by Gill Pringle
Only Stephen King could take a brush with death – seriously injured when he was struck by a van near his home in Maine in 1999, followed a year later by a case of double pneumonia – and transform his experience into both an award-winning novel and now, adapting it into an eight-part TV series.
Perhaps his most personal story, Lisey’s Story takes its narrative from King’s own experience after returning from hospital only to find his wife, Tabitha, had cleaned out his home office, with plans to redecorate.
Such was his shock upon entering his now empty office, he was inspired to pen Lisey’s Story, wondering how his wife might act if he was no longer around.
King’s story sees Lisey Landon, two years after the death of her husband, still trying to move on with her life. Shot and seriously wounded by a zealous fan, celebrated author Scott Landon was a master of magical surrealism. In each of his bestselling novels, he brought worlds to life with his words, but even after his death, those worlds continue to reach out to Lisey.
After King approached J.J. Abrams to produce this horror thriller series, based on his own screenplay, Pablo Larrain agreed to direct, quickly assembling an elite cast with Julianne Moore starring as Lisey, Clive Owen as Scott Landon, Dane DeHaan as crazed fan, Jim Dooley, and Jennifer Jason Leigh and Joan Allen as Lisey’s sisters.
Here, J.J. Abrams offers us an insight into the secret world of the celebrated author whose books have sold more than 350 million copies, many adapted into TV series, comic books and films, including Carrie, The Shining, Stand By Me, It, The Shawshank Redemption, Misery and The Green Mile, among many others.
How did this project start for you? Stephen King reached out to you first, correct?
“Yes. He reached out and asked if I would want to be involved in producing this. I was incredibly touched because Lisey’s Story is his favourite book, and I was a bit nervous because it meant having to do right by him. I know he’s a wonderful collaborator and yet, he’s such an icon and I’m such a fan, that I wanted to make sure we would handle it right. So, when he said he wanted to write every episode, I was incredibly relieved and then, of course, getting Pablo who’s such an unbelievably brilliant director and poetic and thoughtful and has an amazing connection with his actors and is able to tells stories with such nuance and intimacy, it just felt like he could be the greatest director to bring the balance of this story to life, if you’re very lucky.”
What made Julianne Moore so perfect to play the title character of Lisey Landon?
“I think it’s probably obvious because she’s just so damn good and we knew that whoever played Lisey would need to not only convey and convince us that this character was going through this kind of trauma and post-trauma but also be someone that we would root for, that we would care about, that we would ultimately be in her shoes as she grapples with issues of the past, of the present and of elsewhere. In the very beginning of the story, Lisey is really struggling. She’s in an incredibly dark and broken place and Julianne was able to bring that world to life in a way that is both accessible and relatable. I’ve been a fan of Julianne for so long and have always wanted to work with her. The idea that she was going to play Lisey was thrilling. I think she was the only name that I can remember us discussing who would be fantastic and ultimately, she blew our minds and, once again, delivered a performance for the ages.
What were you aiming for in this project?
“Obviously, the director, Pablo Larrain, is the better person to ask, but the concern I had going in is that the novel is obviously the internal novel, the story is very much a subjective story; and how to dramatise that and bring that to the screen was challenging, which was why I was so relieved that Stephen was adapting it himself. But Pablo is such an accomplished director and I felt like the biggest concern I saw and was incredibly relieved once Pablo started doing his thing is how to balance these insane disparate genres and elements that the book has, and the film would have to have. And of course, translating things like Boo’ya Moon – that is such a specific thing for a reader; whoever is reading the book is going to have their own vision of that and how to bring that to the screen in a way that not only matches the imagination of the book but also co-exists with very relatable and grounded scenes was going to be tricky. But, again, between Stephen and Pablo, the two of them together interrogating each other’s intentions and how to best execute it, was a great collaboration.”
Stephen King said that adapting this into a script gave him more freedom to tell this story?
