Based on the novel byStephen King, who has adapted the story himself, and directed byPablo Larraín, the Apple TV+ limited seriesLisey’s Storyfollows Lisey Landon (Julianne Moore) as she continues to find her footing after the death of her husband, beloved novelist Scott Landon (Clive Owen). Still unsure of how to put all the pieces of her life back together, Lisey must also contend with a rabid fan (Dane DeHaan) that’s dangerously obsessed with Scott’s work while trying to understand the world that her sister Amanda (Joan Allen) has retreated into.
During a virtual junket to promote the new series, Collider got the opportunity to chat 1-on-1 with DeHaan about playing such a creepy character, collaborating on the role with Larraín and King, his yo-yo skills, how he views Dooley, and the obsession that he’s developed when it comes to Scott Landon.
Collider: You’re so terrifically creepy in this role.
DANE DeHAAN: Thanks.
When this came your way, how much of who this character is, was already on the page and how much did you get to play and find some freedom in that?
DeHAAN: It feels like it ultimately was almost all about playing and exploring and finding the character. Certainly, there were certain things that had to happen within the context of the plot and what the character means to the plot, but in an effort to create a flushed out villain that would be off-putting and creepy and terrifying in a modern context, that became a true collaboration and exploration between the director, Pablo Larraín, Stephen King, and myself. It was really an incredible and unique process.
RELATED:Jennifer Jason Leigh on ‘Lisey’s Story,’ Why She Loves Stephen King, and ‘Hunters’ Season 2
How much fun and exciting, and also nerve wracking and scary, is it to be playing an antagonist or a villain in a Stephen King story?
DeHAAN: It was so much fun. And the fact that the process was the exploration that it was, and that I was getting to create a villain with Stephen King, and he was writing new material for the character as we were going along, it was thrilling and it was fun and it was an incredibly fulfilling process.
Stephen King is somebody who’s always been pretty good about adaptations of his books and being excited to see what other people do with his work, so it’s interesting to see how involved he’s been with this. Was there anything specific that he said to you about the character that really helped you, in finding who he is and how you wanted to play him?
DeHAAN: Not necessarily. I felt like mostly what he did was listen to what the director had to say and watched what we were trying to do. He would just watch what was happening, and then use that as a jumping off point to write new material and write new scenes, which is obviously what he does best. The scene in the library, which is one of my first scenes that was in the series, was a scene where I received those pages maybe three days before we shot it and it came off of the conversation that everyone was having about the character. Our conversations really weren’t so much about the character. He allowed his writing to speak for itself. It was incredibly helpful and he totally got it and helped bring Dooley to life, in an amazing way.
He’s an interesting character because you get a sense pretty quickly that good things might not happen with him around and that he’s not bringing happiness and joy and light to the story. But at the same time, his reaction are very unexpected because you don’t know if he’s going to be violent, or what he might do or say. Was that something you wanted to do? Did you want to keep a sense of unpredictability to him?
DeHAAN: I don’t know that there was ever a specific conversation about that, but that’s certainly something that was important to me. He does so many different, seemingly random things, and they are all strangely off-putting, in their own way. That’s what allows the unpredictability. He’s capable of doing terrible things, but in the next second, he could take out a yo-yo or be eating a pizza, which can be just as terrible and of- putting to watch.
How much time did you spend with the yo-yo?
DeHAAN: I’m definitely a by-product of the ‘90s yo-yo craze. I had a lot of yo-yos in sixth grade, so it was more about refreshing what I did at recess in sixth grade. But they did like hire a professional yo-yo person to help me learn, who was really incredible at yo-yos, but also was like, “This yo-yo that they’re giving you, there’s not much you’re able to do with it.” It was literally out of a like cornflakes box, or something. He uses these amazing yo-yos that’ll spin for minutes, and that thing was fun for maybe 15 seconds. Outside of “walking the dog” and “rocking the cradle” and making it sleep, there really was not much more that I could do, but I enjoyed coming back to it, after all these years.
Were there things that you liked about this guy? When you play a character like this, do you even attempt to find things you like about him, or is that too scary or uncomfortable to do?
DeHAAN: Honestly, I love all of the characters I play. I think it’s important for my process to fall in love with these people, so I may be the only one in the world that really, truly has a soft spot for Dooley. Well, I’m sure the director, Pablo Larraín, also had a soft spot for him. I love him very much and he makes me laugh. I know that sounds weird, but just the way he goes about things, when he’s not doing really terrible things, is endearing and it does make me laugh.
Do you see him as the villain or the story, do you think of him as the antagonist, or do you not think of those words at all?
DeHAAN: I think that he’s a bad guy, but I don’t think he’s the only villain in the story. He’s certainly a bad guy and ultimately he’s a villain. Part of his role was to be a villain in the story.
How do you view his obsession with this writer, Scott Landon? Clearly, it’s not healthy and a bit in the toxic column, so what do you think it is that led him to become so obsessed and allowed him to believe that not only are these things he’s doing justified, but that he’s entitled to what he’s pursuing?
DeHAAN: He credits Scott Landon with so much. He had a fairly like sheltered childhood. Things were kept from him. And then, one day, he came across a Scott Landon book. He says Scott Landon taught him to read. Scott Landon is everything to him. He’s his idol, he’s his hero, he’s his father, he’s his God. Scott Landon is everything to Dooley. His books speak to him on a truly profound level. What really drives him forward, at the end of the day, is just how much he loves Scott Landon. He feels like he knows Scott better than anyone in the entire world, and that his genius deserves to be shared with the world.
Lisey’s Storyis available to stream at Apple TV+.
KEEP READING:Joan Allen on ‘Lisey’s Story,’ Stephen King, and Her Fate in the ‘Bourne’ Movies
