The Stars of ‘Crystal Lake’ Talk Prequels, the Horror Genre, and More

While covering New York Comic Con 2026, I participated in roundtable conversations with the cast of Crystal Lake, including Linda Cardellini, Will Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins, Gwendolyn Sundstrom, and Callum Vinson. All episodes are now streaming on Peacock.

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 is set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: just who is Pam Voorhees?

With the story centering around Pamela Voorhees, Cardellini revealed the one thing she didn’t fully understand about the character until reaching the final episodes: “I didn’t read [episodes] 7 and 8, so I didn’t know what the story totally was. I mean, we had kind of touched on it, but I was waiting for 7 and 8. I kept going, ‘When is it coming? When is it coming? How does it end? How does it end?’ So I think that once you know what happened to her and how much she was kind of tortured, a lot of it makes sense. I knew that was part of it, but I didn’t understand it completely until sort of we were in that set, and 7 is shot in Technicolor, and it goes back. That was a whole different feel, and having that moment with her and with my friend who plays my counterpart there, who’s a surprise, was a wonderful addition to who she was and sort of filled out the picture.”

When it comes to the concept of a prequel, the actors shared what they look for as a “must” that was incorporated into the series. “I think it has to have a little bit of Easter egg nods to the thing, and I think Crystal Lake has a lot of those coming,” Scoggins commented.

“Yeah, I think it also just has to be a good answer to the question we all have of why,” Kessler agreed. “Just the story in itself has to add to whatever we’ve already seen.” Catlett then expressed, “You guys even at the table here are your own writers, and you know what you want to see, so hopefully, a prequel should give you something that you want to see.”

As for the horror genre itself, Vinson said the most fascinating behind-the-scenes aspect is the makeup team: “The crazy makeup that they can do, and how they can bring it to life, it’s so awesome to me. I think that’s probably my favorite part about it.”

Sundstrom continued to explain, “I would have to say the same thing, just how realistic everything is, like when you’re on set, and you see a prop, you’re like, ‘Are we sure that’s not real? Are you positive?’ It’s so cool to see what materials they use and how they put it together. It’s really interesting.”

The duo also discussed some standout character moments. “The really deep scenes, especially the one in the boathouse at night,” Sundstrom told me. “I was scared like, ‘Am I gonna do good in this? Am I gonna have a good performance?’ But honestly, I had so much fun doing that scene. I loved it.”

Vinson added, “There was this scene where I’m lying in bed, and I’m like, ‘I don’t want to go to camp,’ and then Linda sings a song to me. I thought that scene was very heartwarming. I just love that scene.”