Salem’s Lottells the story of Ben Mears, a writer who returns to his hometown to find something extremely strange happening within it. The Stephen King vampire novel was originally released back in 1979 and has become something of a cult classic in the following years. It has already been adapted numerous times with varying results, and horror expert Gary Dauberman, involved insuch projects as Stephen King’sItandThe Conjuring, is the latest to take a stab at bringing it to life on screen forHBO Max.
Game Rant sat down with lead actors Lewis Pullman (who plays Ben Mears) and Mackenzie Leigh (who plays Susan Norton) to discuss this adaptation. With this project being one of three major adaptations,Salem’s Lot’s characters have already been seen on screenseveral times, making Pullman and Leigh’s jobs a little tougher. They talked about the particular aspects of their respective characters that they felt were important, and how they wanted to ensure these aspects came through in their performances on screen.
Salem’s Lot Has an Interesting Cast of Characters
Pullman’s Ben Mears,the protagonist ofSalem’s Lot, lost both parents at a young age and, more recently, his wife. This results in Ben carrying a large amount of personal trauma around with him. Throughout the story, Ben forms a close relationship with a young boy called Mark Petrie, played by Jordan Preston Carter. Pullman explained he felt this relationship was very important to Ben’s character arc, and focused on really bringing it to the fore by the time the credits rolled:
‘‘I found myself trying to hone in on the parallel between my character, Ben, and Jordan Preston Carter’s character, Mark Petrie, at the end. He loses his parents just like Ben did, which leads to Ben almost becoming the thing that he wished he had when he was a child. I spent a lot of time trying to really set that up so that it landed at the end, as it felt like a really important plot point.’’
Salem’s Lot’s Townsfolk Band Together in a Crisis
How the townspeople come together and form relationships in their time of need plays a key role inSalem’s Lot, arguably being even more important thanthe vampire infestationitself. Mackenzie Leigh’s Susan Norton, Ben’s love interest, serves as another key member of this newly-formed party, showing courage and a willingness to face the vampire danger head-on. Leigh was able to draw parallels between Susan and herself, and she tried to ensure this came through as strongly as possible:
‘‘For me, Susan is a girl who really wants to get out, to escape her life. That sometimes feels like the thing that has driven me in my own life, so I wanted to make sure that that came through in my performance.’’
Plenty of others join Ben and Susan in trying to overcome the vampire threat, including a doctor, a priest, and a teacher, among others. Not all of these characters make it through to the story’s climax though, such is the nature of a horror film like this. That being said, each plays their part in ensuring thatthe town of Salem’s Lotwon’t go down without a fight.
Salem’s Lot, based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, will stream on Max on October 3.
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