Everyone loves a good creature feature, and few legends have endured quite like the Yeti. With the new feature The Yeti, the myth gets a fresh and chilling spin, blending horror and thriller elements within a 1947 period setting. Written and directed by Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta, The Yeti premiered in AMC Theaters on April 8, followed by its release on Digital on April 10.
The flm stars Brittany Allen (Dexter: Original Sin, The Boys), Eric Nelsen (1883, The Bay), Jim Cummings (Halloween Kills, The Wolf of Snow Hollow), Christina Bennett Lind (All My Children, Fireworkers), Linc Hand (Imperium, NCIS: Hawai’i), William Sadler (The Mist, The Shawshank Redemption), and Corbin Bernsen (Your Friends & Neighbors, L.A. Law).
In The Yeti, After Merriell Sunday Sr. (Corbin Bernsen) and Hollis Bannister (William Sadler) disappear in the Alaskan wilderness, Ellie (Brittany Allen) and Merriell Jr. (Eric Nelsen) set out to find them only to discover a sinister, ancient force stalking their journey as they uncover the truth behind the disappearances.
We spoke with William Sadler about the new horror film and his extensive body of work in film.
What was it like going from reading the script to seeing The Yeti, the period setting, and the world fully come to life on set?
William: It’s one thing to read it and imagine it, you know, sitting in your living room or whatever, and it’s quite a different thing when they walk you through the set, and you see what they’ve built. And especially once we’re rolling, once you’re in the thick of it [with the cast], the stuff hits the fan. It becomes an entirely different thing. The first thing they did when I got there was introduce me to the Yeti costumes. And they had a practical Yeti which is remarkable.
With such an incredible body of work behind you, do you carry lessons from past roles into new projects like this?
William: I think you can’t help but bring things from other experiences. I don’t think you can help. You know, the things that you learned along the way, you carry that stuff now, it’s in your DNA. And when you’re confronted with the problems like, what’s this scene about?, and how are we imagining this moment in their lives? I guess you don’t do it consciously, but, yeah, you bring pieces of those other roles.
How would you describe your character in The Yeti?
William: He’s sort of sympathetic at the beginning. He’s just scared like everybody else is scared. But when you know, when [they start] sacrificing people to the Gods or whatever, it’s like the Salem witch trials or something. Two people [came] up to me and [said] “you know, man, about halfway through the movie, I just wanted to [mess] you up,” and I was like, “Well, Thank you. Thank you.”
Do you ever reflect on the lasting impact of your films, or do you tend to just move on to the next project?
William: I I do reflect on it. I mean, not so much the impact, but the fact that you do these things, you film, you get together with a group of people, and you’re in the trenches, and you wrestle with these scenes, you create something, and then it and then it goes out there, and it plays [all over the world]. The impact, I [usually] hear about it later. Sometimes I go to Comic Cons, and people will say, “when my father was will, we watched [The Shawshank Redemption] all the time.” Everyone has a favorite film wich is really wonderful. But it isn’t until you go to those comic cons or [other events] and there’s a line of people, and they just keep coming [and telling me they’re favorite movies]. And I’m glad, because I didn’t know.
The Yeti is available On Digital.
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