Jennifer Jason Leigh & Joan Allen Michael Doherty meets two of the stars of Stephen King’s latest TV adaptation, Lisey’s Story
Stephen King’s latest TV adaptation, Lisey’s Story, is a typically haunting tale with a particularly stellar cast. Michael Doherty catches up via Zoom with two of its stars, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Joan Allen, to find out more
While many authors have issues with screen adaptations of their work, die-hard Stephen King fans have been consistently delighted with the various movies and TV tie-ins of the Maine man’s masterwork. Since the author published his first novel, Carrie, in 1974, there have been almost 100 film and television adaptations of his novels, short stories and novellas. The success of movies such as The Shining and Misery, and TV mini-series such as Salem’s Lot, It and Mr Mercedes, owes a lot to King’s consummate storytelling, but also to the fact that the writer himself is directly involved with many of those adaptations.
So it goes with Lisey’s Story. Based on King’s 2006 novel (his personal favourite of all his works), this eight-part series is directed by Pablo Larraín (Jackie), but every single episode has been adapted by King himself. The story follows the fortunes of Lisey Landon (Julianne Moore), widow of bestselling author, Scott Landon (Clive Owen), as she recalls haunting memories from both her life and that of her late husband. A key element of the story is the relationship between Lisey and her siblings, Darla and Amanda, played by two actors, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Joan Allen, who are no strangers to the works of Stephen King, having previously starred (respectively) in Dolores Claiborne (1995) and A Good Marriage (2014). “Stephen King is masterful in terms of suspense and imagination,” says Joan Allen, “and people are drawn to that. In novels that are horrorfilled or suspense-filled or fantastic, he creates characters that are grounded and that you care about in a very deep way.”
“I think he writes really interesting interpersonal family relationships that go very badly south!” adds Jennifer Jason Leigh. “It’s everyone’s worst nightmare if someone in your family turns in some way. It’s like the stuff of fairytales, but for grown-ups and teens. I discovered him when I was a teen. He’s able to somehow trigger these feelings of intense anxiety in his novels and in his films. His characters are so recognisable but then there’s this shift, and that’s scary to watch.”
Lisey’s Story is the most personal of King’s stories. It was written in the aftermath of an incident in 1999, when the best-selling author was knocked down by a van and seriously injured. While in hospital, his wife rearranged all the materials in his study, leading him to reflect on what might happen to his manuscripts and belongings in the wake of his own death. Joan Allen was aware of the importance of the story to King, but confident she could do it justice.
“I didn’t feel pressure per se,” she explains, “but I did know it was his favourite and I always want to do the best job that I can. That’s what they’ve hired me for, it’s what they’re paying me for, and I want to do the best by everybody. I hope he’s happy that I’m doing what is representative of his original intention. To be honest, I didn’t feel more nervous; I felt more excited. This means even more to him, so let’s really bring it!’”
It’s fair to say that both Joan and Jennifer have really brought it in their depictions of two very different siblings. Amanda, the eldest, played by Joan, is unstable when we first meet her; and Lisey is still grieving for her husband, so younger sister, Darla, played by Jennifer, has to step up to the plate on behalf of the family as a whole.
“I was thinking yesterday about what a good metaphor for Darla would be,” says Jennifer, “and there’s something about this one that rings true: You know when you go and buy balloons at a store that are filled with helium? They give you some sort of a rock, wrapped in paper. I think that’s Darla. She is the rock that’s holding these two beautiful balloons down, so they don’t fly off into the stratosphere!”
While sister, Lisey (Julianne Moore), is flying off towards a fantasy world created by her late husband but is still somewhat tethered to reality,when we first encounter Amanda, she is already drifting in a state of catatonia (no spoilers here). It’s a role that would present a challenge for any actor, so I wonder where Joan went to find her. “Well, firstly, I was excited to do it because I knew there was a lot going on there, that I hadn’t really done before,” she explains. “I wanted to approach it in a way that I felt compassion for her. Whether she was born with it or things happened in her life, Amanda is a fragile person who just can’t weather the slings and arrows of what a lot of us would call a basic, normal life. Even though some of her actions are disturbing, she really is trying the best that she can to cope and to find relief from pain. I looked at her from the vantage point of someone who just wants comfort and peace.” While Joan Allen has had a consistent run of strong roles in both movies and TV series over the years, there have been times when Jennifer Jason Leigh, by her own admission, has often wondered whether she would ever work in the business again. Her movie roles have often come in blocks, notably when Quentin Tarantino cast her in The Hateful Eight (2015), for which she received her first Oscar nomination. That performance and a key role that same year in Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa, kick-started this latest phase of career in which stronger scripts are once again finding their way to her. “It’s hard to say what exactly I look for in a script,” explains Jennifer. “Obviously, I like complicated characters, but there are simple characters, too, that I find complicated in a certain way. It’s not a cerebral process. I read something and I either connect to it or I don’t.”
While both Joan and Jennifer have taken slightly different career paths, both actors agree that the opportunities to play good roles are now more plentiful than ever, with more women directors and writers, better scripts, and the rise of long-form television, notably on the streaming services. After all, Stephen King deliberately chose to turn his favourite novel, not into a movie, but into an eight-episode TV drama.
“I really liked the process of working on this for the length of time that we did,” concludes Joan. “It gave Jennifer, Julianne and me the opportunity to spend more time with each other and work together and laugh together as we went along. That’s a wonderful gift to have when you’re working. I haven’t done much episodic television, but typically, one director is directing one episode, while the next director is prepping the upcoming episode. Here, Pablo was directing all the episodes and to have that continuity for the entire series was really important to me. It was comforting and wonderful to have that period of time together with some really beautifully talented people.”