So all I did was take King’s darkest thought and follow it to its most logical and horrible conclusion. The idea for the movie’s ending is right there in the original text; I didn’t just come up with an idea out of the blue and tack it onto Steve’s story. I did what I always do when adapting King or any other author—look for clues in the story that give me insight into the author’s thinking and that I can make dramatic use of. I did the same thing quite a bit when adapting Shawshank and Green Mile.
Lilja: And to make it even worse, we get to see the lady that left the store to go home to her children standing among the rescued. Talk about a slap in the face for the others.
Frank Darabont: I think that was a brilliant touch, one of my favorite things in the movie, but I won’t take credit for it. Here’s how it came about:
When shooting on location (we were in Louisiana), you try to cast the smaller roles with actors who live in that region of the country, especially if your budget is small. The less money you have, the less you can afford to fly actors back and forth from Los Angeles all the time, so it makes financial sense to do as much local casting as possible. The woman I hired to play that role, Melissa McBride, was one of those local actors…she lives in Dallas, I think. She’s terrific—I knew from watching her audition tape that she’d be wonderful in the role. Well, the day she played her big scene in the market, she just blew everybody away. The cast, the crew, the extras—everybody was spellbound by what she was doing. Even our most seasoned actors on the set were trading glances and coming up to me between takes saying, “Wow, where’d you find this woman? She’s amazing.” When she finished her last take, the entire store burst into applause. It was a wonderful and spontaneous reaction.
About a week later, after Melissa had finished work on the production and gone home, Jeff DeMunn (who plays Dan Miller in the movie) came up to me. Jeff’s a sensational actor and one of the dearest men I’ve ever known. I hope never to make a movie without him, that’s how much I love him as a friend and colleague. Anyway, he came up to me and said, “Wow, Melissa McBride sure was great the other day, wasn’t she? That character really got under my skin because of how good she was. I can’t stop thinking about it.” Of course, I agreed with everything he was saying. So he took this long pause and said, “Do you think it would be cool if that character was one of the refugees at the end of the movie? Maybe catch a glimpse of her riding past with her kids?”
Awesome idea. And it was Jeff’s, based entirely on the excellence of Melissa’s work. It shows you the regard actors can have for one another. We called Melissa and invited her back for an additional day of filming. Thank you, Jeff.
Lilja: I just couldn’t believe what I saw. And even if it sounds harsh, I really like that we didn’t get that typical Hollywood ending where all turns out for the best.
Frank Darabont: Thanks, me too. Here’s my favorite anecdote about the ending. We did a test screening of the film in Burbank. Two guys came up to me afterward with tears in their eyes and said, “Frank, we love this movie, but we beg you to change the ending, it’s too much!” After they were gone, two different guys came up, also with tears in their eyes, and said, “Frank, we love this movie, we beg you not to change the ending, it’s perfect!”
As I said, it polarizes audiences. I always figured it would. That’s why I was willing to make the movie so cheaply—I always recognized we were taking a risk, but I also knew if we made it cheaply enough, the movie would still earn a profit. As you can imagine, I’m very grateful to Bob Weinstein for taking that risk with me.
Lilja: I was also happy to see how good all the actors were. Even though The Mist is a horror movie, it’s very character driven and really shows how people can react under stress. You must be very proud of them?
Frank Darabont: I’m in awe of my cast. And my crew—let’s not exclude them, because they are just as important. Everybody went above and beyond the call of duty and I couldn’t have done it without each of them committing as passionately and working as hard as they did. I’m extremely grateful to them all.
But back to the cast—yes, I’m deeply proud. They excelled, especially considering how fast we were shooting. I say it’s the best work Thomas Jane has ever done, period. Of all his roles so far, this is the one that offered him the most depth as a character. And he made the most of that. He showed up hungry to delve into the emotional layers of the role, not just rely on being the “action hero.” The guy’s a real actor, and he just nailed it. He’s really surprised people because he’s so damn good.
