!['Salem’s Lot’: Lewis Pullman & Makenzie Leigh Talk About Their Stephen King Horror Remake, ‘Thunderbolts*’, & More [The Discourse Podcast]](https://theplaylist.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-fastest-cache-premium/pro/images/blank.gif)
In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo is bitten by the latest Stephen King adaptation, “Salem’s Lot.” The vampire film follows an author who returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot, hoping to find inspiration for his next novel, only to uncover that a bloodthirsty vampire is terrorizing the town. The Gary Dauberman (“Annabelle Comes Home”) film stars Lewis Pullman, Mackenzie Leigh, Bill Camp, Spencer Treat Clark, Alfre Woodard and more.
READ MORE: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch
The film’s stars, Lewis Pullman (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Outer Range”) and Makenzie Leigh (“The Knick,” “The Assistant”), join the podcast to discuss their roles in bringing the beloved Vampire novel to the screen for modern horror lovers. During the chat, Pullman discussed loving the book and taking this on as his first lead role.
“It’s just one of those things where I kind of can’t really believe I was even being considered to be a part of it,” Pullman said modestly. “And that Gary [Dauberman] saw something in me that he thought could lead a movie. I mean, I had never led a movie. That’s the only movie I’ve actually ever really led. And it was terrifying, but it was helpful to have somebody you trust and respect as Gary trusted me.”
The modern adaptation was shot in 2021 and has sat on the shelf for years while the studio decided what to do with it—place it in theaters or put it on their streamer. All the while, the cast, and even the director were left in the dark. Would it become another casualty of WB/Discovery’s permanently shelved films like “Batgirl” or multiple others?
“We were in the dark, I’d say,” Leigh said. “I think Gary [Dauberman] has admitted as much as well. Like we were all kind of just texting each other, ‘Anyone hear anything? Gary, anything?”
“I think it’s just a casualty of the game,” Pullman added. “Oftentimes, this happens. It’s big studios go through changes, and things have to slow down. Things have to take a breather. And sometimes that means a movie goes into purgatory for a little while. But it is always an interesting experience to have a movie come out so far after the time that you’ve shot it.”
The Best of The Playlist. In your Inbox. Once a day. Sign up now.
Fans of the novel may be surprised by some of the changes, but that is ultimately part of the process when taking a story from the page to the screen. Leigh discussed having to not look at the novel because her character was likely the most changed.
“My character was the character that I think Gary was kind of using as a conduit for the ways in which he might change the plot to sort of surprise the audience of the book,” Leigh said. “So I think because of that, I felt like the script was my Bible in this case, and [I needed to] stay there.”
Some of the most notable changes occur towards the end of the film, which diverts from the novel by concluding with an action set piece at a drive-in theater. A scene that was almost completely added in reshoots saw Dauberman utilizing a “football field-sized” fake sun.
“We did have reshoots. But that was far before this much more prolonged [delay],” Leigh said. “And that was this stuff at the end in the climax. They show a bit of it in the trailer—there’s a drive-in. So that was really what the reshoots were with those weeks of us shooting the drive-in and of Lewis doing 15-hour days for each minute in the film where the sun is rising. And that would equate to like an eight-hour filming day…We had the most amazing fake suns. It was one of the coolest things that I’ve ever seen brought in. And it was like this massive crane.”
“And it was crazy to watch them put it together because it was like a massive, massive, like football field-sized umbrella, basically,” Pullman added. “And they adjust so that the sun could literally go inch by inch by inch by inch.”
Pullman recently made a splash by joining the upcoming Marvel film, “Thunderbolts*” in a mystery role that has been all but confirmed to be Robert Reynolds AKA The Sentry—Marvel’s somewhat different take on a Superman-type character. In the most recent trailer, Pullman is introduced as “Bob,” but nothing more; however, the Sentry symbol is seen and the character is confirmed to be bulletproof. Does that mean he can finally say he’s The Sentry? Not so much.
“I mean, it’s confirmed that I am Bob. Yeah, I am Bob,” Pullman said smiling.
Not able to go into detail on his character, Pullman was at least able to discuss the experience of joining the MCU in the much anticipated Jake Schreier-directed film.
“It was a whirlwind experience, but it was a really good experience,” Pullman shared. “I learned so much and it was with such a good group of people. So, in some ways, it was a very different experience. But in a lot of ways, it just felt like everyone was creatively in it for the right reasons. And so there was no difference between doing an indie and doing this besides that they had a significant amount more money, maybe. But yeah, so I really enjoyed it. And Jake Schreier, I think, is a genius and is doing some really cool stuff with this world and this story. And Florence Pugh leads the ship with flying colors.”
The Playlist Presents – Lewis Pullman and Makenzie Leigh’s Film/TV Recommendation Playlist:
1.) “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” (2014) – Written and Directed By Ana Lily Amirpour
2.) “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) – Directed By Roman Polanski
3.) “The Shining” (1980) – Directed By Stanley Kubrick
4.) “Smile” (2022) – Written and Directed By Parker Finn
“Salem’s Lot” is streaming on Max on Thursday, October 3rd. You can listen to the full interview below:
The Discourse is part of The Playlist Podcast Network, which includes The Playlist Podcast, Deep Focus, Bingeworthy and more. We can be heard on Apple, Soundcloud, Spotify, and most places where podcasts are found. You can stream the podcast via the embed within the article or click on the lead image at the top page. Be sure to subscribe and drop us a comment or a rating, as we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for listening.