Crystal Lake: Kane & Cardellini on Telling Pam Voorhees

Posted in: Movies, Peacock, TV | Tagged: crystal lake

Crystal Lake: Kane & Cardellini on Telling Pam Voorhees' Story & More

Crystal Lake Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane and star Linda Cardellini on doing right by the fans, Pam Voorhees, bloody stunt work, and more.

Article Summary

- Crystal Lake showrunner Brad Caleb Kane says the Friday the 13th prequel is built with love, respect, and fans first.

- Linda Cardellini explains why Pamela Voorhees is the heart of Crystal Lake and what drew her to the role.

- Cardellini and Kane tease bloody stuntwork, brutal gore, and a character-driven horror story anchored by Pam.

- Crystal Lake also taps into horror’s mainstream resurgence, with Kane and Cardellini calling the genre a release valve.

As much as we've liked what we've seen so far from Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane, Peacock, and A24's Linda Cardellini (DTF St. Louis)-starring Crystal Lake, we have to give Kane and Cardellini all the flowers for really getting us psyched for October 15th. During a special backlot event for the press earlier today, the duo offered a deeper dive into the project. From the beginning, Kane had made it clear that Crystal Lake was designed with "Friday the 13th" fans in mind, and the showrunner explained why that was so important. In addition, Cardellini discusses the series, making Pam Voorhees the focal point, what attracted her to the character, and what it was like combining stunt work with lots of blood. Finally, Kane and Cardellini look at the broader pop culture landscape to offer their thoughts on why horror is seeing such a mainstream resurgence.

Here's a look at what Kane and Cardellini had to share about the upcoming prequel series, followed by some previous insights from Kane and more:

'Crystal Lake's Brad Caleb Kane talks about the success of bringing the Friday the 13th franchise to life made with "great love and respect for the fans." pic.twitter.com/f7SLuA5d5y

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) August 10, 2026

Linda Cardellini talks about playing Pamela Voorhees in the upcoming A24 x NBC Universal 'Crystal Lake' pic.twitter.com/k9yx5lXDQh

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) August 10, 2026

Deadline asks Linda Cardellini about the gore and bloody stunts involved in 'Crystal Lake'. Showrunner/EP Brad Caleb Kane says "Linda nailed it every time." pic.twitter.com/H85T8rQoDQ

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) August 10, 2026

'Crystal Lake's Linda Cardellini and Brad Caleb Kane talk about why the horror genre is stronger than ever in this modern age calling it a "release valve." pic.twitter.com/uKMI1EnFHN

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) August 10, 2026

"We wanted to dive into Pam's psychology," Kane shared with EW, discussing the prequel's focus, earlier this summer. "We wanted to see her unraveling after [watching] the events of the movie that everybody knows. We wanted to see her relationship with Jason and what his death kicks off in her — her trying to find some sort of equilibrium in her life after the thing that ostensibly she lives for, her son, was taken away from her, and how all the people around her and the circumstances surrounding her make that impossible to do. So it's really a character piece." As for the show's time period, Kane and the creative team moved it up from the '50s to the '70s "to touch on all the pop-culture artifacts that were tangential to the America from which these movies were born."

A prequel to the "Friday the 13th" franchise, the series follows single mother Pam Voorhees, who has been unable to shake her grief after her young, sickly son Jason tragically drowned in the town lake almost a year before. When two strangers arrive at Pam's door digging into her past, a disturbing chain of events are set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: just who is Pam Voorhees? Set to premiere on October 15th, here's the official teaser for Crystal Lake:

Crystal Lake Has "Rivers of Blood"; Cardellini "Brilliant": Showrunner

Speaking with EW in December 2025, Kane shared some interesting insights and teases about the upcoming "Friday the 13th" prequel series. "In many ways, it's a psychological thriller. It's a paranoid '70s thriller," Kane offered about the tone and vibe of the series. "It has all of the DNA of a slasher without quite being a slasher. There are rivers of blood in the show. There are very, I think, ingenious kill sequences and deaths and murders, but it's all done in service of character and theme and place and time."

He continued, "I tried to think about Crystal Lake and a Friday the 13th prequel as, 'What era did the first movie come out of?' It came out of the paranoid '70s thriller era. It came out of the mistrust-of-institutions era. It came out of the women's lib era, the National Organization for Women era, this consciousness-raising awakening era in America. I wanted to go and play with all of those themes." As for Cardellini's portrayal of the infamous Pamela Vorhees, Kane makes it clear: folks are going to be impressed. "She's gonna shock and surprise a lot of people. I think she's gonna get a lot of attention for this role," Kane shared. "She's inconceivably brilliant in it. I can't really say any more."

"She's important to the series, but sort of unexplored," Cardellini shared during a July interview with Deadline Hollywood regarding why she took on the iconic role. "So I thought that would be really, really fun, to do something I'd never done." Helping her make the role her own is Kane, who "made sort of this mixtape of all the things that he would love to see happen for her. It goes all over the place for her character, and it's really fun." Kane is set to executive-produce Crystal Lake in addition to being the series' creator, showrunner, and writer.

Cardellini is also joined by series regulars William Catlett (Forever, Black Lightning) as Levon Brooks, Devin Kessler (Godfather of Harlem) as Briana Brooks, Cameron Scoggins (Shades of Blue, Nashville) as Dorf, and Gwendolyn Sundstrom as Grace. In addition, Callum Vinson (Chucky, Long Bright River) has landed the recurring guest star role of Jason Voorhees, along with Nick Cordileone (Warrior) as Ralph, Joy Suprano (Fleishman is in Trouble, Best Foot Forward) as Rita, Danielle Kotch (Director's Cut) as Claudette, and Phoenix Parnevik (Bel-Air, Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter Is Dead) as Barry. Stemming from production banner A24, Marc Toberoff, Victor Miller, Robert M. Barsamian, Robert P. Barsamian, Stuart Manashil, Tyson Bidner, and Michael Lennox serve as executive producers on the streaming series.