'I cried the entire time reading it'

Actors Tom Hiddleston and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and director Mike Flanagan, share the joy to be found in Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck - the film is in cinemas this week

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Flanagan first read The Life Of Chuck in April 2020. “I was completely bowled over by its message and its joy and its complexity and its structure, which I thought was fascinating. I cried the entire time reading it,” he remembers.

“I emailed King that day and said, ‘If I could have a crack at this story, it might be the best movie I’ll ever make.’”

The movie has since won the People’s Choice Award in 2024 at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it first premiered.

For Londoner Chiwetel Ejiofor, 48, who plays a high school teacher called Marty who is contemplating whether the world is ending, along with his ex-wife Felicia, played by Inverness-born Karen Gillan of Doctor Who and Guardians Of The Galaxy fame, the crux was how “very true” the story felt.

“One knows about apocalyptic tales-the hysterical, dramatic beats in those sorts of stories-but what this does is, it picks up either before or after some of the dreadful beats and then really, it's about what happens then,” explains the 12 Years A Slave and Love Actually actor.