Laurie Holden, I think it’s her best work too—this allowed her to play raw and real in a way her earlier roles haven’t, and I include my own film The Majestic in that. She was brilliant in that film, but Majestic required that she play an idealized “girl next door” perfection. Her character was filtered through a strong romantic perception of a time and place—that’s what the role demanded because it was a sweet period piece with a slightly unreal Frank Capra quality, more idealized than real life. And Laurie did it beautifully. But in The Mist, she gets to play real. A real person you’d meet in line at the market. Raw and earthbound, ballsy, nothing stylized. And she rocks.
Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher…they rock too. I found out when we were shooting that they’ve been friends forever. As actors they’re both forces of nature. Their skills are so sharply honed that being on the set and watching them play their scenes is electrifying. A thrill. All a director has to do is point the camera at them and you’re mining gold. Absolute professionals. I’m so happy and grateful that they graced our movie with their presence. They brought a texture to the film that is irreplaceable.
I’ll say that for the rest of the cast as well. There’s a reason I love working with guys like Jeff DeMunn and Bill Sadler again and again—they’re awesome, a pleasure, total pros. Most of all, they make every film they’re in more memorable by their presence.
Crap! Now I’m in trouble because I’ve mentioned some actors by name, so now I have to mention them all—but I have a big cast! I do want to acknowledge them all though, because they richly deserve it, but I’ll go quickly:
Frances Sternhagen. I’ve been a huge fan of hers since the movie Starting Over. I was so honored to work with her at last. Talk about a pro, a delight. And apparently tireless! All that running she did at her age, and never a word of complaint.
Alexa Davalos. An amazing young talent. Check out Robert Benton’s film Feast of Love, or Ed Zwick’s next movie (sorry, I forget the title, but it’s his next one coming up). Keep your eye on Alexa, folks, because she’s going to be a significant actress with a major career. I’m not kidding. And remember you heard it here first.
Sam Witwer. He nailed his audition for The Mist so perfectly that I never even looked at another actor for the role, I just hired him immediately. He’s exceptional. I love his enthusiasm. He’s a science-fiction/horror geek like me. Fans will know him from his exemplary work on Battlestar Galactica and Dexter.
Nathan Gamble. Wow, what a wonderful kid. Everybody fell in love with him—and his family, who are the nicest people ever. I’ve never seen a nine-year-old with such a mature grasp of what he’s doing. He’s got serious talent. My favorite scene in the movie is when he’s sobbing and begging Tom not to go to the pharmacy—the actors are superb there, but keep in mind that Nathan’s only nine years old! And he’s playing it with as much power and conviction as the adults. No tricks or makeup involved, either—all those tears, everything was just purely Nathan’s performance. I remember when we shot that, people were gathered around the monitors just blown away by what he was doing.
I haven’t yet mentioned Toby Jones because I peeked ahead and saw your next question. But before we move on to him, let me also acknowledge Rob Treveiler (Bud), David Jensen (Myron), and Chris Owen (Norm)—superb character actors in the Jeff DeMunn and Bill Sadler tradition. They too brought something special to the movie and I loved working with them. Oh, and Jack Hurst too! The burned guy. I lo
ve all my actors and could rave about them all day. Even the extras did an amazing job.
Lilja: Even though everyone is very good, I’m most impressed by the casting of Toby Jones as Ollie. He is perfect. Was he your first choice?
Frank Darabont: Toby was not my first choice, but that’s only because I wasn’t yet aware of him. He’s from England and wasn’t well known here at that time (but that’s changing). And I hadn’t yet seen his work in Infamous or Painted Veil when we started casting last year. But my casting director, Deb Aquila, told me to watch those films immediately because she was crazy for Toby and was convinced he should play Ollie. I watched both films and loved them, Painted Veil especially. Toby just shines in both. Of course, now he’d always be my first choice. He’s an extraordinary actor. His Ollie is perfection.