“I think that some ideas are a great song, some ideas are a great t-shirt, some ideas are a great movie or a great series, so the beauty of something like this now with Apple TV+ giving us the time necessary to tell this story in the right way, whereas I think trying to jam everything into a two-hour movie would have been tricky. It certainly would have been a different thing. I think doing something that is three seasons long with 23 episodes a season would have been too much. The reality is that now that we can tell stories that are right-sized and find a platform and obviously an incredible cast and director to do that with. I agree that when Stephen first reached out, he felt like this would be probably between 8 – 10 episodes, and it ended up being 8, which felt like the right size.”
You have a long history of collaboration with Stephen King but, with this, he is the solo script writer. Did you learn anything new about him working in this capacity?
“What I learned is, not to anyone’s surprise, that he has the remarkable skill of not just creating these stories but by being able to adapt them too. He didn’t transcribe this into script form, he really did reconsider it and then tell the story in a way that felt like it was proper adaptation which I was unsure what that would look like. Would he just take the book and say, ‘well, here, now film the book’? But he really did reveal himself to be excellent at adapting a novel which is a far harder thing than it might seem. And what I learned the very first time, and I learn every time that I’m with him, is that he is both the most wonderful, funny, lovely and decent person but also utterly terrifying with his mind. I mean, I don’t think anyone has scared me in my life more than Stephen King. So, the idea that he is both of those things, I still can’t quite reconcile it.”
Stephen says that you guys have known each other since Lost which is a long time. He also says that he sees in you a kindred spirit; someone who fits his own odd peculiar nature. What do you think he means by that?
“Well, it’s wonderful to hear that so thank you. But I feel the same and I’m not sure what the hell he sees in me but I think one of the reasons that he’s such a talented storyteller is that he is an incredibly passionate person and that even though his stories are terrifying and horrifying, if you don’t have a sense of compassion and empathy, I don’t think you can know where a character or where a reader can be focused or how to best treat either. I think that he’s someone who has that so if he sees any of that in me, then I’m grateful.”
What is the most ‘Stephen King’ moment you’ve had with him?
“The most ‘Stephen King-y’ experience I had was literally the day I met him. I’ve had a couple but the one that comes to mind is when we went to see a horror movie together, a bunch of us, and we were in the theatre and every time a character came to a grisly end, he would just celebrate it and just love it. He’d say, ‘Oh that was such a great one!’ And it was just so funny sitting next to Stephen King in a horror movie and having him react the way you would hope Stephen King would react in a horror movie. It was really hilarious.”
This is a deeply personal story for Stephen. Did you have any talks with him about how he is also a celebrated author with crazy fans, a little like with Scott Landon and Jim Dooley in the show?
“I know how important this book is to him. When he wrote it, he was working through, post his horrific accident, a lot of emotions about his choices and what might be the consequences of his creative impulse, not just on him but with his family, so I feel like a lot of what he wrote about seems very personal and yet, because it’s Stephen, with his remarkable brain and his ability to throw out a ‘What if?’ and then spin the most terrifying yarn. So, I’m not sure if he’s ever come face-to-face with a Jim Dooley but I’m sure he’s got close.”
Was Stephen involved in the shooting of the series and did he have any insights during that process?
“Luckily, and thank god, because you never know going in, but we were pretty confident with Pablo that this would happen, where we started looking at dailies. I don’t remember seeing dailies that were so beautiful and felt like the finished product before. The dailies would look like a sizzle reel and Stephen saw that and was thrilled and felt like this thing was being brought to life in a way that was really pleasing him. He came to the set and was there for a bit but, I feel like for anyone who’s ever visited a set that isn’t yours and you’re standing around and after a while you feel like: ‘what the hell am I doing here?’ So, he came by and was there but was also really sort of like a fan in the stands, cheering on Pablo and the entire cast and crew. He cared deeply about this and was all in, but he was watching very closely and, luckily, liked what he saw.”
The relationship between Lisey and her two sisters is also very interesting. Can you elaborate?
“Obviously, the characters of these three, having them be familiar and real and lived-in and a bit snarky sometimes, and yet deeply in love with each other and caring so much about each other was important. But also having these stars – Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joan Allen and, of course, Julianne – playing this triptych, it was amazing watching them together. They’re all so incredibly talented and having them together on set, was one of my favourite aspects of the story.”
Lisey’s Story is released on Apple TV + from June 4, 2021
