Lydia Hearst: American Horror Queen

July 7, 2022 By Julie Sagoskin

Not Your Average Heiress

For someone who is as much of a fan as the horror movies she is known to star in, actress, model, and socialite Lydia Hearst is definitely more sweet than scary. Okay, maybe a bit twisted, but in the most endearing way, plus equal parts fun, quirky, humorous and witty. With striking features and vibrant red hair, plus a bubbly personality that you know hides something deeper under the surface, Lydia is serious girl crush vibes. As a fellow horror fan who has followed Hearst’s rapidly progressing career, my own excitement level peaks as I notice a Chucky embroidered throw in the background – which Lydia explains recently replaced a Tiffany doll (from Child’s Play) – one of many horror props she keeps throughout her house, as we chat via Zoom from her home near Griffith Park outside of Los Angeles. Also, a new mom who just wrapped up another production which she starred in and produced; Hearst is not just your average heiress.

William Randolph Hearst

The great-granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst, founder of the Hearst publishing empire and the inspiration for Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Kane, Lydia grew up in an idyllic community in Connecticut where she attended private school while pursuing a career in modeling. Getting used to a constant stream of rejections, mostly due to her shorter stature at 5’7”, Lydia’s life soon changed when she was discovered by famed photographer Steven Meisel who put her on the cover of Italian Vogue. Rejection soon turned into worldwide recognition.

“We shot that before Christmas in 2003. Things were still shot on film, and it was before iPhones with the cameras and all that, and everything was kept very hush-hush. I didn’t even tell my agents at the time what I had done. And then come April 2004, it sort of changed my life overnight. So many of the people who had rejected me and turned me down suddenly went, ‘Oh. Oh, I get it now,’ which was a very interesting response. And it was sort of the first time that people actually took me seriously. I was able to start traveling the world and work with some of the most iconic photographers and designers to date.”

While she has been more focused on her film projects, she did enjoy faux breastfeeding twin babies for an Equinox ad campaign a few years back. “It was just a really fun shoot. It also had a lot of controversy, but I loved that I got to work with friends. Those are my favorite shoots.”

Scream Queen

Lydia is thrilled that she is now able to work as an actress, more specifically, in the horror genre, which she refers to as a very ‘niche community.’ “Oh my God. I’ve always loved horror. It’s not really about the cheap thrills and the jump scares. I’m really into the atmosphere and the suspense. And of course, any true horror fan loves the gore too. But I love films that aren’t just scary, but kind of creepy, which isn’t exactly the same. You don’t get that jump scream. you’re almost vicariously living through the experiences that the characters on screen are having.”

Hearst has also wound up in a hearse more times than she can remember. “I can’t remember how many, but my husband (Chris Hardwick) was counting them up before. I think I have died at least 13 times. And I’ve had so many different ways of dying. I’ve been shot. I’ve had a flesh-eating virus. I’ve had my head bashed in with a giant dildo. I mean, there’s been quite a few interesting ways, and then there’s been drug overdoses. But interestingly enough recently, I haven’t died quite as much.”

Dead or alive, her fans love watching her bring horror to life. It also turns out that killer fashion and horror films do have something in common – at least for Lydia. “I learned to transform, and I have kind of this chameleon-like face, almost like a blank canvas. I’m constantly changing the color or the cut of my hair. I’m even putting in various contacts to change my eye color.”

Mom Patty Hearst in John Waters’ Cry-Baby

Not falling far from the fashionable tree, Lydia remembers the spectacle that was a Thierry Mugler runway show, back when runway shows were more than an hour long and models would change in front of the audience. She knew she wanted to “do that” when she watched her own mother, Patricia (AKA Patty) Hearst, alongside the original supermodels, including Elle Macpherson and Naomi Campbell. She also recalls the pure excitement and magic of being on set for the John Waters film Cry-Baby in which Patty starred alongside stars like Johnny Depp. “John Waters created this fantastic world. I mean, everybody was in these incredible costumes and the makeup and they’re singing and dancing. I mean, what little kid wouldn’t want to do that when they grow up? Just play and have fun.”

Despite growing up with not just a famous last name but a mother who was at the center of an international scandal surrounding her alleged kidnapping and bank robbery charges, all of which was turned into a thriller movie, Lydia is surprisingly, well, normal. Lydia normal that is. During an overseas interview, the segment was scrapped due to her “disturbingly” adjusted demeanor. “They said to me, ‘Well, we’re used to people who tend to have more alcohol issues or drug problems or had neglectful parents.’ I literally called my mom after and I was like, ‘Well, mom, it’s terrible. You were such a loving parent that people aren’t interested.’ So, it’s kind of ironic that when people are like, ‘Oh, what challenges have you faced?’ It’s like, I feel like the biggest challenge is that everybody thinks that I should be some other extreme way with parents that weren’t around or have all these issues. We have a really good relationship. I still talk to my mom every day. I hope to be as good a mom as my mom has been to me.”

It turns out that this horror actress is also a fan of love stories – at least in real life – and found her own fairytale with now-husband Christopher Hardwick, the host of Talking Dead, writer, and comedian. “It’s not that easy to find someone who doesn’t mind having random horror props all over the house and watching horror movies every night before bed and things like that. It’s nice that he supports my crazy passions. And I don’t know, we just have a lot of fun. It’s kind of like we both embrace our childish enthusiasm. He’s my best friend and we’re a team.”

