Invitation only: Showtime welcomes the ‘Right One In’
As Halloween draws near, it’s time for stories about things that go bump in the night.the latest TV horror drama follows a father and his vampire daughter as they struggle to keep their terrifying secret.
Demián Bichir (“A Better Life,” 2011) stars as Mark Kane, who moves to New York with his daughter, Eleanor (Madison Taylor Baez, “Selena: The Series”), in the premiere of “Let the Right One In,” airing Sunday, Oct. 9, on Showtime. Ten years earlier, 12-yearold Eleanor was turned into a vampire, and now she is seemingly doomed to spend the rest of her days in a child’s body unless her desperate father can find a cure.
While viewers can expect action, blood and plenty of suspense, “Let the Right One In” is not a typical vampire story. It explores a father’s devotion to his daughter and his desperate hope to set things right. Bichir, who also serves as a producer for the series, explained the premise in a July article for EW.
“This is the story of a father and his daughter and all the obstacles they have to conquer and overcome in order to keep themselves alive,” Bichir said. “Mark’s daughter has been infected, so to speak, with a very, very strange and terrible virus, disease, however you want to call it. I’m saying [it like] this because, to me, this story goes beyond any vampire story.to me, this is about many other things that we’re actually experiencing. It’s about how difficult it is in any society for anyone to be different and to try to fit in.”
The 10-episode series is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist, which centered on the relationship between a troubled 12-yearold boy and a centuries-old child vampire.the Showtime production is the latest in a number of adaptations of the work, which include two indie films — “Let the Right One In” (2008) and “Let Me In” (2010) — and an English-language stage play that premiered in 2013.
Tomorrow Studios first tried to bring the story to American TV audiences back in 2015 when a production was developed for A&E and A+E Studios, but within a year the project had been moved to cable channel TNT. That version was reportedly closer to the source material, and though a pilot was ordered and cast, it did not make it to the production stage. It was passed over in 2017.
The studio persevered and shopped it around until it landed at Showtime, where it was retooled with a new writer.
Andrew Hinderaker, who worked with Showtime as a writer for the horror/fantasy series “Penny Dreadful,” signed on to write the pilot for “Let the Right One In” and also serves as showrunner and an executive producer. His version of the series delves deeper into the relationship between the “young” vampire and her adult caretaker, who, in this case, is her father, Mark.
Showtime’s version of the source material features fascinating characters played by a diverse cast of talented performers. Mexican actor Bichir is an Academy Award nominee, having earned an Oscar nom for his work in the 2011 film “A Better Life.” He is also known for playing Fidel Castro in “Che” (2008), though American audiences may be more familiar with him from his roles in “The Hateful Eight” (2015) and “The Nun” (2018).
Baez, meanwhile, played a young Selena Quintanilla in “Selena: The Series” and also starred in “Game of Talents” and the 2019 short “The Tooth Racket.” Her character, Eleanor, befriends Isaiah (Ian Foreman, “Ordinary Joe”), a quiet and sensitive young neighbor bullied by his peers.
Foreman plays opposite Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose (“Dreamgirls,” 2006) in the role of his mother, Naomi. While initially thrilled that her troubled son has made a new friend, she begins to suspect there is something odd about their new neighbors. The situation grows even more complicated for Mark and Eleanor, given the fact that Naomi is a homicide detective.
The cast also includes Grace Gummer (“Mr. Robot”) as Claire, a brilliant scientist and the heiress to a pharmaceutical empire who turned down a career in the family business to pursue disease research, and Kevin Carroll (“The Leftovers”), who portrays successful restaurant owner Zeke Dawes, a friend of Mark’s and one of the few people who knows the truth about Eleanor.
Young actor Jacob Buster (“Colony”) appears as Peter, a boy who suffers from the same sinister condition as Eleanor.when his father attempts to cure him, however, the experiment goes awry — perhaps signaling a similar tragedy in Eleanor and Mark’s future.
Nick Stahl has also joined the cast as Matthew, a character described as a soldier and a loyal “fixer” for the Logan family who may not be as mildmannered and clean-cut as he appears to be. Stahl recently wrapped a gig on another horror project, “Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water,” and his other credits include “Sin City” (2005) and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003).
With such a talented cast and engaging source material, viewers won’t want to miss TV’S latest vampire tale. Invite Showtime into your home Sunday, Oct. 9, for the premiere of “Let the Right One In.”