Lilja: Will your adaptation of The Mist make use of the monsters that Stephen King describes?" Frank Darabont: It's all about the monsters! First: the monsters from another dimension that want to eat you. Second: the monsters you're trapped inside with, in this case your friends and neighbors you're trying to survive with, but who are going crazy with fear and pressure and might prove to be more dangerous than those hungry monsters outside. Like I said, it's a nasty little gut-punch horror flick, and one of those great pressure-cooker situations that King specializes in.
Probably the smartest move I've made is to hire the team I worked with on The Shield to come do The Mist with me: the cinematographer, both camera operators, the editor, and the script supervisor. Their skills are very honed in this style after five years of working on that TV show, believe me. They're going to save my ass and make this schedule possible.
Lilja: I suspect that the cast has been selected since shooting starts soon. It's already know that Thomas Jane is in it but can you reveal any other names? Frank Darabont: Let's see...well, Laurie Holden, who was my leading lady in The Majestic and recently played the motorcycle cop in
Silent Hill. She's probably best known to fans as Marita Covarrubias from
The X Files. Gorgeous and incredibly talented. Very excited to be working with her again. Also Andre Braugher -- a hugely talented man, I've been a fan of his since
Glory. Frances Sternhagen, who is a legend, will play Irene...folks may remember her from
Starting Over, Outland, and
Misery. Alexa Davalos ... wow, a remarkable young lady, a stunning new talent. Let me be the first to predict she's going to have an amazing career -- remember, you heard it here first. Sam Witwer, a terrific young actor who played Crashdown on
Battlestar Galactica. Plus a few of my stalwarts that I love working with again and again: Bill Sadler (Heywood in
The Shawshank Redemption and the father of the two dead girls in
The Green Mile), Jeff DeMunn (who's been in every movie I've made starting with
The Shawshank Redemption) ... and, hey, I just cast Brian Libby! The real hardcore fans will recognize him as The Prisoner from my Stephen King short,
The Woman in the Room ... plus he was Floyd in
The Shawshank Redemption. It'll be great to work with him again.
