Director Mike Flanagan chats with THR at the premiere of 'The Life of Chuck' and reveals what it was like working with Stephen King again. Plus, he shares how he knew Tom Hiddleston was the perfect person to play Chuck and dishes on the casting process for his new TV show 'Carrie.'
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00:00This marks another collaboration for you and Stephen King.
00:03What was it like working with him on this film that's a bit of a departure from things you've done before?
00:08Yeah, from things he's done before.
00:10Although I think Steve has kind of at his heart, he's an optimistic humanist.
00:15And even in the darker stories, that's always there with him.
00:18So this feels like more Stephen King to me than a departure.
00:22This is kind of who he really is.
00:24This was a really special thing to work on together.
00:27I'm so grateful he trusted me with it.
00:30And if it makes people a fraction as happy as his short story made me when I read it,
00:36then we're on to something.
00:39I got to see the film and it made me think about how it can sometimes feel like the world is actually ending right now.
00:45But this movie is so hopeful and inspiring.
00:47How do you hope it's received in this current climate?
00:50It's interesting because it hits me different now than it did when we made it.
00:53But I read it for the first time in April 2020.
00:57So we were only a month into the COVID lockdown.
00:59And it also felt like the world was ending.
01:01And it really gave me an enormous amount of hope and comfort at that time.
01:06I feel like I need that now, you know, maybe more than I did then.
01:11And I think unfortunately for all of us, we're all going to need it.
01:15We're all going to need reminders of that.
01:17So I hope as dark as things may be, people feel some of the love and the optimism and the comfort that this story has in it.
01:26I hope they take that away.
01:27I definitely did.
01:28I think that definitely comes through.
01:30And Tom is just so amazing in this movie.
01:32How did you know he was the right person to play Chuck?
01:34So I saw this clip of Tom Hiddleston dancing on a late night show.
01:38And it wasn't the dancing that made me say, that's him.
01:42It was the joy on his face.
01:44It was that regardless of whether he was nailing the steps, he was feeling and channeling this incredible happiness.
01:50And I said, that is exactly what this movie needs.
01:53And he's perfect.
01:54He's perfect in it.
01:55This first premiered at TIFF almost nine months ago.
01:58How does it feel that audiences are finally going to get to see it?
02:01You know, I can't believe it's been that long.
02:04Yeah, you just reminded me.
02:06There's this amazing moment with every project where it stops belonging to me and it begins to belong to the audience.
02:12And that's right now.
02:14I'm so happy that it's out in the world.
02:17I'm so eager for people to see it.
02:19And I really hope it touches them the way it touched me.
02:22Today, breaking news, the cast for the Carrie TV show was announced.
02:27How exciting is it to have that list of names out there in the world?
02:30Oh, very exciting.
02:31And that's a partial list.
02:33There are a number more who are waiting in the wings to be announced.
02:37We start shooting in two weeks.
02:39So I'm very tired, but very excited to get back to it.
02:45That's amazing.
02:46And if you can tell me a little bit, I know you probably have to keep some under wraps, but what was the process like of finding Summer who's going to play Carrie?
02:53Oh, I mean, I think we looked at 1,800 different candidates for that role.
02:57It was an exhaustive process.
02:59Ultimately, I think, you know, we ended up with the right actor for the part.
03:03It took a long time to find her.
03:05And I can't wait for people to see what she's doing because it's unlike anything that anyone's ever done with the part before.
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