Stephen King loves a good vampire tale almost as much as the entertainment industry loves a good adaptation of his work, and Salem’s place is here to offer both. Premiering October on Max, the movie follows author Ben Mears (played by Top Gun: Mavericks Lewis Pullman), who returns to his hometown in the hopes of finishing his novel inspired by the haunted Marsten House. What he finds instead is a vampiric creature that begins to turn Jerusalem’s lot into a waking nightmare.
Written and directed by Gary Dauberman, Salem’s place Features an ensemble cast of top-tier talent in addition to Pullman. Cast members include Spencer Treat Clark, Pilou Asbæk, William Sadler, Makenzie Lei, and Alexander Ward as the one and only Kurt Barlow. There were already two miniseries that were adapted Salem’s placein 1979 and 2004 respectively, but fans are eager to see how the latest version stacks up.
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Screen Rant Interviewed Spencer Treat Clark about his approach to playing Mike Ryerson in the new Salem’s place Remake. The actor shared why he didn’t watch the previous adaptations for the films, revealed his reaction to the vampire aesthetic, and praised Stephen King’s epic bibliography.
Spencer Treat Clark purposely stayed away from Salem’s court to come to Mike Fresh
“I just have to completely divorce myself from this.”
Screen Rant: How familiar were you with Stephen King and Salem’s place Before joining the project? Have you read the novels or seen any of the other film adaptations?
Spencer Treat Clark: Joe, that’s a great question. First of all, I’m really glad Max is releasing it this time of year. They could have released it whenever they wanted to, but it was definitely a case film. It really should be around Halloween, and it takes place in real life. During the fall, the movie starts and the leaves are green and it’s the end, and the leaves are falling. The town fell apart. I’m really glad it’s being released right now.
I didn’t watch the miniseries, especially since Mike Ryerson’s portrayal is so iconic. I just had to completely divorce myself from it, and the irony is that I always intended to go back and see it. Now, when I come back and do press for this and revisit when people are watching, it’s a great reminder that I need to go back and watch this iconic miniseries.
I haven’t read the book either. I’d read a bunch of other Stephen King novels, and I’m a fan of his, but I hadn’t read Salem’s Lot until I got this job. It was one of Stephen King’s favorites, and it’s now—of course—one of mine.
Screen Rant: For those who may not be familiar with Salem’s placeTell us a little about Mike.
Spencer Treat Clark: One of the cool things that Mike’s character gets to go through is you get to see the transition from human to — spoiler alert — vampire. Many of the people you meet at the beginning of the movie will be a vampire. It’s inherent to the movie, so I can’t work my way around it.
My assumption is that he grew up in this town, maybe he once had the opportunity to leave, but he decided to stay away. I imagine he probably had Mr. Burke, one of the characters portrayed by Diamond. [Bill] Camp; Mr. Burke was his fifth grade teacher at one point when he was growing up in this town.
One of the really cool challenges and fun parts was seeing that transition from not just being a human, not just being a vampire, but you get to see him lose his humanity, and this evil kind of take over him. The drag of Barlow, and the drag of his own life, and not knowing what’s going on and suddenly losing his grasp of reality, and suddenly everything becomes a threat. There’s the big scene when I’m in a bar in the middle of the day, and he’s just completely off his rocker and says, “What the hell is going on with me?” That was both the fun part and the challenging part about the role.
Salem’s site provides good Stephen King vampire prosthetics
“It really is the best of the best to do the makeup.”
Screen Rant: How was your experience working with the practical effects and makeup in this horror film?
Spencer Treat Clark: The makeup on this one – it really is the best of the best to do the makeup. We had contacts and teeth, and it’s really interesting because once you get all that stuff, there’s very little work for you. It’s almost like you have to do less because you just have to trust it, and it really is Gary [Dauberman] Let her know how things look and playing with him.
I had to do a lot of my vampire stuff early in the shoot, which meant I had to be a bit of a guinea pig to sort of play with things. I’m lucky that we have a lot of time with movie design. It’s not as rushed as when you do TV, so we have to play with some of those things. We got to do all sorts of makeup tests, and I have so many pictures that I’m excited to finally be able to share.
Lately, I’ve been going through my phone and looking back on my experience just from my own perspective, and it’s been fun. I have so many photos that I was sending my wife back. My wife came and visited me and there were bloody handprints from the night shooting. She was waking up to get on zoom for her work back in Los Angeles, and there was blood all over the shower from when I just came back in a days after night shoot.
Screen Rant: If you could pair this with another movie that you can watch at home, what would you pair it with? Salem’s place with?
Spencer Treat Clark: Oh, that’s a great question. There’s a lot streaming on Mac right now, and I should really have a list of things to do. But I know they’ve done a really concerted job building their catalog, so I’m sure you can find something out there on Max that would compliment this beautifully. I’m sure the Max people would appreciate me shouting that out right now if I had the list, but I’m unprepared. This is a great question.
I think Stephen King has so many movies that you have to double it with something from the Stephen King genre. I just feel like it only makes sense. I know personally, I have to go back and I’ve read a handful of stuff, but I’ve barely touched his catalog because he has so many books. You read four or five [books from] No other author, and you’ve covered most of their catalog. But for someone like Stephen King, you’ve barely scratched the surface.
More about Salem’s Lot (2024)
Author Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book only to discover that his hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire.
Check out our others Salem’s place Interview here:
Source: Screen Rant Plus