Stephen King may have threatened to quit writing, but that's not stopped the deluge of adaptations of his novels. The latest to hit the big screen is his 2001 novel "Dreamcatcher", written directly after his life-threatening car accident in 1999. We caught up with the film's kep players...
Lawrence Kasdan - director
When we think of Lawrence Kasdan, we don't think of horror movies. Why did you do this one?
I'm trying to make as many different kinds of movie as I can. I really like making movies, and the movies that made me want to make movies were very often horror and action films. I'm just working my way through the kinds of movies that I like.
What was it about this Stephen King story that drew you in?
I related to it really strongly. It starts out as a story about friendship and it ends as a story about friendship, but in between they have to fight an alien invasion! That really worked for me, that combination of elements.
Tell us about the horror element...
There's an alien invasion and the way they're taking over the human population is pretty horrific. It includes invading people's bodies.
Damian Lewis - plays Jonesy
This is your first Hollywood movie. What was it about "Dreamcatcher" that appealed to you?
In all honesty, if Lawrence Kasdan [the director] rings you up and then hands you a script that's been adapted by him and William Goldman and says, "I'd like you to come and play one of the lead roles in my movie", it's quite an easy choice. He's a hero of mine and I've grown up watching his movies. He's made some of my favorite movies: "The Big Chill", "The Accidental Tourist", "Body Heat".
Kasdan is very good at portraying friendships and relationships...
We've got a special effects, alien, Hollywood movie here - a big studio movie. And then Larry's asked to do it and he does it superbly. But, also running through this movie is a more intimate relationship movie about four friends. It should be involving for people. They should care what happens.
Jason Lee - plays Beaver
Why did this movie appeal to you?
It was fun to play a character that I got to create and make real in the middle of a very special effects-driven movie. I had a lot of puppets and fake blood. The big bathroom sequence I'm in took about four days to shoot. I think this film will do for bathrooms what "Jaws" did for the ocean!
Do you think the movie is scary?
I think it's scary enough to be considered a horror movie! It is scary. Even knowing what's going to come next, it still scared me!
Donnie Wahlberg - plays Duddits
You seem to make a habit of playing these tortured souls, and you put yourself through pain to make them real...
The problem for me is not that I have to do these characters - I don't know why I get picked to do them! I think I'm the only actor who would go so crazy for such a short amount of screen time and do the work. I think.
Do you find these roles satisfying?
Yes, it's satisfying to play a character who needs to be unrecognisable. My role in this film requires me to not be Donnie Wahlberg. It requires me to be Duddits. And if the audience sees me pop up on screen and they say "Oh look, there's Donnie", then I ruin the film. I just do what is required of me.
Do you see yourself as a character actor rather than a movie star?
Absolutely. I always consider myself a character actor. On my TV series Boomtown, I get to play the leading man, but I much prefer to be known as a character actor.
Morgan Freeman - plays Colonel Curtis
Tell us about working with Lawrence Kasdan...
Larry is very good at keeping things in perspective and keeping focused. He doesn't depend on the special effects to make the movie work. He wants the characters to hold the audience rather than just have them waiting for the next effect. And that's good.
Was the movie fun to make?
It's fun to be the bad guy. You want to jump out of that box of being the good guy from time to time. There's a lot more latitude when you play the bad guy. There are more emotional swings to it, and that's fun.
Whose idea was it to have those wild eyebrows?
That's the character! I just let it go there. It was a wild idea that I had. I turned up on set like that and Larry loved it, so we went with it. The substance of the character is there on the page but you can come up, in your own mind, with something about how he looks which makes the character real for you.
