NYCC 2018: The Passage

Vampires. Viruses. A dystopian world. All of these elements combined with a deep and rich relationship between a man and, in essence, an adopted daughter are the groundwork of Justin Cronin’s bestselling trilogy of books, beginning with The Passage. To the thrill of series’ fans, Fox is adapting The Passage for television. Stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar (as Brad Wolgast), Saniyya Sydney (Amy), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Dr. Lila Kyle), and Brianne Howey (as Babcock) (among many others!) along with a creative team helmed by executive producer and writer Liz Heldens (best known, to us, for her work on Friday Night Lights) brings Cronin’s work to life.

While the new series is not set to air until early 2019, some of the cast and creators stopped by New York Comic Con to preview the show. Luckily, we were able to sit down in the press room to hear all about adapting The Passage.

When we sat down with Liz Heldens and author Justin Cronin, we learned a lot about the adaptation process. Check out some of the sound bites:

Liz Heldens on having genre source material: “I came to these books as a huge fan…It’s been really nice for us and the writers to have access to Justin, at a big picture level, to make sure we’re on the same page….Our first season is focusing on Project Noah so…we can go deeper into certain characters…The experience of reding the book, to me, was so much about Brad and Amy. That’s the thing that felt like the beating heart of the show…I go back to Brad and Amy’s relationship. That is a lot of people’s way into the book…I know so many other women [who] have read the book and are big fans. I think it’s because of that relationship. You make the genre stuff accessible through the relationship.”

Justin Cronin and Liz Helden discussing Friday Night Lights and the type of storytelling to expect in The Passage:

Liz: “There’s some DNA of Friday Night Lights in this show….I certainly approach it as character first and grenre second which is how I think Justin approached the novels.”
Justin: “Vampires are to The Passage as football is to Friday Night Lights.”
Liz: “When you read those books, it’s all human connections. The characters that connect with other characters, those characters tend to have a better shot at survival and at having a dignified death–if there is going to be a death.”

Justin Cronin on what it’s like having his books adapted for TV: “Every time the book gets read by somebody, it’s actually different. Every time it’s read, it’s being adapted to the reader’s mind [so] there is no fixed object to the book. The book is an event…The reader builds a world in their head. So, whenever anybody reads it, they’re experiencing something different. But it’s also very private. I don’t see what they see. So when it becomes movie/television, and it goes into a visual medium, I’m seeing Liz’s dream. You’re seeing into somebody else’s head…So, I watch the show and think about that; then I go into my office and write my new book.”

Discover what Mark-Paul Gosselaar (as Brad Wolgast) and Emmanuelle Chriqui (Dr. Lila Kyle) have to say about this project:

Hear from Vincent Piazza (Clark Richards) and Brianne Howey (as Shauna Babcock) talk about their characters on the show:

Be sure to mark your calendars for early 2019 to catch the series premiere of The Passage on Fox!