When it comes to horror icons, Jason Voorhees is one of the most beloved. But he didn’t start out the Friday the 13th franchise. Pamela Voorhees did. And thanks to Peacock’s Crystal Lake we’re getting to experience her story, and her pain, in a way that we’ve never experienced before. But with it, come some new storylines, new actors, and new fans to join the Friday the 13th fandom.
Fangirlish got a chance to speak with the cast of Crystal Lake to talk about why this show, this story, and these characters. Because a show like this goes beyond Halloween. It’s a story about mothers, their sons, and the lengths that one is willing to go to for those that they love. And at the center of this story are cast members Linda Cardellini, William Catlett, Devin Kessler, and Callum Vinson.
The star of Crystal Lake happens to be Linda Cardellini, our very own Pamela Voorhees. Her story started in the 1980 film Friday the 13th, starring the talented Betsy Palmer. And it’s her love that grounds the story as brutal killings happen at a summer camp. For fans of the franchise, Cardellini wants them to know that the core of Pam “is she never ever gives up on [Jason.]”
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“We all know that Jason lives on, even though it’s a lot about in the lake drowning. And I think the idea that, even with our characters, she never ever lets go of the idea that he’s still around. And I think that is what keeps her going. It’s what keeps her from sort of giving up in general. And it makes her do all the things that she’s doing. Everything that I do in the series is an effort to bring Jason back.”
Since Cardellini didn’t originate this character, fans are definitely wondering how much of Palmer’s version of Pam is in this Crystal Lake version. Because we don’t want a carbon copy. But we want similarities to be present. And they are in this series. Cardellini said, “I of course watched Betsy Palmer, and I know she is so well-loved. But you can’t do what Betsy did. That’s so her own, and I would never try to mimic her.”
So what did Cardellini do? She took inspiration and built out from there. “There are echoes of [Betsy] in the performance. And there are lines that I was sure, to Brad and I, were sure to keep in and to reiterate. And she’s present in my mind. But the series goes so far beyond sort of her, the little bit of time that we got to be with her in the [franchise] So I think there are sort of nods to her. And I would hope, like, you know, homage to her. But nobody can do what she did. It’s so singular and spectacular in the movie.”
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The bond that Pam has with Jason isn’t the only reason why you should be watching Crystal Lake. After Jason drowns, Pam needs a tether to keep her grounded. That just so happens to be Sheriff Levon Brooks, played by William Catlett. He cares for their small town of Crystal Lake and the inhabitants in it. But the bond he shares with Pam is one of grief but also of blossoming love.
“Pam and Levon, they kind of both are dealing with grief. You know, I just lost my wife, so I understand her. So everybody is looking for a safe home and someone to call home, you know?” Catlett shared, “Nobody wants me in that town, and I’m trying to find a safe place. ANd so when I see her, and I’ve already been through that, you know, not in the way that Jason passed. I’m like, okay, I can trust you. And when you look in Pam’s eyes, you feel like you can really trust her.”
Together, these two feel like they can build something together. And they try, in their own way.
Cardellini followed that up with “It’s a wonderfully complex relationship that Brad [Kane] wrote for us, and he’s so wonderful. And the way that you play the character, it just adds so many different dimensions to Pam’s character. It’s really, I think it’s probably, besides Jason, the most important relationship she has.”
Another important relationship in Crystal Lake is that between Sheriff Brooks and Brianna Brooks, played by Devin Kessler. She plays the inquisitive journalist sister that comes to small-town Crystal Lake and gets tangled up in the killings happening. And they’re believable because of the chemistry that Catlett and Kessler have, another reason you should be watching this show.
Kessler shared, “This is my brother. […] No, it was great. We clicked pretty easily. And then we found out that we were born in the same hospital, which is crazy.” And Catlett followed it up with, “She’s just getting out of school. And so what she brings to it is that she doesn’t have all the isms that a lot of actors have because they’ve been doing it so long. So she’s just fresh and new.”
He followed it up by saying, “I really look at her as my sister, you know. And so we don’t really have to act. Like, there’s a scene where I come in and you know, I’m telling her she’s the brains of the family, and I give her a kiss on the head. Like, we’re really in those moments. And I think that makes it believable. And I’m excited.”
And of course there’s our very own Callum Vinson, who plays a young Jason Voorhees.
For Cardellini, she loved working with him. “He’s wonderful. He has the hardest role, I think, because he’s got to wear certain things, you know, he’s still just a kid. And going to work every day and wearing prosthetics, that’s hard. But he’s wonderful. He’s a good actor, and he’s a great kid. And he really loved the part too in terms of like he got really into being Jason sometimes. He had that walk too.”
As for Callum himself, he learned a lot from Linda. But his main focus was bringing something new to Jason. Because besides the way he died and the killings that follow, we don’t know much about Jason. “I feel like bringing myself to the character was a very big part because he never really had a background in anything. You never saw him besides the one clip of him drowning. I just feel like me bringing humanity to this character said a lot and just helping people see that he has a good connection with his mom and seeing that he’s just a normal kid.”
And he is. Whatever you take away from Crystal Lake, remember that Jason Voorhees was just a kid who was loved by his mom Pam, before dark forces tried to tear them apart.
Crystal Lake is now available on Peacock.
