The performance Stephen King is adamant deserves an Oscar: “He did a terrific job”
Even if it’s hard to agree with some of Stephen King’s more left-field opinions, there’s no disputing his longstanding impact as one of the greatest storytellers in history.
In fact, his worlds have become as good as standalone genres themselves, an artistic vision that blends real-world themes and messages with oftentimes fantastical threads, mastering the interplay between that which we consider to be real and abstract. More than that, many current films and television shows coast on similar lines, proving that his world-building techniques will always be as timeless and relevant as they were on day one.
There are many reasons why this is the case. Crucially, King has also been the kind of writer who knows the value of a good, hard-hitting line, often gripping audiences from the off. That first line in any novel is usually the difference between engaging readers and losing them at the first hurdle, and for King, it’s all in the “crucial sense of voice” it establishes, often becoming the part that he agonises over again and again until he’s fully happy with it.
When it comes to actors, it’s probably safe to say that King looks for similarities. In fact, some of his favourite actors in all of Hollywood are ones he considers the quintessential embodiment of “cool”, which, simply put, means actors who have that inexplicable allure that keeps you coming back – or that initial intrigue, like the first line in a book, that has you completely sold from the off.
These are, of course, actors many others would consider as possessing the same traits, including Jack Nicholson, Holly Hunter, Morgan Freeman, and John Cassavetes. Nicholson, especially, is a particularly well-respected veteran who most people see as a ringleader when it comes to “cool”, even if many of his characters are anything but. It’s his vulnerability and nuance that get him there, forming a base that most find challenging when approaching any role or project.
As we know, King’s opinions on actors, directors, and projects are ten a penny nowadays, which, if for nothing else, just goes to show how immersed and passionate he remains about one of the fields that gave him his name. However, there are some people he feels didn’t get as much recognition as they deserved for certain roles, and one in particular that he even thinks should have won an Oscar.
The name in question is another beloved veteran, Mark Hamill, who King believes should have been awarded for his outstanding work in Mike Flanagan’s film adaptation of his novel, The Life of Chuck. Hamill also appears in The Long Walk, but King said that his performance in The Life of Chuck almost flew below the radar, criminally so.
“This is off the subject completely, but when he plays the grandfather in Life of Chuck, I think he deserves a nomination for an Academy Award,” he said for BFI’s In Conversation with Edgar Wright Sight and Sound interview. “For that part, he did a terrific job,” he added.
The author also reflected on still being a monumental name in modern cinema, saying that it’s “amazing” to constantly have people want to stake their claim on King’s books as “properties” – with many of them still coming up today as potential avenues to explore in the medium of film. All things considered, however, it’s easy to see why this is the case, when even stories that have already been adapted for film are constantly being revisited, proving King’s overarching timelessness and impact when it comes to modern artistic expression.
