‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ Star Reveals How They Created the Film’s Mouthless Sister & Peanut Butter Burgers

Karen Ruud 3 minutes ago

TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, Jeremy Licht, 1983, — Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection

What To Know

Jeremy Licht reflected on his experience playing Anthony in Twilight Zone: The Movie.
He shared memories of working alongside seasoned adult actors, including a pre-Simpsons Nancy Cartwright and Cherie Currie.
Licht revealed that the gooey peanut butter shown on screen was actually a special effects concoction.

On June 24, 1983, Twilight Zone: The Movie arrived in theaters. The anthology horror film of four different segments loosely based on episodes from the original TV series boasted an impressive lineup of directors, including Steven Spielberg, John Landis, George Miller, and Joe Dante.

ReMIND caught up with Jeremy Licht at the May Hollywood Show in Burbank, California, who played Anthony in the third segment, titled “It’s a Good Life,” which was based on a Season 3 episode about a boy with god-like powers, starring Bill Mumy (who has a brief cameo in the film). Directed by Dante, it also starred Kathleen Quinlan, Kevin McCarthy, Patricia Barry, Nancy Cartwright, and William Schallert.

Licht discussed working with a pre-Simpsons Cartwright, the eerie mouthless “sister Sara” played by Runaways singer Cherie Currie, and what those peanut butter hamburgers were really like.

TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, Jeremy Licht, Kevin McCarthy, Nancy Cartwright, Patricia Barry, William Schallert, 1983,

Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection

What are your favorite memories of making the movie?

Gosh, really working with everybody that we worked with. I loved working with Joe Dante, the director of it, who would go on to have a very prolific career and had one before. [He] was really a big kid and gave us a lot of freedom to not necessarily improvise within the final product, but to try to find what we were looking for. At the same time, making sure that he had the feel and the intensity that kept growing throughout it, because I think in the beginning, it kind of looked one way, and you felt badly [for Anthony].

As things went on, it became more intense, and you weren’t really let in until a little bit later, when things were going terribly awry. And so building on that intensity and figuring out within the scene where we are and how big is this build.

TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, Kevin McCarthy, Kathleen Quinlan, William Schallert, Patricia Barry, 1983.

Warner Bros./Courtesy: Everett Collection.

But working … I was the only kid working with five, six, seven adult actors who were not only well-seasoned but just unbelievable within their own, just taught me so much, the freedom and flexibility to … just have that freedom, and to be able to also find this character, who I think was a really misunderstood kid. I really don’t believe he was evil. I just think he’s born with this unbelievable power that, as a kid, there are things you say or think, and even as an adult, that you say or think, then what if that happened?

So finding that and, to me, finding the ability for the audience to possibly be sympathetic to someone who is a bit of a monster, but does he really want to be that? There’s sort of a double edge to try to find that.

Did you really eat the hamburgers with peanut butter?

That is a great question. So, the answer is yes and no. It was McDonald’s hamburgers that were plain, and then they tried it once with peanut butter. Now, for anyone who has ever eaten peanut butter, it is very hard to speak afterwards.

Screenshot

When we did it the next time, we’re all taking bites, but there is no peanut butter on it. And the only time that there is peanut butter that you see [it’s] actually not peanut butter. It is this concoction that they put in, so when there’s the reveal and the character of Helen, played by Kathleen Quinlan, lifts up the bun, and you see this gooey mess, we did not eat it. But if you like peanut butter and you like hamburgers, it is not bad.

What was the gooey mess made of? Do you know?

I don’t know. That was like a makeup and effects kind of thing. And it was just a quick shot on that to make everybody go “Ew,” which they did. So I don’t know what it was made of, but I did try peanut butter on a hamburger. It is not bad if you like those components. I know it sounds weird. It is not bad, but we could not do it in the scene because none of us could speak with peanut butter in our mouths. Ask Mr. Ed.

Tell us what it was like working with Nancy Cartwright.

So I’ll tell you the coolest thing. First of all, we shot this in 1983, and I don’t remember what year The Simpsons originated from The Tracey Ullman Show. She is obviously one of many voices on The Simpsons [Bart], and I worked with her only a few years before The Simpsons became The Simpsons, but if you hear it now, it’s amazing that her speaking voice is … I don’t think it is really that much nuance from Bart’s. So it was super cool, but it was before she was born.

So it was a little foreshadowing that she got thrown into a cartoon.

I would say so. And into cartoons, I hadn’t even put that together.

What was it like working with Cherie Currie?

an image from the "It's a Good Life" installment of the 1983 anthology movie "Twilight Zone: The Movie." It is a special effects shot depicting a young woman (played by Cherie Currie) who has had her mouth removed by her brother, who has the power to make anything happen.

Everett Collection

Cherie Currie played my sister, and I am not remembering the character’s name, but she was the “Not Ethel” who was Nancy Cartwright’s sister, and you have a quick shot of her from behind as I’m walking her there, and then the camera reveals that she has no mouth. And I literally was coming offstage as she was coming onstage, and we passed, and I stared at her because she had no mouth, and I didn’t realize that was what was being shot. And as I said to Cherie a million times, that was some of the most beautiful, unbelievable makeup I had ever seen because it was flawless, and I was one foot away from you, and it was absolutely amazing, but I never heard her on set because she could not speak with that makeup on. So that was my experience with her.

What are you up to now?

I have begun auditioning again. I have done a little bit of acting, I have done a couple of short films. In addition, I help people with insurance. For 20 years, I’ve had an insurance agency that is sort of my day job that helps keep groceries on the table. And I try to keep my kids out of trouble, which is tough to do.

Jeremy Licht at the May 2026 Hollywood Show

Karen Ruud/ReMIND Magazine

We also caught up with Kathleen Quinlan at the show for her memories of the burgers (she did not remember them), but she did recall how amazing and flawless Cherie’s makeup was and the creepy stairs the set decorators made.

About the Hollywood Show

The Hollywood Show is a premier pop culture nostalgia autograph show that takes place three times a year in Burbank, California, and offers celebrity meet & greets, signed autographs, rare movie memorabilia & fan events. If you are interested in attending to meet the stars and explore the vendor floor, head to the Hollywood Show website for show dates, tickets, hotel information, and the most up-to-date guest list. Be sure to follow their socials on Facebook or Instagram for any guest updates or other fun information.