By the way, are you aware Toby’s father is the great British character actor Freddie Jones? Look him up on IMDb, he’ll blow your mind—he played Mr. Bytes in The Elephant Man, among hundreds of other roles. When I first met Toby and realized who his dad is, I totally geeked out. Toby was surprised I knew who his dad is and that I’m such a big fan.
Lilja: Now I guess we just have to wait for the Oscar nominations to see how many The Mist gets? Both The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile have been nominated, and even though it’s harder for a horror movie to be nominated, there are a lot of actors in The Mist who ought to be.
Frank Darabont: I appreciate your kind thought, but there’s no way we’ll get any nominations. A low-budget horror movie like ours isn’t even on the Oscar radar screen. I do agree my actors would be deserving of recognition for the work they’ve done—perhaps they’d get that recognition if they’d been in another kind of movie—but not this one.
Lilja: Last time we spoke, you mentioned that you might do a limited book version of The Mist. Is that still the plan?
Frank Darabont: Yes. I’m working on it now and hoping to have it out in time for the DVD release. That would be excellent timing.
Lilja: What can you tell me about The Mist DVD? What can we expect to find on it, other than the movie?
Frank Darabont: We’re discussing those now, but no decisions have been made yet.
Lilja: How about a script book of The Mist? Like the ones we got for The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile? Any plans for such a book?
Frank Darabont: Here’s another Lilja exclusive: the limited will include both Stephen King’s original story and my screenplay. That’s not the way I originally planned it—I always figured I would just present Steve’s story by itself. But suddenly Steve had the idea to include my screenplay too. In fact, he insisted on it—he said he’d only agree to do the book if we included both. He didn’t have to try very hard to convince me. I told him I’d be very honored to be in the same book with him.
Lilja: Your next Stephen King movie is The Long Walk, right? Where are you with that one now? Is a script written?
Frank Darabont: There isn’t a script yet. I plan to write it this year.
Lilja: I guess that script will demand a lot if you’re going to succeed in making it into a feature film. The Long Walk is one of my favorite books, but you must admit that it’s not the first book you’re thinking of when you think of a Stephen King book being turned into a movie. What got you hooked on that particular book, and aren’t you worried that it’s not doable as a movie?
Frank Darabont: What makes The Long Walk a great story is how stripped-down and spare it is. Not much plot—just kids walking, talking and dying. It’s a very existential work, Stephen King meets Eugene Ionesco. And that’s what I love about it. It’s small and fascinating and weird, and I think the movie should be too. It’s more of an art house movie the way Steve wrote it. I don’t want to reinvent it or blow it out of proportion to justify it as a big commercial film, which is how they screwed up The Running Man. I’m not sure it’s even possible with material like The Long Walk. Of course, doing it faithfully means I’d have to do it cheaply—far more cheaply than The Mist—but at least I can stay true to what Steve wrote. Perhaps as a cool little film for HBO or Showtime?
Lilja: Last time you also mentioned The Monkey? Any news on that one?
Frank Darabont: I’m hoping to write that script this year too. We’ll see how it turns out. It might make a good theatrical feature. We’ll see.
Lilja: Any other King/Darabont collaborations that you can talk about?
Frank Darabont: We’re going to have a baby through in-vitro fertilization. No, that’s not true. I’m just messing around. I should know better, because that’s how rumors get started.
Lilja: What else are you up to? I guess you might be taking a well-deserved break now that The Mist is done.
Frank Darabont: Yes, I need it. I’ve never made a movie this quickly. We started prepping the film in January and we finished everything at the end of October—ten months of production from start to finish. (Plus, I did a few months prior to that casting actors with Deb and designing monsters with Nicotero, so maybe twelve months for me in all?) I’m glad I did it, I’m glad I proved I could do it, but I don’t want to do it that way often. It kills you. It’s intense and exhausting. What I learned making The Mist is that it’s just as hard making a seventeen million dollar movie as it is making a sixty-seven million dollar film like Green Mile. But with a bigger budget, you at least have the additional advantage of time.