Star Wars Wedding

Droids, boots and zombie makeup were just part of the wedding celebrations for the two lovebirds who wanted to make the festivities as fun and true to themselves as possible. The ceremony, which lasted less than 15 minutes, was officiated by Ed Dumke, who had also married Lydia’s parents, as well as her best friend, Jaime King, though the ring bearer was a bit less known to the guests. At least on a personal level. R5-D4 – yes, the original droid in Star Wars, came down the aisle – and it didn’t stop there. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ll know that Mark Hamill originally chose him to be his sidekick, but he is a bad motivator who consistently breaks down. “The Ewoks come and take him away, and that’s how he winds up with R2-D2, so at the ceremony, R5-D4 breaks down, he’s got the ring, and he’s like sparking and sputtering, and then a whole bunch of Ewoks came out to get… or no, sorry. Jawas, not Ewoks. Jawas came out to get him. So, it was just that kind of fun that we had.”

The party continued with guests in cocktail attire and cowboy boots, a request made by this chic country girl who can effortlessly combine couture with comfort. “My family, we’re just as much high fashion as we are country. I wanted people to get dressed up, but be comfortable, because when you’re dancing the night away, no one likes to be in heels all night, your feet start to hurt. And then, because my husband hosts a show called Talking Dead, which premieres and plays after Walking Dead on AMC, Greg Nicotero actually did the special effects makeup for all of the wait staff at the wedding to turn them into Walking Dead zombies. Clay Walker, my favorite country performer, actually got up and sang and performed the whole night. It was just a big spectacle, and a lot of fun. We just wanted to make sure everybody enjoyed themselves.”

Pinball & Nintendo Switch Gamer

This pinball-loving pair was even gifted a limited-edition Halloween pinball machine by close friends Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Myers when they announced the gender of their baby girl. This prized pinball present joined other favorites including The Walking Dead, The Addams Family, Star Trek and The Simpsons, even though Lydia makes sure to point out that those last two are classics, so they are allowed in the pinball room even though they aren’t part of the usual horror theme. Lydia has been a gaming lover since she started playing Nintendo when her grandfather gave her and her sister an original Nintendo in the 80s. “I grew up on Mario and all those things and now I am just an avid Nintendo Switch player.”

They now have a four-month-old daughter, Dimity. Dimity is an old English name referencing delicate fabrics woven together to become strong, which instantly reminded Lydia and her husband of their own bond. And yes, the adorable newborn already has creatures around her nursery, most notably, a life-sized Mike and Sully figurine from Monsters, Inc.

This movie star and new mom started working just eight weeks after giving birth, on another horror movie, of course. “It was definitely a challenge. I didn’t want to have to leave her every day, but at the same time, I was excited to be back on set and get back to work. I hope to be able to instill a solid and good work ethic in her and that she can see that it is possible to find a balance where you can, in a sense, have it all and do it all.”

American Boogeyman & LA Film Festival

The haute horror queen previously added producer next to her name on the popular Netflix show American Boogeyman which she also starred in, about husband killer Aileen Wuornos. Next up, fans will be able to catch her in a film she shot prior to the pandemic, which will premiere at the LA Film Festival, where she plays a volatile and unstable mother who is emotionally tortured and addicted to heroin. She also co-executive produced and co-stars in a film called Slayer with Malin Akerman and Abigail Breslin, which is kind of a unique, modern re-imagining of classic vampire lore. Other upcoming projects include Werewolf Game as well as a movie based off of the well-known game, Assassin.

“We’re 12 strangers who are kidnapped by a sort of social media conglomerate company and we’re forced to play this game where we have to vote amongst each other, and people get brutally murdered. I’m actually one of the leads, and I’m co-starring with Tony Todd, which is kind of amazing because he’s a legend. I’m really hoping that fans like this one. It was a very challenging film, one because I had just given birth, and two, because of the circumstances of the characters and the situation of the film.”

Operation Smile

Lydia is also fiercely passionate about helping others and has been traveling around the world for the organization Operation Smile, where she attends charity fundraisers and launches global offices, in addition to going on volunteer missions. Intended to help underprivileged children receive bilateral cleft lip and palate surgeries, she is already excited at the idea of bringing her own daughter on future missions when she’s old enough.

South of Hell with Mena Suvari

This former television actress, who appeared in Eli Roth’s television series South of Hell with Mena Suvari, which she describes as being “ahead of it’s time for attempting to take horror mainstream,” has one very special part in mind if she were ever to come to Broadway: the silent film star in Singin’ in the Rain. She is really into character acting, after all. “I never got into the business to be famous. I got into it because I just genuinely loved what I was doing. And I loved being creative and playing and working with really fascinating, interesting, fun, nice people.”

Hearst Castle

While she is proud of her Hearst heritage and loved shooting around Hearst Castle (a 250,000-acre property around San Simeon, California, which now comprises 123 acres of gardens, terraces, and pools, as well as a 165-room estate and legendary art collection), she is also happy to have carved out her own identity. Never feeling like she fit in as a New Yorker, Lydia and her husband are looking at purchasing a ranch a few hours away in Central California. They are also renovating and restoring a historic home across the street, where Lydia is already getting her own gardening obsession going.

“I put in a little citrus grove on the hillside where I have different clementines and kumquats and tangelos and Mandarin oranges, and even Cara Cara blood oranges. And then there’s another side of the property that I put in these Heritage apple trees. I’ve been working on planting everything and sectioning it off because I’ve done a lot of research into how they should be planted. I’ve also been trying to dabble in grafting, because on the property that we got, there are actually these really old grapefruit trees, that I don’t think it’s even a type of grapefruit that exists anymore. They’re about as old as the house, which is nearly 100, which means they’re probably going to die soon, which is unfortunate. I have to kind of figure out how to save the trees and graft them onto something else in order to preserve that species.”