Exclusive | Crystal Lake creator breaks down Linda Cardellinis casting and why the Friday the 13th prequel used gallons of blood

Linda Cardellini was “Crystal Lake” creator Brad Caleb Kane’s only choice to play Pamela Voorhees – the mother of iconic horror villain Jason Voorhees. “It wasn’t challenging to find the right Pamela.I knew from the beginning that the only person that I wanted was Linda Cardellini,” Kane exclusively told The Post. He added, “I was very fortunate that she said yes.

I didn’t know what I would do if she hadn’t!” Premiering Oct.15 on Peacock, “Crystal Lake” is a prequel to the “Friday the 13th” franchise. In the twelve slasher flicks released from 1980 to 2009, the villain Jason Voorhees supposedly drowned at Camp Crystal Lake as a child.

He returned for bloody revenge as an adult, donning a hockey mask and wielding a machete. In the first movie, his mom Pam Voorhees (played by Betsy Palmer) was the original killer. “Crystal Lake” follows Pam in the ‘70s, shortly after Jason’s (Callum Vinson) drowning.She’s convinced that her son is still alive since a body was never found. Kane said he wanted the “Freaks and Geeks” actress for the role because “she has this effortless likability.”He noted, “It makes her somebody that – despite all of these terrible things that Pam has to do to survive – you want to take that journey with her.”Similar to the movies, “Crystal Lake” is brimming with blood and guts.“It was like a gallon of blood per kill,” Kane recalled. The showrunner noted, “We do spend a lot of time on character, on nuance, on an emotional journey.

But when we have the kills, I wanted them to be really visceral and gory.“I wanted the audience to go, ‘Oh, there’s my ‘Friday the 13th!’ For that, you needed gallons and gallons of blood.” The onscreen murders aren’t for the faint of heart.Characters get butchered in kitchens, bathrooms, and even during sex. “You have to go to extremes, because these do come from hack and slash movies,” Kane explained. He added, “You want the...