This Delawarean is behind feature film remake of 'Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead'

Less than a month ago, screenwriter and Wilmington native Chuck Hayward had a big Hollywood moment under the lights.

There he was on stage in Los Angeles with the cast of "Ted Lasso" as they accepted the Outstanding Comedy Series at the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, in part thanks to an episode Hayward wrote.

The episode, "La Locker Room Aux Folles," continued to follow the coming out story of Colin Hughes (Billy Harris), a gay player on the show's fictional English Premier League soccer team AFC Richmond.

Hayward was standing next to "Ted Lasso" co-creator and star Jason Sudeikis when the former "Saturday Night Live" star turned to the Brandywine High School graduate.

"We want to thank all our writers ― we have Chuck up here with us ― who felt safe enough, vulnerable enough, strong enough and brave enough to share their stories of them coming out," Sudeikis said.

Hayward's turn in the writers room of "Ted Lasso" is just a slice of the work he has found in Hollywood over the years.

He has penned episodes on television series ranging from "WandaVision" to "Life & Beth," wrote on the bulk of the critically acclaimed Netflix series "Dear White People" and was the writer behind the 2018 Netflix film "Step Sisters." He also served as executive producer, co-executive producer and producer on many of the projects.

But Hayward, is about to have a career first after 20-something years in the industry: A film that he wrote and executive produced is opening in theaters nationwide Friday.

It's a remake of the 1991 cult dark comedy "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" and he's coming home to Delaware to help celebrate surrounded by family and friends.

Hayward's new 'Don't Tell Mom'

The road to this moment for the 43-year-old screenwriter has been a long one ― seven years to be exact.

"I'll put it this way. The first phone call I got about this project I was at my buddy Joe's wedding ― and his second kid is now 4 years old," he says with a laugh. "So it has taken a long time to get this across the finish line."

The film, produced by Tyra Banks' SMiZE Productions and indie production house Treehouse Pictures, stars Simone Joy Jones in the role popularized by Christina Applegate, along with Jermaine Fowler, Nicole Richie, Gus Kentworthy and June Squibb, the 94-year-old Academy Award-nominated actress ("Nebraska'') who plays the babysitter.

The idea was to reimagine "Don't Tell Mom" as a modern Black story nearly 25 years after the original, which first told the tale of a teenage girl who takes over as head of the house and oversees her four siblings when their elderly babysitter dies while their mother is on vacation.

"We wanted to highlight the difference of how this would affect a Black family," he says of the twist. "So in one scene, the little brother says, 'We have a dead white woman in our house. They've lynched people for much less.'

"It's more impactful than your typical sort of teen romp because the stakes a little bit higher and we wanted to personalize it a lot more."

Early reviews have mostly been promising with Variety film critic Courtney Howard writing Hayward "masterfully reworks the blueprint" and declaring, "Genuinely funny, charming and sincere, it’s a respectful and revelatory update in a world where those are few and far between."

New twist, but filled with nostalgia for longtime fans

Even with the film's new look, its biggest lines ("I'm right on top of that, Rose") and plot points remain.

After all, Hayward, who was 11 when the original was released, became a big fan of it because it was ubiquitous on HBO for years, helping build its dedicated following.

"It basically played on a loop and I watched it ― I don't want to be hyperbolic ― but literally dozens of times," says Hayward, who grew up in Northeast Wilmington and now lives in Marina del Ray, California. "I mean, I even memorized lyrics to the songs playing in the background.

"I don't know why but there was something really enticing to me about that film."

So you can only imagine the flashbacks Hayward had when director Wade Allain-Marcus decided to shoot the film in the same California house where the original was filmed.

"When we went there to scout the location I was looking around and was like, 'I cannot believe this my life,' " Hayward says, recalling his tour of a little slice of his movieland childhood.

When he first met with the film's producers, he told them he had never prepared less for a meeting because he knew the original film inside and out: "Even now, my sister and I still quote it. It's just one of those things that stuck with us."

Hayward spotted Applegate at the Emmy Awards in January when she made a surprise appearance to present an award, earning a standing ovation not long after announcing that she would not act anymore due to her multiple sclerosis.

He jokes that he "accosted" her right there at the Peacock Theater on television's biggest night: "I told her I wrote the remake and probably seemed like a lunatic, but she was very gracious. She had seen most of it and said, 'I think you did a really nice job honoring the original,' and I was like, "I can die now.' "

Hometown screening on Wilmington's Riverfront

Hayward's father Charles is a longtime retired State of Delaware employee and former director of Delaware's Division of Child Support Enforcement.

It's through those old government contacts that the office of Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki has tracked Chuck Hayward's work on his first feature film for theaters and reached out to the writer, offering to host a hometown screening to help celebrate.

Hayward will fly out to Delaware to watch "Don't Tell Mom" on Thursday at Penn Cinema Riverfront 14 + IMAX on Wilmington's Riverfront in a theater filled with his family, including mother Saundra and sister Onya, along with friends and city officials, including Purzycki.

FLASHBACK Delaware writer behind Netflix's 'Step Sisters,' 'Dear White People'

"His dad was a big presence in the state for many years and we met when I was first elected mayor," Purzycki says. "For us, it's a great way to feature one of our hometown products who made good. We're excited for him. He's a first-class guy, too."

Usually Hayward stays a while when visiting home ― he grew up near Harlan Elementary School ― but the promotional schedule for the film is keeping him busy. This time he has to make it a quick round-trip to make it back to California for another screening.

"But I love my hometown and it's going to be great to come back and share this with people who have seen all the ups and downs. There were some pretty lean years," he says. "Everyone always told me to keep going and that support back home was always encouraging. So it's nice to share some of the spoils of war with them."

Road from the First State to the Golden State

Hayward moved west after completing college at Syracuse University in 2002. Without any industry connections, he began to make his own.

He worked as an assistant for years, helping everyone from producers and directors with an eye on being a writer himself. It's something he was first encouraged to do by Brandywine High teachers who first saw his talent. (He was class president for all four years at Brandywine.)

And even as year by year went by with little to show for it ― both in terms of his resume and in terms of a paycheck ― he stuck with it as he struggled to pay rent at times.

He knew that a guy from Delaware could make it in Hollywood. All he had to do was look at his roommate Will Fetters, also a screenwriter.

While roommates, Fetters, a Brandywine Hundred native, wrote the 2010 film Robert Pattinson-led drama "Remember Me." He has since rattled off a string of films: 2012's "The Lucky One," 2014's "The Best of Me" 2018's "A Star Is Born" and 2022's "Hustle."

Hayward saw Fetters' work ethic firsthand when he would leave at night to go out to have fun, leaving Fetters at the apartment writing "Remember Me." As Fetters' career took off, Hayward began to buckle down and focus more on his own work.

"His story was really inspirational," says Hayward, who admits he needed a shot of inspiration at times. "I would tell people I have to make this work because I'm not qualified to do anything else. I think that mentality got me through some pretty rough times."

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at [email protected] or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (@ryancormier).

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 'Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead' gets new spin from Delawarean