Linda Cardellini reflects on her pivot toward full-blown horror as she takes on the role of Pamela Voorhees, the original slasher from the 1980 film, in the upcoming Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake. Recalling her early physical experiences on set, she describes a human tooth getting embedded in her knuckle before she yanked it out, remarking on the intensity of the production. Then you laughed out loud, they made you afraid.
While casual viewers often associate the franchise with Jason and his iconic hockey mask, aficionados recognize Pam as the villain of the first installment seeking vengeance for her son’s death. Cardellini notes that Jason did not sport the mask until the third movie. Crystal Lake features minor timeline adjustments, shifting Jason’s drowning from the 1950s to the early 1970s, though Cardellini considers timeline tweaks fair game for a franchise that once sent the killer into space.
Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane championed Cardellini for the role after watching her performance in the Netflix thriller Dead to Me, writing the character specifically with her in mind. Cardellini admits she was initially surprised to be his top choice for the project, acknowledging that stepping into the legacy of the franchise feels daunting yet presents a compelling opportunity to expand the universe. But hopefully it’s an opportunity to see more of something that didn’t really get its own avenue.”, did they feel any pressure in taking Friday the 13th on? “It’s daunting. Once we weren’t going to make any more, just didn’t seem possible, the idea that it would live on.
Reflecting on her own youth growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, Cardellini recalls the rebellious appeal of rented VHS tapes featuring horror icons like Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers. She explains that the combination of gore and taboo sexuality provided an alluring, forbidden atmosphere for young audiences. As Cardellini did (she is 51), will remember sleepovers with rented VHS tapes and a lot of screaming whenever Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees appeared on screen. “It was forbidden fruit, almost,” she says. “You weren’t supposed to be able to watch it, but you would, anyone who grew up in the 1980s and 90s. I think it is part of the allure when you’re young. Which helps with your reaction, it’s what you’re actually looking at. Why does Cardellini think horror is having a moment? “It’s a great question. She thought she knew how the story would go. “A love triangle between a married couple and a best friend, and somebody turns up dead,” she recalls. “But when I read it, I thoug, when Cardellini first heard about the show. Carol, for instance, is a part-time baseball umpire. “Since I’ve played an umpire, I’ve met so many people who have told me they are also umpires, and it’s people you don’t expect. When she was a contestant on the quizshow The Price Is Right, her first appearance on TV was in 1994. I think it was the first two scripts I got – I had one line. DTF St Louis is a singular series: Carol is married to American Sign Language interpreter Floyd, but is having an affair with his best friend Clark, a TV weatherman who rides a weird bike and likes to pretend to be a robot during sex. Sweet meditation on loneliness, with an offbeat streak, the show is a strange.
Crystal Lake delivers practical scares and heavy sequences of gore, including an extensive blood sequence that required an unusual full week of dedicated filming. Because Cardellini wears lighter hair in the series, the production had to carefully choreograph the scenes to prevent fake blood from staining her hair pink. One vivid sequence involves an astronomical amount of blood. “We reserved a whole week for that,” she says, which is highly unusual for TV, as it tends to move quickly.
Practical effects played a major role on set, including prosthetics and fishing wire used to pull off a character’s face rather than relying purely on CGI. Cardellini notes that seeing the prosthetic come off in real time left a lasting impression, calling it one of her favorite, disgusting highlights of the show. “Even the guy’s face coming off is done on the day with prosthetics, instead of CGI.
Addressing the current mainstream resurgence of horror, Cardellini suggests that audiences find comfort in the controlled, temporary fear that genre storytelling provides before reaching a neat resolution. She recently observed this firsthand backstage at a New York Comic Con screening, where the audience responded with gasps, cheers, and subsequent laughter. From films such as Obsession and Backrooms to Carrie and Widow’s Bay on TV, crystal Lake arrives on a new wave of mainstream horror. Because you know that in a few hours, you will have a resolution, i can imagine there’s something about the experience of it that is very present – and it’s a controlled fear.
Cardellini began her professional acting career in the mid-1990s following her upbringing in California. Her breakthrough came in Paul Feig and Judd Apatow’s teen comedy series Freaks and Geeks, where she portrayed Lindsay Weir. Although the critically praised series was abruptly canceled by NBC in 2000 before finishing its first season, it eventually gained classic status and launched the careers of co-stars like Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and Busy Philipps. A fond, witty look at teenage rebellion, burned bright and fast and was promptly cancelled by NBC in 2000, before its first season had finished airing, the early 80s-set series. Though, Freaks and Geeks slowly became a classic of the high school TV genre. “That it had a life afterwards was a shock – and that it still has a life is amazing.”, through DVDs and word of mouth.
Later in her career, Cardellini joined the cast of Mad Men during its sixth season to play Sylvia Rosen, a character entangled in an affair with Don Draper. Creator Matt Weiner kept details tightly under wraps during the audition process, initially giving her minimal lines before the narrative unfolded into an obsessive storyline for Don.
In September, Cardellini secured her first Emmy award for portraying Carol Love-Smernitch in the HBO series DTF St Louis. Describing the victory as a distinct and wonderful feeling following previous nominations, she discussed the unique dynamics of the series, which involves complicated personal entanglements among characters.
