Wissenswertes

Many of his co-stars in the Lord of the Rings trilogy were under the impression that he was English because of the British accent he used as Grima Wormtongue throughout filming. As a method actor, he kept the accent even when he was not filming. They were shocked to hear him speak in an American accent after filming was complete. Bernard Hill believed Dourif was speaking in the worst American accent he had ever heard in his life.

Has appeared in two Academy Award winners for Best Picture: Einer flog über das Kuckucksnest (1975) and Der Herr der Ringe: Die Rückkehr des Königs (2003).

Has heard his own movie Der Wüstenplanet (1984) described as "science fiction's answer to Heaven's Gate - Das Tor zum Himmel (1980)" (which Dourif also starred in), and he agrees totally with this summation.

Though Dourif had not been on stage in nearly three decades, he chose to star alongside Amanda Plummer in the Off-Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' The Two-Character Play that played to critical acclaim at the New World Stages. He explained, in a filmed interview released by the producers, why he broke his 29-year hiatus from acting in live theater: "I hated the stage, did not want to do it. And then somebody said, 'Will you do a play? It's with Amanda Plummer', and I said, 'Oh shit! No. Oh God, I'm gonna have to do this...'". It opened on June 10, 2013 and closed on September 29, 2013. The play was subject to a number of performance cancellations, one relating to Dourif's absence, due to a death in the family. Plummer refused to perform without Dourif, notwithstanding the presence of an understudy.

Has taught acting and directing classes at Columbia University in New York City.

In 1981, Vincent Canby listed Dourif as one of twelve actors to watch, calling Dourif "one of the most intense, most interesting young film actors of his generation".

Made five trips to New Zealand while the Lord of the Rings trilogy was being filmed. He had to shave off his eyebrows each time for his role as Grima Wormtongue.

Is the only actor to be in all seven Child's Play films, although he only appeared onscreen in Chucky - Die Mörderpuppe (1988) and Curse of Chucky (2013). In all the other films, his performance was voice acting only. Out of all the Child's Play films - Chucky und seine Braut (1998) is his favorite.

In 2012, he contributed spoken word vocals to three songs on the album "Misery Together" by the Norwegian duo Thinguma*jigSaw.

His father, who owned and operated a dye factory, passed away when Brad was three.

His father, Jean Henri Dourif, was born in France, and was of three quarters French and one quarter English-Irish ancestry. His mother, Joan Mavis Felton (Bradford), was born in New York, to parents from Virginia, who also had English ancestry (including deep colonial American roots).

Attended Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia but dropped out (1969).

He missed out on two roles that went to John Savage. He was Michael Cimino's original choice to play Steven in Die durch die Hölle gehen (1978) and Milos Forman originally wanted him for the role of Claude Hooper Bukowski in Hair (1979).

He was initially cast as the Scarecrow in Batman Forever (1995) while Tim Burton was attached to the project (Burton had also wanted to cast Dourif as The Joker in Batman (1989), but the studio refused). However, Joel Schumacher eventually took over the project and instead cast Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as the Riddler.

Has appeared with Samuel L. Jackson in four films: Ragtime (1981), Der Exorzist III (1990), Jungle Fever (1991) and Amos & Andrew - Zwei fast perfekte Chaoten (1993).

As of 2017, he has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Einer flog über das Kuckucksnest (1975), Mississippi Burning - Die Wurzel des Hasses (1988), Der Herr der Ringe: Die zwei Türme (2002) and Der Herr der Ringe: Die Rückkehr des Königs (2003) - though he only appears in the extended version of the last film (and not the one screened to the Academy). Of those, Einer flog über das Kuckucksnest (1975) and Der Herr der Ringe: Die Rückkehr des Königs (2003) are winners in the category.

He played the role of Stephen in a stage production of the play "When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder". Dourif was asked to reprise the role for the film version, but turned said offer down because he didn't want to work with Marjoe Gortner. The role went to Peter Firth.

Has worked with director Werner Herzog in four films: Cerro Torre: Schrei aus Stein (1991), The Wild Blue Yonder (2005), Bad Lieutenant - Cop ohne Gewissen (2009) and Ein fürsorglicher Sohn (2009).

On April 18, 2024, Dourif announced that he would be retiring from acting, with the exception of any Chucky-related projects involving the character. The reason behind this was his daughter Fiona Dourif (who plays Nica Pierce in the franchise), plus he considered Chucky (2021) creator Don Mancini to be "family".

Attended and graduated from Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, Colorado (1968).

Is one of four cast members of David Lynch's Der Wüstenplanet (1984) who have appeared on the Star Trek series: Sir Patrick Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Raumschiff Enterprise: Das nächste Jahrhundert (1987), Brad Dourif and Virginia Madsen have appeared on Star Trek: Raumschiff Voyager (1995), and Dean Stockwell has appeared on Star Trek: Enterprise (2001).

Moved to New York City at age 19 and worked with the Circle Repertory Company, appearing in many off-Broadway and Woodstock, New York productions. Moved to Los Angeles, California (1988).