Mary-Louise Parker on Working on the Freaky Set of Stephen King's 'The Institute'

I guess maybe someone will send me some huge like bag of pot and a grinder and I'll just

go out on the street and hand it out like Tinkerbell. Well, I'm a little trauma, trauma, trauma fight

I don't know what the right word is for watching. I like that. Traumified

Traumified. Traumatized. I think traumified sounds better. I don't know. I like it

Because I actually like went into it really having no, I didn't read the synopsis

I really had no idea. I'm such a fan of your work. So I was really excited to see it

Thank you. And wow, it's like, it's dark. There's some humor in it

I mean, there's a little bit of everything for everybody. My parents, do they know where I am

Are they alive? Of course. We're not monsters. So had you read the book before getting cast

Were you familiar with Steven's work? No, I'm such a chicken, you know, like I can't reading things that are, he's such a great writer

that I have to be careful how much I ingest because it's, it's all so real. And so, so layered

that I, I, you know, I can't like expel it. And, but some of his stories, I was just saying to

someone that I had never seen the Shawshank Redemption, which I can't really believe. And I

I just, I couldn't, it's such masterful writing and it's such, such like phenomenal understanding

of how to construct a reality that he does it in such a way that he grips the audience

and he just doesn't allow you to stop being interested and surprised, which is, I think

he does it as well as, as anyone ever. And did you eventually read the book once you got the part

No, because I wanted to make sure that I was following the version that Jack wanted to do

And I didn want to I knew that he had spoken to Steven So I just wanted to make sure what Steven had said to him or what notes that were important to him Um because what most important is I you know

you want him to be happy and I want Jack to be, to be pleased. So if the two of them are at all

satisfied, that makes me like really like job done. I feel happy. Okay. Um, did you have nightmares

when you left the set because I was watching. I'm like, how could she like when you were walking

even just like walking home in that first episode, I was like, somebody going to jump out at her

No, I mean, I think I really kind of connected to, I mean, there's something ridiculous about her

because she will go to like any lengths. She will, you know, go as far farther than anyone

is really asking her to go for the job. And so it's, this is somebody who will put on the party

hat and sing the song and, you know, do what she thinks is a version of being like a Girl Scout

It will get done. There's always something a little like that, that has its own tragedy to it

you know but the I'll tell you what I was a little freaked out was there was one day when

they were like there was nowhere to sit and there was like why don't you come in here because they're

shooting there and this room was closed and I had my dog with me and they were like why don't you

come to this room and I was like oh okay and I walk in and I was like all these cots with these

like iv poles and like really low ceiling and the walls were all yellowed and the floor just looked

Like it was ready to just like crumble and like just everything was just like

this whole air of like death and decay. And I was like, Oh

stand in the hall. That's fine. So there are things like that, that just like

how do you come up with that The idea of a bunch of teenagers like lying there that that like parts of the set were to me like as terrifying as the text really And I was watching that and I like oh my God I can imagine playing this role as a

mom. And you know, you were offering jelly beans, but also like, I know, like, what was that like as a mom playing? Crazy, crazy. I mean, I, I will confess to being

the mom with the candy but yeah it's in it's you know teenagers are really hard but still

it's like this is it's another level of um this nefarious like she's just

there's something just like not right and at the same time it's not like she's trying to be evil

She's trying to do her job, but just the idea of offering teenagers like alcohol and cigarettes

is just like, yeah. Yeah. So, so your parenting was not the same in real life

I would, no, I would say no, I was the person who made their own baby food. Like I just like

I couldn't, I, that was, but great to play like dramatically kind of awesome

I know you guys did get to celebrate the premiere in London. You brought your daughter. Does she give you feedback? Did she like the show

She did like it. I mean, my daughter is a tough crowd, but she loves to be scared. She and her brother both. Like, they love watching movies that I can't even. It's just too much for me

But yeah, she was really enthralled. But the thing is, she's a huge Ben Barnes fan. And actually, before I even met him for her 16th birthday, I had someone ask if he would tape a birthday message for her and he did. And it was just like, it just meant the world

So I came in, you know, feeling like I already knew him and just thinking he was like the greatest guy in the world for that, like that he did that for my daughter

It was just so so kind and like and so like him now that I know him a little bit Yeah Oh so she was a little starstruck probably meeting in real life I would take it I mean now it like yeah I mean I probably

shouldn't go into it or she'd kill me, but she does, you know, he's, she, he's the OG. He's the

one like the crush from like way little years that just doesn't die. That's the flame that doesn't go

out really. I think. We all have one. We all have one. I mean, she could not, I mean, that's

That's a good, that shows good taste, I feel like. I was doing my homework

I saw it's been nearly 20 years since Weeds premiered. Are you going to do anything to commemorate this special day in August

I can't believe it. Wait, it's this August? It's this August, yes

Wow, I had no idea. That's unbelievable. I mean, I guess it would be because my, you know, my son was a baby

So that is remarkable. I don't have insurance. Couldn't get them to offer me a drug dealer

Loss of product policy. And it's a sign. Sign? But it's time to move on

It doesn't feel quite that long because it went on for eight years, but yeah

I was really lucky to fall into that little kind of vat of honey

Like it was just a cast that loved each other, a crew that loved each other

like we had the best time and we had people came into the story later sadly some left that we didn't

get to have around anymore but it was like you know there wasn't a lemon in the bunch everybody

like really kind of you know amongst the cast and the crew like really really loved each other

it was kind of great will you do anything special to celebrate well I didn't know till now but I

I mean, I guess maybe someone will send me some huge like bag of pot and a grinder and I'll just go out on the street and hand it out like Tinkerbell