{"id":434170,"date":"2026-05-19T00:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/434170\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T00:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:18:16","slug":"judith-light-on-roles-in-the-terror-devil-in-silver-the-punisher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/434170\/","title":{"rendered":"Judith Light on Roles in \u2019The Terror: Devil in Silver,\u2019 \u2018The Punisher\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJudith Light<\/a> never selects a project at random. The actress feels passionately about tackling projects and storylines that matter, such as her role as Dorry in The Terror<\/a>: Devil in Silver, the third season of the anthology series.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the series, streaming on AMC+<\/a> and Shudder, Light plays a \u201clifer\u201d at New Hyde Psychiatric Hospital. The actress hopes the show sparks conversations about mental health and the way we as a society deal with those struggling.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c[I hope the show makes us] pay attention and take care, and that we find the facilities that are there for people that really nurture them and care for them in really important ways [through] compassion [and] empathy,\u201d Light tells The Hollywood Reporter on a recent Zoom.<\/p>\n

\n\tLight also stars in the recently released special, The Punisher<\/a>: One Last Kill, which dropped on Disney+ last week. The special was co-written by the show\u2019s star, Jon Bernthal, and director Reinaldo Marcus Green. Light has no shortage of wonderful things to say about her co-star.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJon Bernthal is simply extraordinary,\u201d she says. \u201cWe were talking before about compassion and empathy, that\u2019s Jon Bernthal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow, Light speaks with THR about The Terror: Devil in Silver, how the television landscape has changed throughout her career and some recent theater pieces that have inspired her.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat drew you in with The Terror?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was the character. It was the writing. It was [lead actor] Dan Stevens. It was [co-showrunners] Christopher Cantwell and Victor LaValle. It was [director] Karyn Kusama, [actors] Chinaza Uche, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Stephen Root, Hampton Fluker. All my buddies who I\u2019d done theater with or who are in the theater. Everybody really had a similar language. Everybody was on the same page from the very beginning. It\u2019s just a very powerful story. It gives us an opportunity to talk about mental health institutions and the way people who have mental challenges are treated in this country and around the world. It\u2019s also about how homelessness ties in with all of that, and what we\u2019re really doing as a society to have compassion and empathy and kindness for each other. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you see a show like this and look at what happens to these people, how they are just thrown into this facility. In particular, I was really interested in the aspect of a woman who is being thrown into a place like this by her husband. After 30-some years, he never comes back to get her. What does it mean to have resilience even though you\u2019re incredibly fragile? I had known about Victor LaValle, but I had not read the novel. He\u2019s a New York Times bestselling author, and I thought it was a striking story. It\u2019s a psychological thriller. It\u2019s not just about horror. It\u2019s funny and it\u2019s entertaining at the same time.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLight as Dorry in \u2018The Terror: Devil in Silver.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmily V. Aragones\/AMC<\/p>\n

\n\tThe idea that someone could be in this for life is such an interesting idea. What kind of headspace do you go into portraying someone like that? I don\u2019t think anyone is ever considering it\u2019s happening, but it\u2019s certainly someone\u2019s reality.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll the time. I talk to people now, since this is in the process of coming out and they\u2019ve been looking at some of the interviews. Somebody yesterday told me that they knew someone who had been put in a mental institution because basically the husband didn\u2019t like the wife\u2019s mood swings. That\u2019s the kind of stuff that we\u2019re talking about. Instead of getting help and getting support, you\u2019re put into a facility like this. To answer your question about the headspace, when you have great writing like this, and you have great people doing showrunning, and a best-selling author on the set with you, and great directors, what ends up happening is you can move into that headspace very easily. I knew I had ideas about Dorry and how I wanted to portray her, because I\u2019m always interested in what someone\u2019s psychology is. What makes someone tick? What makes someone survive this kind of abuse? And I\u2019m always interested in that.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re no stranger to the thriller genre, I think that\u2019s fair to say. What do you find about this genre that lends itself so well to touching upon these real problems?<\/p>\n

\n\tBecause I it lives all around us, and just like you literally said, nobody pays attention to it. Society, we are indifferent in many ways, because we don\u2019t want to see things like this. When I say that this is a psychological thriller, what the value of that, whether this monster is real or not to these people, what this enables us to do is literally what you said, to make the commentary on the subject that it\u2019s really uncovering. We think people are odd or quirky or troublesome or a pain in the neck \u2014 what are they doing that for? So many people strive in our society, I think, to be normal. We are so much more interesting than that as human beings. We have so many different complexities and all kinds of things that don\u2019t necessarily fit into what certain people call the norm. There is no norm. People have all different kinds of feelings and thoughts and complexities and challenges. That\u2019s what makes us all interesting, and makes this a viable, exciting project to do. Also, to be a part of the human condition. It\u2019s like we don\u2019t think about people. Then somebody will have these strange thoughts about something and then they think about it and they go, \u201cI shouldn\u2019t be having that thought. I shouldn\u2019t be thinking like that.\u201d We need to be talking about that so that people feel safe and free to be their authentic selves. I think it\u2019s really, really important.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs someone who\u2019s been part of shows in different eras of TV. I think it\u2019s fair to say that even 15 years ago, stories like this one weren\u2019t being told primarily on TV. The focus was more on features. I\u2019m so curious on what you think has changed?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s interesting you say that. I have seen a lot of television through the years, which I\u2019m really grateful for. But the other day, we\u2019re in New York now and we were driving downtown, and there was this endless line at the AMC Theater.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tUche as Coffee and Light as Dorry in \u2018The Terror: Devil in Silver.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmily V. Aragones\/AMC<\/p>\n

