The latest adaptation of Stephen King’s legendary 1975 horror novel, Salem’s Lot, is finally set for its long-awaited premiere next week.
Written and directed by Gary Dauberman, Salem’s Lot sees author Ben Mears return to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire.
Ahead of the release, Nerds & Beyond had a chance to speak with Spencer Treat Clark, who portrays Mike Ryerson.
Please note this interview has been edited for clarity.
Nerds & Beyond: It seems like Gary Dauberman was very passionate about his version of this adaptation, and it was really such a cool way to bring the story to the screen. What
was it like working with him as a director on the project?
Spencer Treat Clark: It was so cool. I was just talking about prepping for the vampire of it all. Mike Ryerson, as a vampire, was shot pretty early on in the schedule. So at that point, we were still trying to figure out how the vampires move, how they act, and how much of their old life is affecting them. How much of the pull of Barlow, like does he control them at all? All that stuff was done in correlation with Gary. Epecially early on, we had some time to experiment. It wasn’t this crazy fast pace that you might get on a TV set. We were able to sort of play with things and try different things. You have to feel protected that you can do something ridiculous, and Gary would be like, okay, that’s not working. Let’s go in this direction. We all leaned on him really heavily.
Gary had Alex Ward, who plays Barlow. He does monsters in all sorts pictures. He’s a specialist at moving his body. Gary worked with him and with all of us to make sure that the vampire aesthetic, motivation, and the way they move, that everything was in correlation. That’s just one fun example of how we got to work with Gary to craft the vampire aesthetic. You always lean heavily on your director, but especially for something like that. We had to be like, okay, Gary, what’s it looking like for you? Here’s what it’s feeling like for me.
Nerds & Beyond: As someone who clearly enjoys acting in horror … You’re cast in this iconic Stephen King film, how did you feel when you got the role? What was going through your head?
Spencer Treat Clark: That’s a good question. It’s funny, I actually remember I was driving to go surfing on the East Coast when I got that call. And it was a really nice feeling to get it right before I got in the water, which is an activity I don’t get to do as much anymore, as much as I’d like. I treated myself to take a little morning off going surfing and got that call from my manager. It was really nice to paddle out and be like, oh, this is going to be fun. I’m going to have a great fall. I’m going to go to the East Coast and do this cool role. And, yeah, it’s funny. I do remember that very vividly, getting the phone call and being like, hell, yeah, this is gonna be awesome. And then I went out and surfed for a few hours and paddled out there and spent some time in the water and got to reflect. It was like, the best way to get a job. It was perfect timing. It’s funny that you should ask. Honestly, I completely forgot about that until you just asked.
Salem’s Lot, based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, will stream on Max on October 3.
Make sure to check out our interviews with Alfre Woodard, Lewis Pullman, and Makenzie Leigh as well!
