You cannot plan for the incredible career path that led Judy Greer to “The long walk.” With LionsgateNervous-comprehensive new horror films, the multifaceted actress is now on her second Stephen King adaptation-opening in theaters on September 12.
At IndieWire’s special early screening at AMC Century City in LA, Greer was light -footed and fun for a question and answers that were delivered to a packed house full of her and King’s fans.
“He’s really good at writing books, that guy is super talented,” Greer said from the legendary writer. “But if I could go back and do everything again, I just wish I could have been in the movie more. Not because I wish I had a bigger role, but just because I loved being on set.”
In “The long walk“Greer plays Ginny Garraty, an agonized mother who is forced to see her son go into an endless march designed for almost certain death. Also known for his prominent horror turning in “Jawbreaker,” “Halloween” (2018)and more is Greer magnetically opposite Cooper Hoffman as her son and filmThe main character, No. 48 Raymond Garraty. Despite the subject, the couple had an explosion that acted together, and Greer already dies for you to see Lionsgate’s pictures behind the scenes.
“I loved these boys,” she said. “They all cared so much about the movie in a way that when I started, I felt that the people I worked with did not care so much about acting in the movie and the story. It was really an inspiration to see them work.”
Published a decade after it was written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, “The Long Walk” has not been adapted before. Directed by Francis Lawrence (“The Hunger Games”) and written by JT Mollner (“Strange Darling”), Lionsgate’s film has several changes that make it a singular work of art.
“He wrote the script so quickly,” said Greer, who learned that Mollner spent just two weeks on the first draft of “The Long Walk” earlier the same day. Greer loves King’s novel but she praised Mollner’s version for various reasons. The script leaves a lot but it stands just as much and felt “original” for Greer.
“I think he said he did two rewrites after the first table read with the role and then it was,” she said. “But it’s the fun, and it’s a kind of cheat element (with adjustments). I can read all this backstory and even if a director or screenwriter will be like:” We don’t use much of it, “I still use it.”
Greer also loved to collaborate with Lawrence. Last year, IndieWire gave great praise to the director for his work with Lionsgate’s “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” When it was time to take “The Long Walk,” Greer said that the “Hunger Games” film creator was crucial to creating a happy production environment that has made the upcoming film an emotional sleeping cell. “The Long Walk” builds seriously buzzing before it was released later this month, and some early reactions have already called it the best Stephen King movie ever made.
“(Lawrence) loves actors and if you are not in the industry you might think:” Well, of course a director would love actors! ” – But they don’t always love us. Sometimes I feel I’m just in the way and Francis is not one of these people.”
She continued, “I just think that for someone who has made films of the scale he has, to still be focused on the character and still direct the spectacle, is impressive to me.”
Before “The Long Walk” Greer played a misleading gym teacher and tried to help Chloë Grace Moretz’s “Carrie.” The actresses showed up together in Sony’s mixed bags Review of Prom Queen Slasher from 2013. The original Brian de Palma Film from 1976 King put on the Hollywood map, but its smaller other years still give Greer a unique performance.
“I have now been in movies for both his first novels in theory,” she explained. “This was his first book he has ever written, ever, ever, ever. But the first book released was” Carrie “, and I was also in it. He is iconic and he writes stories that are really founded. I mean, they are horrible and some are supernatural – but I think what makes him so popular, and what makes people long -stuphen King, fans, they are. ”
King has looked back at his first novel, imprisoned when he was only 19 and still a student at the University of Maine, as from an angry time in his life. Asked how her perspective has changed over her career – from starting as an amateur who was “not good” in high school to providing the magnificent beating heart of “The Long Walk” – Greer said that she still knows part of the same youthful melancholy who haunted king. And yet she is optimistic.
“I feel cynical, but I also feel really hopeful,” she said. “I understand the business so much more and I understand who I am so much more and what I bring to something. So in that sense I have expanded my feelings about Hollywood, but I also think it is dark as the business changes.”
She went on, “I really try so hard to go on movies and I really want movies to still exist in theaters and I want people to watch TV shows once a week again.”
In his live conversation with Indiewire, Greer reflected on his text-forward acting process, King’s Nonfiction “recommended writing” and shared his thoughts on being a stage stäble for more than 30 years. In 2025, Greer’s ambitious as always – and she is looking for her own lead role in a large blockbuster.
“Something I’ve never done is a real just straight action movie, where I run a lot,” Greer said. “I don’t want to run a lot, but I want a woman with a little better body than I should run a lot with a wig on my head. But then I would do the actor.”
Greer said she would like to be in something like “Jason Bourne.” “But it might not be a Lionsgate movie, so I shouldn’t have said it,” she was joking. “As a Lionsgate Action movie is my dream job.”
