Linda Cardellini Wins Emmy While Starring as Pamela Voorhees

Linda Cardellini won a supporting actress Emmy for her role in the HBO limited series 'DTF St. Louis'. The 51-year-old actor filmed that award-winning performance just one week before beginning work on 'Crystal Lake', the Peacock prequel where she stars as Pamela Voorhees, the original slasher villain from the 1980 film 'Friday the 13th'.

Crystal Lake details

'Crystal Lake' is a major reinterpretation of the franchise icon. The series adjusts Jason Voorhees’ drowning timeline from the 1950s to the early 1970s. It explores Pamela's transformation from a grieving mother into a serial killer, focusing on her deep bond with a young, sickly Jason who is bullied by other children. Actor Callum Vinson portrays the young Jason Voorhees in the series.

Production and performance

Filming was physically demanding. A week-long blood sequence stained Cardellini’s hair pink. The team used practical effects, like prosthetics and fishing wire, to pull a character's face off. A human tooth was embedded in Pamela’s knuckle before being yanked out. Cardellini described the New Jersey woods location as challenging, noting encounters with snakes, ticks, and bears, along with the bruises from the strenuous shoot.

Cardellini’s perspective

Cardellini embraced the daunting responsibility of playing an iconic character. She drew little glimmers from Betsy Palmer's original performance but crafted her own version of a woman with rage issues, repressed emotions, and a motivation rooted in love. She described Pamela's dilemmas as a crazy mixtape of grief, loneliness, yearning, and injustice. Cardellini, who had never been offered a 'chaser' role before, finds horror appealing. She calls it a form of controlled, digestible fear where resolution comes within hours.

She has a favourite scene. "They pulled a guy’s face off. It’s my favourite bit!" Cardellini said. The prosthetic work made a strong impression. "The first time I had the tooth in my hand, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is what I’m doing.’"

Context and connections

This role marks a return to horror after the psychological thriller 'They Know', which she filmed earlier this year. Cardellini’s television career spans cult classics to prestige drama. She started in the mid-1990s and rose to fame as Lindsay Weir on 'Freaks and Geeks', a show cancelled in 2000 that later became a genre classic on DVD. She later joined 'Mad Men' in its sixth season, playing Sylvia Rosen. Showrunner Matt Weiner assured her the small initial role would grow.

Brad Caleb Kane, the showrunner and a franchise fan, wrote the part of Pamela specifically for Cardellini after seeing her in 'Dead to Me'. He described Pamela as the mother of all slashers and the protagonist of the first film. Kane was Cardellini's on-set resource for horror trivia.

The actor now has the Emmy award at her house. She was surprised by the win. She finds both her Emmy-winning character, Carol Love-Smernitch, and Pamela Voorhees difficult yet fun to play. She praised her young co-star Callum Vinson for being a trouper during difficult prosthetic scenes.

Cardellini recently attended a 'Crystal Lake' screening at New York Comic Con. The audience reacted with gasping, yelling, cheers, and laughter.