The story is, after all, deeply personal for King.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You once said thatLisey’s Storywas your favorite of your books.
Do you still feel that way, 15 years later?
Apple TV+; Inset: Lou Rocco/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
STEPHEN KING:Yeah.
I would never have gotten involved with this thing at my age if it wasn’t.
You know, they’re all my favorites.
Lisey and Scott Landon share a tender moment.Apple TV+
I love them all.
Some of them are difficult children to love, some of them a little bit easier.
So, everything turned out well.
Amanda (Allen) sits lost on the shores of the mysterious Boo’ya Moon.Apple TV+
Why was now the right time to adaptLisey’s Story?
Well, that’s a long story, actually, but it’s a good story.
So the scripts got done, and everything else followed from that.
You have a chance to do more.
For guys like me, it’s been great.
Do you feel like the on-screen version fully realized the world that you imagined?
Yeah, I would say that I’m 100 percent satisfied with the way things look.
They were at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Boo’ya Moon was very creepy at that time.
I saw it with everybody gone, and it just looked haunted to me.
He just filled it with these strange plants and designs.
Yeah, I would have to say I’m pretty satisfied with the way it turned out.
So that’s a little something that can go out of it to streamline it a little bit."
And there were things in the book that I hated to let go [of for this].
And, of course, Scott and all of his baggage.
He’s a very fragile character, you know.
You talk about, do you base things on your own life?
He said he wanted to add a couple of scenes with Jim Dooley [played by DeHaan].
It was kind of fun.
It was nice to have some things to put in that weren’t in the book.
Well, Dane is a hugely talented actor.
He brought his own concept of Jim Dooley to the show, and I just absolutely loved it.
I love the fact that he’s always comfort eating.
There’s always something going into his mouth.
Pablo said to me, “What do you think about if he had a yo-yo?”
So we put that in, and actually, I wish there was more yo-yo!
My grandkids watched a rough cut of the first episode.
And they liked it, but they really came to life when they saw Dane DeHaan.
What does it mean for you?
Emile Zola is another one.
What part are you most excited to see brought to life onscreen?
[Laughs] But I guess the part that I liked the best was Lisey and her sisters.
I like that sister thing going on.
My wife has sisters, and it’s always interesting to see them interact with one another.
The love is always there; it’s a strong, strong bond.
I enjoyed that very much.
I like that a lot.
This is a show where the men almost recede into the background.
It’s really about women and about sisters.
Scott is there, Scott’s a very important character, but he’s dead.
What do you hope audiences get out of the show?
To me, that’s the important part.
That’s what I take from my own life.
