Hollywood’s latest obsession with the works of prolific author and horror icon Stephen King shows no signs of slowing down, and just like the last time he found his novels and short stories being adapted for the big and small screens on a regular basis, the most recent batch have also been marked with inconsistency.
With so many filmmakers of vastly different styles tackling the material with such wildly fluctuating results, it almost seems hard to believe that stone-cold classics like The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption are based on books written by the same mind behind infamous duds like Dreamcatcher and The Dark Tower.
There are currently eleven movies and nine TV shows in various stages of development based on the 72 year-old’s literary output, and while we might be veering dangerously close to saturation point, it appears that the industry’s latest Stephen King renaissance is set to continue for a long while yet.
Based on the sheer volume of adaptations that have been churned out over the decades, it isn’t exactly a surprise to find out that there are quite a few actors who have appeared in more than one of them, but even then it still comes as a shock to find out that there are no less than 32 stars to have checked off the box marked ‘Stephen King adaptation’ at least twice, and you can see the full, extensive list below.
- Kathy Bates
- Morgan Freeman
- John Cusack
- Ed Harris
- Gary Sinise
- Drew Barrymore
- Thomas Jane
- Rob Lowe
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Martin Sheen
- Jeffrey DeMunn
- David Morse
- Harry Dean Stanton
- Miguel Ferrer
- Bonnie Bedelia
- Timothy Hutton
- Matt Frewer
- Steven Weber
- William Sadler
- Tom Skeritt
- Frances Sternhagen
- Brooke Adams
- Andre Braugher
- Pierce Brosnan
- Patricia Clarkson
- James Cromwell
- Annabeth Gish
- David Keith
- E.G. Marshall
- Ron Perlman
- Casey Siemaszko
- Henry Thomas
Obviously, many of these actors have fared much better than others in terms of both quantity and quality, with Kathy Bates in particular picking up the Academy Award for Best Actress thanks to her iconic turn in Misery, which coincidentally marks the only time a movie based on a Stephen King property has ever won an Oscar.
But tell us, what are your favorite adaptations of the author’s work? As always, let us know down below.