Lilja: When can we expect a new book from you? I enjoyed Walpuski’s Typewriter a lot and would really like another book.
Frank Darabont: Thanks! I remember that great review you wrote, it really made my day. Did you also happen to see my short story in the book Odder Jobs, the Hellboy anthology edited by Chris Golden? My story’s sort of a Twilight Zone-style western called Brotherhood of the Gun. I’m proud of that little story, it was tremendously satisfying and fun to do.
I am working on a few book or short story projects like those right now, but nothing worth mentioning because I don’t know if they’ll ever be finished. Writing prose fiction is a very part-time thing for me, something I do just for enjoyment on the rare occasion that I have spare time from my real job. It’s great writing just for the pleasure of it, with no financial or career objectives attached, or the pressure of a film production involved. But, of course, those pressures tend to get things done. When you’re writing solely for pleasure, things have a way of never getting completed.
Lilja: OK, thanks for taking the time to talk to me. I enjoyed it!
****
Frank Darabont
Posted: March 25, 2008
Lilja: Hello Frank! I hope everything is well with you.
Frank Darabont: Everything is great, thanks for asking.
Lilja: So, you know I’m a big fan of The Mist.
Frank Darabont: Yeah, thank you very much.
Lilja: And I’m very happy to see that it’s out on DVD soon. I watched it this weekend, and I have to say…well, I actually watched the black-and-white version…
Frank Darabont: Oh, you did, what did you think? Be honest, which one do you like better?
Lilja: I actually liked the black-and-white best.
Frank Darabont: Ah, excellent.
Lilja: It makes the movie a bit darker and more chilling.
Frank Darabont: Yes, oh good, I’m glad.
Lilja: What kind of reactions have you gotten on the movie? Actually, the DVD isn’t out yet so…
Frank Darabont: The DVD is coming out here on the 25th, but for some reason a lot of people have seen it. I handed it out to some friends of mine, like Tarantino and guys like that, and I think the reaction to the black-and-white is bigger than I realized that it was going to be. Everyone is kind of silly excited about it. And the people who have seen it in black-and-white have gotten back to me and their reaction is fantastic. It just tells me it was a pretty good idea to do it that way…for people who enjoy that kind of approach.
Lilja: Did you actually plan to release it in black-and-white when you shot it or wa
s it just a bonus that the studio was willing to release it on the DVD?
Frank Darabont: Well, I was always…even when we were shooting, even before we were shooting, I knew I was going to shoot it in color obviously, but I was hoping that a black-and-white conversion might be good for the movie. You can never really tell until you’re doing it. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well it did adapt, retimed as a black-and-white film. It was the Coen brothers who gave me the idea, really, because they shot The Man Who Wasn’t There in color, but they released it as a black-and-white film. They had retimed it for a black-and-white release and I thought that that looked so good; I thought the same thing might apply to my film. But I think this is the first time anyone has released both versions, both the color and black-and-white versions.
Lilja: I hope you’re setting a trend because it was quite a different experience to see it in black-and-white. It was also very nice to have both on the DVD.
Frank Darabont: Yeah, it’s a totally different viewing experience, I think, and maybe it’ll be a trend, who knows? We’ll see how this goes over, but my fellow filmmakers are very intrigued by it.
Lilja: But I also think it has to be a very special type of movie that can do the transition from color to black-and-white and still be as good or even better.
Frank Darabont: Yeah, it totally depends on the movie, I think. It totally depends on the material and the photography.
Lilja: When you read reactions to the movie it seems that most fans really like the movie, but it also seems like the ending has divided the fans into two camps: one who really loves it and one who doesn’t like it at all.
Frank Darabont: Who hates it. Let’s use the proper word. [laugh] You know, I always knew that it was going to be a very divisive and polarizing ending in that way. I knew that some people would absolutely love it and that some people wouldn’t, but it always felt like the correct ending to me.
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