// Dimension Films' Stephen King's The Mist
Given an extensive list of classic horror films that include such scare fests as The Shining, Pet Cemetery, IT, Carrie and last year’s surprisingly good 1408 who wasn’t amped to see the latest adaptation of a Stephen King work The Mist? Art Nouveau Magazine caught up with director Frank Darabont and actors Marcia Gay Harden, Thomas Janes, and Chris Owens, before the film’s release for a small chat.
Art Nouveau Magazine: Why did it take so long for you to get around to doing another project of your own, and why another Stephen King adaptation?
Frank Darabont: Well the reason it took a while, you know, well for 20 years of a career I've been primarily a writer for hire. I mean that’s…I've been a screenwriter first and a director on occasion. It’s only quite recently that I decided to reverse that equation and get behind the camera as often as I could, because not getting any younger and I feel like I got some more movies to make. As far as this project and why Stephen King, I don't know. In all fairness, I think I have a particular love for the man’s work. You know, his voice as an author tends to attract me as a director. You know, the stories that he tells I find particularly compelling, so it seems to be - it seems to have developed into a well that I go back to to draw water again and again. And, you know, luckily he digs what I do with his material, so it seems…to be a pretty good companionship there in terms of material and director.
ANM: Yes, yes. And what influenced that decision kind of switch over from screenwriter to primarily a director?
Frank Darabont: I, you know, I'm getting - like I say, I'm not getting any younger. I'm 48 now and…looking back on 20 years of a career I had some good success as a writer. No complaint there, but I really started to feel like I hadn’t made enough movies. So I wanted to recommit my efforts in that direction, you know, kind of rededicate my, you know, my desire to put films on screen rather than just service other people’s needs as a writer…But you wind up reading a lot of scripts in Hollywood. And I'm sure my colleagues here on the line can vouch for me -- there aren’t that many good ones. It’s very rare to read a script that - where you get excited about, “Oh, great. Yes I’d love to work for, you know, my butt off for a year and a half doing this.” It’s a lot to put yourself into. I find that I have to really love some material in order to want to do that. And those scripts come along rarely. Oftentimes I wind up generating my own material. Do you guys find that, Marcia, Chris?
Marcia Gay Harden: Well we don't write.
Frank Darabont: I mean as (an actor), do you find it rare that scripts come along that you really get excited about.
Marcia Gay Harden: Oh, for me it’s about character. Sometimes scripts come along that are completely wonderful because they're telling a great story, but for me it’s a lot more about character -- what’s the character arc? What can I do with the character? Because the script is totally the director’s medium and the editor’s medium I think finally, although you’re right -- the genesis is in the (word that the plays the thing), so the fact is the answer - the long and the short is no they don't come along that often that you get really excited about. They’re few and far between. But you can find something in most every script to get excited about. It’s just as a whole, you know, they're not out there that much…
ANM: Well what, you know, in that - on that note, what draw you to this - Frank’s - The Mist script?
Marcia Gay Harden: Well, Frank Darabont drew me to it.
Frank Darabont: Oh you're so sweet.
Marcia Gay Harden: No, it’s quite true. I know his work -- Shawshank, Majestic, many others. And I love his work and I love that he tells beyond that which is a little bit scary. He tells a really human story and often the humans are far scarier than the exterior event, so in this case I thought that Frank told a beautiful story. We - and I like the script. I like Stephen King, but I wasn’t one of the die hard fans. So while I want to say it was Stephen, it was the knowledge of his work and the knowledge of the way he tells the story, but it’s not the thing I typically, you know, lay back on the couch and read. So it was frank doing Stephen king, you know, that made it even bigger. And then it was the cast. There’s a really wonderful friend of mine in the cast named Andre Braugher. He and I spoke at length about the script, because my thought initially was, “It’s a bug movie and,” you know, “what is that going to be like?” And I spoke to Frank at length about that too, and he really talked a lot about the internal machinations in the store and how the film has a very Lord of the Flies feel, which to me…is like the most terrifying book I ever read when I was a kid. And the capacity for human beings to be cruel and their ignorance is I think as scary as supernatural forces. And so talking to Frank, he really made me understand that this is one of the things that he really was going to focus on it and that wasn't - when you get to know Frank, it wasn't just a gesture, a word play to get the actor to do it -- “Yes, yes, yes,” you know, “it’ll be on the human story, “then you go in and you're like, okay, there I was in the background munching on some popcorn, you know, you know, or the bug ate my hair. And then the character’s kind of this religious apocalyptic avid - I won't say freak, but she’s completely interested in the apocalyptic (aspects) of the Bible, which isn’t what makes it scary to me. That’s not really what makes it scary although it’s a little bit scary. But what really made it scary was that she was ultimately destructive with her fear. And so the religion simply was her character. And so that had to be played for real. Like I couldn’t comment on it, but her fear was the thing that drove her to insanity to a degree, and that was also a fun place to get to.
ANM: Yes, yes. I’d also like to hear what Tom and Chris’s response would be to that question.
Chris Owens: Yes I mean - yes I definitely - I have to start off the same way as this, you know, when I saw that it was Frank, it was just - I'm such a fan boy, you know, it’s ridiculous. It’s one of those, you know, it’s one of those things where it just - when people, you know, I love my movies, but when people ask me what my favorite film is, the easiest answer for me is always Shawshank. For me it was really just like, “Wow,” you know, getting to work with Frank, you know, something I can scratch off my list. It was just, you know, it was very exciting. And when I got to read over, you know, what my poor character gets to…
ANM: You spoke about kind of current horror film falling into a torture film ghetto And I'm wondering now that you’ve done - you’ve cut the film and it’s ready to go, I'm wondering what type of horror film do you got here? I mean is this a throwback or is this something new?
Frank Darabont: I think it’s unique whether it replaces a throwback or not or something more cutting edge. I'm certainly not the one to, you know, to make that determination. I'm not the one to say really, what I do feel very satisfied in the notion that it is a unique film. It’s not going to feel like somebody else’s movie, which is awesome. And it’s not going to feel like it’s in that ghetto, that horror often descends into. You know, we saw the slasher film in the ‘80s and so many movies were just following that formula. Now we’ve go the torture films, which I got personally no use for at all, but we’ve got so many people sort of following that formula. This is really a story in and of itself first and foremost that is unique. It’s about people. And the fact that it’s a horror movie kind of follows that lead. First and foremost, it’s a pretty unique film I think in and of itself. And I'm just really happy with it from that standpoint because I didn't want to make something that felt like a cookie cutter. I wanted to make something that felt like it counted for something, you know? And I think we achieved that.
