Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: crystal lake
Crystal Lake: Gwendolyn Sundstrom on Prequel Series, Horror Fandom
Gwendolyn Sundstrom discusses Peacock’s Crystal Lake, working with Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane and series star Linda Cardellini, and more.
Article Summary
- Crystal Lake star Gwendolyn Sundstrom shares why joining the Friday the 13th prequel felt like a perfect horror fit.
- Sundstrom discusses collaborating with showrunner Brad Caleb Kane and how he guided her into episodic TV on Crystal Lake.
- She teases Grace’s close bond with Jason and Pam, and what it was like acting opposite Callum Vinson and Linda Cardellini.
- Crystal Lake’s 1970s setting, nighttime shoots, and The Shining all shaped Sundstrom’s experience with Peacock’s horror series.
Before Gwendolyn Sundstrom was cast as the original character Grace Snell in the Peacock Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake, she had already embraced the horror genre, which is something you might not initially suspect of someone at her young age, given how visceral and gritty the Victor Miller franchise is. Brad Caleb Kane is taking up the mantle to expand on the backstory of the original 1980 Sean S. Cunningham slasher classic that introduced audiences to Jason Voorhees, the infamous, hockey-mask-wearing, nearly invincible killer, but wasn’t the original villain since that distinction was actually his mother, Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), who wished to punish the teenage degenerates at Camp Crystal Lake, whom she blames for the death of her son, Jason. Kane’s series is set in the 1970s, with Linda Cardellini taking over for Palmer as a single mother trying to raise her son (Callum Vinson), who struggles to fit in with other children because of his physical deformity. Sundstrom spoke to Bleeding Cool about how it felt to be in the Friday the 13th franchise, how she prepped for her role, how Grace bonds with Jason and Pam, and the Stanley Kubrick film that got her hooked on horror.
Crystal Lake Star Gwendolyn Sundstrom on Embracing the ‘Friday the 13th’ Franchise and Grace’s Role in the Prequel
Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about ‘Crystal Lake?’
Sundstrom: I was really excited to be in a horror, because before I had really gotten this role, I had enjoyed watching horror, so I thought it would be really fun to see what behind the scenes would look like in this genre.
How familiar were you with the ‘Friday the 13th’ franchise beforehand?
I’ve only watched the first movie, and I only watched it because I booked this role, but I thought it was really good. It was a fun classic horror. I enjoyed it a lot.
Did you get a chance, just having shot the first season, to check out the other films?
Not yet; the first one is the only one I’ve seen.
What’s it like working with Brad as creative?
Oh my gosh, Brad, he was amazing. I loved working with him. He was really great to bounce ideas for building Grace as a character. He’s so amazing to be on set. He worked really well with everyone and had such great ideas.
How do you feel that he helped you adjust to episodic television?
I think it was really great. Nothing while filming the series was ever uncomfortable. He showed me how filming would work, what you do, and what a regular day would look like on set. I think it was really easy to start getting into it and start filming.
What did you like about working your scenes with Callum and Linda, and having Grace act as a bridge character in the show?
I think it was really great. Callum and I had a lot of really fun scenes together. Grace and Jason are really close. They’re two characters who don’t really have anyone else other than each other, so it was great to build that bond with Callum. Working with Linda was also really great; I learned a lot from her while doing scenes with her. I think Grace as a character is really important to both Jason and Pam, so having those two actors, Callum and Linda, is great to just work with. We were really good together.
Were there standout scenes that might have been difficult to kind of shoot, or did it feel sort of the same from beginning to end?
I really liked filming the scenes at nighttime, because you likely had all the lights and they had everyone there. The one scene that I’m thinking of right now is in the boathouse, and it was really cool to see all the cameras (the crew) doing their magic, and seeing how they would set up different shots and the fake blood. That was all really cool to see.
Since ‘Crystal Lake’ is set in the 70s, was there something that you had to prep with how the time was, or was it something that everything was explained in the script to you?
I think the main thing that really made it all look super in time was the costuming, so we would have the different outfits that were time-specific, you’d go to the fittings, and they would have a lot of different vintage stuff that was actually from that time period. It was cool to see how they got it, but I think that’s what really made it look so perfect, like it was actually set then.
Was there a particular horror title that got you hooked into the genre?
I want to say that the first horror movie I watched was ‘The Shining’ (1980), and I think I watched that when I was like 8.
I imagine that took some time to take in and understand. Are there any upcoming projects you want to talk about, or perhaps some you might want to do in the future?
Not yet, but I definitely would love to do a drama someday. I think that’d be fun. I really liked watching ‘Adolescents’ on Netflix, so something similar to that looks like it would be so much fun to do.
Peacock’s Crystal Lake also stars William Catlett, Devlin Kessler, and Cameron Scoggins, and premieres on October 15th.
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