, and you’re like, ‘I hope this is what they want. I have no idea what it looks like.’ And then they would yell, ‘Cut,’ and the director would yell something and you wouldn’t hear it. You’d be like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do it.’” 

“It’s sweet,” she added when asked about the taste of the fake blood. “It’s chocolatey, kind of, but very sticky …  It kind of stains you in a weird way. All your undergarments, if you happen to wear a little bra you liked that day, you didn’t use a show bra, that’s it for you. RIP your bra.”

Stay tuned for more from our interview with Jenn Lyon.