\n\tReally? That\u2019s really nice.<\/p>\n

\n\t[We were saying], \u201cWhat is happening?\u201d I wonder if things are shifting again, that people do want to go out with each other and go to the movies.<\/p>\n

\n\tI will say, I have AMC A-List, and so do all of my friends. We do go to the movies a lot.<\/p>\n

\n\tRight, and I think that\u2019s happening more. These kinds of projects wouldn\u2019t have been on television. Because we have the streamers and we can do these sorts of projects, you can be at home. It doesn\u2019t cost you a lot for gas or parking or snacks at the theater. There is a simplicity to that and an ease in that for a lot of people, which I really understand. I really get it. I think it\u2019s important that we have that availability to see these kinds of pieces on television, so that people really are feeling that they are getting vibrant television and awake television and entertainment. I think both are very, very important. In so many ways since COVID, I think we\u2019ve lost our socialization. We haven\u2019t been with each other. People are lonely. That\u2019s why, in so many ways, Dorry tries to make this a family at New Hyde. It\u2019s like, \u201cLet\u2019s be family, let\u2019s be friends, let\u2019s be doing things together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s a place in our world right now where we\u2019re not doing that. I\u2019m so glad to hear you say that you have that with your friends, and that you go out and you go to places. You go do things and you get out of the house. But people don\u2019t have a lot of discretionary income. They just don\u2019t. But if you\u2019ve got a TV, you can see great shows like this one \u2014 which are entertaining and like I said, funny and psychologically interesting and a thriller \u2014 that\u2019s all the better for all of [us]. We should be all doing everything, all the time, everything all at once.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Punisher: One Last Kill is also on the horizon. Can you tell me about that?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s another very important topic, which is about transformation. It\u2019s about revenge and transformation. Jon Bernthal is simply extraordinary.<\/p>\n

\n\tI agree.<\/p>\n

\n\tLike I [feel] about Dan Stevens and Chinaza Uche and Stephen Root and all these extraordinary actors that I\u2019ve gotten to work with. He is right up there at the top. He wrote this with Reinaldo Green, who did King Richard, who is a splendid, splendid director. It was something that was put together very quickly, and we did it very quickly. Jon is so present and so real and so engaged and wants to make something that will really please the audience. I\u2019m all about that.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019ve had longevity because of the audiences. They have been there for me over the years, and they still are engaged over time. That really means a lot to me, and Jon feels the same way. He\u2019s also a person who really cares about the veterans and PTSD. There\u2019s a lot that when we can talk about it, we will talk about it, that he feels very strongly about this stuff. He\u2019s a wonderful family man. He\u2019s a great dad, and he\u2019s got a great wife. And he\u2019s on Broadway. Oh, you\u2019re in L.A.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJudith Light attends the screening event for \u2018The Punisher: One Last Kill.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDave Kotinsky\/Getty Images for Disney<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m in L.A., but I do know that he is on Broadway.<\/p>\n

\n\tOh, my God, he\u2019s so good.<\/p>\n

\n\tReally?<\/p>\n

\n\tGod, he\u2019s so good. He\u2019s got major stage chops. He started in theater. We were talking before about compassion and empathy, that\u2019s Jon Bernthal.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s so lovely. Speaking of theater, have you seen anything lately that\u2019s really inspired you?<\/p>\n

\n\tJohn Lithgow in Giant. Oh, what a performance. Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, and the rest of the cast in Death of a Salesman. Joe Mantello directed it. and it is simply \u2026 All of a sudden it became present to our world now. It\u2019s really extraordinary. My friend, Tommy Kail, who directed Proof, that\u2019s also a really important reinvention of something. We saw Kelli O\u2019Hara and Rose Byrne in Fallen Angels last night. My friend Scott Ellis directed it. Oh, God. It\u2019s so charming.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow so?<\/p>\n

\n\tTalk about lifting you up and optimistic and just \u2026 It\u2019s like a French confection. It\u2019s English, but it\u2019s just like this really delicious confection. Really, really, really wonderful. We\u2019ve seen a lot of stuff.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s a lot out right now.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhenever you get a chance to \u2014 we live between New York and L.A. \u2014 and whenever we get back here, we always see as much as we possibly can. [Also], Jellicle Cats. Are you coming here?<\/p>\n

\n\tOh, I wish I was. I want to see that. <\/p>\n

\n\tThere are things that I had seen in the past, like Liberation. It won the Pulitzer Prize and has been nominated for a bunch of Tony Awards. [It\u2019s] a really, really important play. And by that, I don\u2019t mean it\u2019s not entertaining or interesting, fabulous, or funny, or any of those things. It\u2019s really important \u2014 that\u2019s why they gave it the Pulitzer. Bess Wohl, thank you very much. And my friend, the producer, Daryl Roth, who just knows how to pick these things that go to the heart and soul of what people need to see at the moment. It was spectacular. I bet you that it\u2019ll go on tour. It closed on Broadway in February, I think, and you\u2019ll be able to see it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Judith Light never selects a project at random. The actress feels passionately about tackling projects and storylines that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[7072,430,156,181106,2528,111,139,69,59976,49196],"class_list":["post-434170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-amc","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-judith-light","tag-marvel","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-the-punisher","tag-the-terror"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}