KING'S LANDING

JOE FREEMAN AND BEN BARNES STAR IN THE INSTITUTE, THE LATEST STEPHEN KING BOOK TO BE ADAPTED FOR THE SMALL SCREEN. YOLANTHE FAWEHINMI FINDS OUT MORE

- YOLANTHE FAWEHINMI

FROM The Shawshank Redemption to The Shining; The Green Mile to The Dead Zone, American horror writer Stephen King’s works have had incredibly successful adaptations for the big and small screen.

Hoping to continue that trend is new MGM+ series The Institute, based on the prolific author's 2019 sci-fi horror novel of the same name.

With the calibre of previous adaptations so high, it’s hardly surprising that its stars Joe Freeman and Ben Barnes are feeling the pressure.

Joe, 19 (son of Sherlock star Martin Freeman) was particularly anxious to land the part of teen genius Luke Ellis, his first lead acting role.

Luke wakes up at a sinister facility inhabited by kidnapped children who possess supernatural abilities.

Meanwhile, distressed former cop Tim Jamieson, played by Shadow and Bone star Ben, 43, arrives in a nearby town to start a new life, but his world is turned upside down when it collides with Luke and the other children who are being experimented on.

Ahead of the release of the eight-part series - which is executive-produced by Stephen, 77, and American director Jack Bender, 75 - Joe and Ben discuss how they brought their characters to life and how the script - by American writer Benjamin Cavell - compares to the novel.

What did you find interesting about the characters you played?