MARCIA GAY HARDEN HORDES GOODS IN THE MIST

Marcia Gay Harden plays the bible belting horder Mrs. Carmody in The Mist.

To play the role of the bible belter Mrs. Carmody in Stephen King’s horror thriller The Mist, Marcia Gay Harden read The Idiots Guide To Revelations and studied what leads intelligent people to follow others based on fear of the unknown.

Based on King’s novel, the townspeople of Maine are trapped in a supermarket by an ever pervading mist fighting desperately for their lives from otherworldly monsters in the fog. Marcia knew her character so well that she discussed with director Frank Darabont how she would horde goods.

“We were walking around the aisles thinking ‘where is this gonna play, where is this gonna play?’ And I said I just really feel like she would have an area that was hers. First thing as soon as she knew they were gonna be there she would’ve pushed her cart down the aisle and she would’ve gotten the pillow, the blanket maybe two. She would’ve gotten water lots. She would’ve gotten everything she needed to survive and made her own little bunker and that’s where she would be. And he loved the idea so it ended up being a bunker that had a stage to it and the candles.”

Marcia wondered if faced with a similar catastrophe in real life, if she would react the same way as Mrs. Carmody.

“Would I do that? I probably would. My human behavior of course I would. I’d be in the store and I’d get as much as I could and let’s get this first before somebody else does. I’d rather be in control of the power than somebody else be in control of it. And if there were bugs outside the window would I think it was the end of the world? I would, why wouldn’t I?”

Mrs. Carmody as the prophet of doom who convinces the group to attempt a bloody sacrifice has impacted early audiences to the point of them shouting back at the screen at her.