With Crystal Lake, the prequel series to the Friday the 13th franchise, releasing this week on Peacock, I had the opportunity to briefly speak with some of the cast and crew of the show at the Toronto International Film Festival –Linda Cardellini, William Catlett, Cameron Scoggins, Devin Kessler, and creator-showrunner Brad Caleb Kane– on how the story came to be and what were some of the inspirations going into the show.
Question: I actually wanted to build off on that a little bit, because we’re talking about a legacy of a franchise that’s existed for so long. And then, as you said, you’re also working on Welcome to Derry at the moment. When you’re going into a project like this, what was the first anchor that in your mind goes “this is what I want to hone in on and immediately, I want to expand upon this particular idea”, something that was perhaps introduced in the franchise before something that you wanted to see, a little bit more of and think that could be interesting for audiences?
Brad Caleb Kane: Well, I’m like a big time movie nerd, and every genre I love. I always say, I make no distinction between high and low art besides what gives me pleasure. So you know, I can appreciate a horror movie like The Exorcist because it is like the highest part of the craft while also loving something like extra, you know, which is also my favorite. I mean, I’ll go deep, you know, I’m not gonna–(laughs)
Shaurya Chawla: you can just give me one, yeah (laughs)
BCK: –but so, so for me, it’s like attacking something like this, you have to look at other movies of the time period. And again, in talking about the show, I talk a lot about the time period from where, you know, Pamela was born, and how she became who she became. One of my favorite filmmakers, a guy named Paul Mazurki–I don’t know if you guys ever heard of Paul Mazurski–but he made a very famous movie in the ‘70s called An Unmarried Woman with Jill Clayburn and it’s, you know, it’s very much sort of a feminist touchstone of that time, and so going back, and looking at these movies about women in the ‘70s, women in the ‘60s, you know, the awakening, that was happening. That was very much an aspect that I wanted to explore, you know, the time period through panels that’s part of it.
Q: I just wanted to start off with talking about the approach to the show because we’re building on a part of characters that we’ve only briefly seen or heard about in movies before, in the legacy of that I was just curious, like going into the project. What was the first aspect that for you guys was like, “this is the aspect that I’m most interested in exploring”, when it comes to your characters?
Linda Cardellini: I think for me, because you get to meet her so briefly, but she makes such an impact, people love Betsy Palmer, and that performance, and then you know her, the sweater coming back in too, and the head, you know, all of those things, it was important for me to sort of watch those to know who that is, know that’s where my character ends up, but also just be so excited about there’s so much runway before that. So what Brad had to, you know, to what he offered me as a role was so juicy, and so much fun. So but in that there’s also the grief and getting to know Jason, as this vulnerable, sweet kid, and that to me was interesting, because it makes all the other stuff make sense.
William Catlett: Listen, in my preparation, I looked at Sydney Poitier. I said, okay, that’s a good base to start from and what all Levon would go through, and then Levon’s not in the movie so I hadn’t lived any kind of create that image, so I would look at Linda’s photo. It’s like, okay, I think she will fall in love with this man here (laughs). And that’s how Levon was born!
SC: Absolutely. Thank you so much. Oh, and congratulations on your Emmy, by the way!
LC: Thank you, thank you!
SC: Fantastic show as well.
LC: Thank you, I appreciate that.
Later, I also had the opportunity to briefly speak with them on the red carpet as they were heading into the premiere and ask them a couple of questions.
Q: What are your thoughts heading into the premiere at the moment, and is there anything in particular you are excited for audiences and fans to discover as they watch the show?
BCK: I’m excited to see how audiences react to it. You know, I hope they feel like it’s a good ride, and I hope they experience it the way I experienced these movies when I was younger. Laughing, jumping out of their seat, you know, pointing at the screen “I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now!” So I hope it’s just a fun ride for everybody. I hope it’s as gory as they want it to be and as thrilling as they want a Friday the 13th television show to be.
CS: Yeah, I’m very excited to see everyone’s reactions to kills or comedy or whatever is coming. I just hope they feel satisfied. I know it’s been such a long wait for people who are fans of this franchise. I think we’re just…we’re just really excited to finally be coming out and to hopefully be giving people everything they want and also trying to bring a new generation of people into the Friday the 13th franchise with the story!
WC: I’m excited to see the show! So I’m an audience member, too. I haven’t seen anything, so I’m excited to sit and watch people jumping and, you know, the screams. And he (Brad) really cares about the fans, and…you got someone that’s at the helm that really cares about it.
Devin Kessler: Excited for people to see it! You know, it’s something that we all work really, on, something that we love doing. Brad’s baby, and now it’s y’all’s. It’s something for you all to enjoy and hold here. Brad has landed so many Easter eggs in this series. I think any true fan that’s, like, knows the series backwards, forwards, like the palm of their hand, like “oh, wait, I didn’t know that was there” type thing. From the machete to the actual, like, we shot on location. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s just so many Easter eggs for y’all!
LC: It’s a wild ride. And I think there’ll be some interesting reactions to things. I think, you know, maybe a little fear, maybe a little laugh, maybe. Hopefully some moving moments. I’m excited to see what happens. I have a favorite moment at the very end of one, and I think it really shows the relationship between Pam and Jason. That is sort of what makes the story work.
