Brad Caleb Kane, creator and executive producer of Peacock’s new Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake, says he has no problem with viewers tuning in purely to watch Linda Cardellini play Pamela Voorhees.
In an interview with Decider ahead of the show’s release, Kane said Cardellini’s casting was not incidental to the project but central to it. He said he has admired her work since Freaks and Geeks and sees her as one of the few actors who remains likable no matter what a character does on screen.
“For me, after watching decades of her work and being a fan going all the way back to Freaks and Geeks where everybody fell in love with her… she struck me as one of the very few people, one of very few actors, who are effortlessly likable. You know, you will go along with her whatever she does because we attach an emotion to her, you know, we like her no matter what,” Kane said.
The series follows Cardellini’s character, a grieving mother who returns to the sleepaway camp a year after her son Jason’s drowning to investigate what really happened, a search that leads her down a violent and bloody path. Kane said the audience needs to both fear and sympathize with Pam, and that Cardellini was the only actor who could pull that off.
“The things that we had Pam do, the things that we asked her to do, are questionable, you know? They’re suspect, they can be, and she has a reason for all of them, but they can be hard to empathize with. But when Linda does them, you go, ‘I can see why she would have to do that,’ and you take the ride,” Kane said.
Kane credited Cardellini’s performance with getting Crystal Lake into the Toronto International Film Festival, something he called a total surprise for what is, at its core, a Friday the 13th prequel. “I credit all of it to Linda,” he said. “Her performance is masterful. It lifts everything up.”
Kane said he built the pilot’s final 20 minutes to be watched with a crowd, modeled on his memories of sitting in packed theaters during the golden age of slasher films. He said he is open to the idea of a theatrical screening if the opportunity arises.
On tone, Kane said he aimed to blend extreme horror with comedy, calling both genres “release valves” built for catharsis. He also said the show does not require any familiarity with the Friday the 13th franchise, noting the film canon itself is inconsistent since the second movie retconned the first.
Asked about a second season, Kane said he already knows what it would look like. “It’s not only something I’ve thought of, I know what the second season will be. 100 percent through and through,” he said, adding he hopes strong viewership will secure the chance to continue the story.
Crystal Lake is now streaming on Peacock. The service offers a Premium plan with ads for $12.99 a month and an ad-free Premium Plus plan for $19.99 a month, with annual options at $129.99 and $199.99 respectively.
