The new Friday the 13th prequel series is going to make some viewers look away. That is at least part of the promise from star Linda Cardellini, who plays Pamela Voorhees in the upcoming Peacock series Crystal Lake.
Cardellini spoke about the show Sunday at the HBO Max Emmy Nominee Celebration event in Hollywood, where she was attending to celebrate her own nomination for her work in DTF St. Louis. According to Variety, she did not hold back when describing what audiences can expect from the horror series.
"It does get gory, yes, so much so that I wish sometimes they weren't as practical as they were," Cardellini said. "There's a couple of gory moments on set that were very practical that were pretty gross. Blood everywhere at one point."
The show follows Voorhees before the events of the original 1980 Friday the 13th film, in which Pamela seeks revenge on people she believed were responsible for her son Jason's drowning in 1957 at Camp Crystal Lake. That origin story plays out over eight episodes, which Cardellini said gives the series room to be more than a straight horror experience.
"This is a longer format so there's a lot more you get to do in eight episodes," she said. "It's not necessarily like 90 minutes of pure horror. There's a lot of story there. So maybe once in a while you'll throw some things and scream."
The role itself was unusual for Cardellini in the horror space. She said most scripts she receives in the genre cast women as victims rather than threats.
"Everything that I've ever read that was handed to me that was in that space was for the person who was being chased, not the person who was chasing everyone," she said. "It was really fun this time to be on the other side of the knife."
Crystal Lake also stars William Catlett as Levon Brooks, though exact character details remain under wraps. The series premieres Oct. 15 on Peacock.
