Brennan Klein 
David Cronenberg Insisted on Being Cast in Jason X
The screenwriter of Jason X revealed that David Cronenberg, who had a small role in the movie, insisted that he be cast and even rewrote some of his dialogue. 2002’s Jason X is the tenth movie in the long-running Friday the 13th franchise, following the hockey-masked serial killer Jason Voorhees as he is frozen at the futuristic Crystal Lake Research Facility and thawed off to wreak havoc on the Grendel starship in the year 2463. The cast of the film, in addition to Cronenberg, includes Kane Hodder, Lisa Ryder, Melyssa Ade, Chuck Campbell, and Lexa Doig, who has most recently been seen in yet another slasher franchise entry: SyFy’s Chucky season 1.
One of the strangest elements in the very strange movie is the fact that the cast includes Cronenberg at all. Although he has over three dozen acting credits, including a seven-episode stint on the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Discovery, he is best known for his directorial work, especially in the body horror genre with films like 1986’s The Fly and 1983’s Videodrome. For fans at the time, it was quite a surprise to see the renowned filmmaker in the role of Dr. Aloysius Wimmer, a Crystal Lake Research Facility employee who wants to study Voorhees’ regenerative powers.
For the 20th anniversary of Jason X, The AV Club sat down with one of the key figures in the making of the film: the screenwriter, Todd Farmer. Farmer revealed that Jason X director Jim Isaac was a former effects specialist who frequently worked with Cronenberg. When Isaac asked to use Cronenberg’s effects team, the director agreed on the surprise condition that he would be cast in the movie. Farmer was then informed that “Cronenberg’s rewriting all of your lines,” which secretly thrilled him. Read the full quote below:
Jimmy wanted us to use Cronenberg’s effects team, which was Jimmy’s effects team. And so he’d gone to David out of respect and said, “Do you mind if I use the guys on this?” And Cronenberg said, “I don’t mind at all, but you have to cast me.” What kind of confidence does it take for Cronenberg to say, “Yeah, I want to be in the tenth installment of the Friday the 13th franchise.” I remember I was I was stuck in a hotel room with Dean Lorey.
We were doing a late in the draft polish, and somebody had reached out and said, “Cronenberg’s rewriting all of your lines,” and they were saying it in a way as if I would be offended. “I just wanted to let you know. Don’t be upset, but David’s kind of making some changes.” And I was like, “That’s great! I’m going to get credit for that.” And when he says, “I don’t want him frozen, I want him soft,” that’s not me. That’s Cronenberg.
What’s especially interesting about Cronenberg’s involvement in Jason X is that it came at the tail end of his involvement in the horror genre. He would follow up his performance with 2002’s Spider, but after that, the director mostly transitioned to lurid dramas including 2014’s Maps to the Stars, which features Robert Pattinson. Indeed, he more or less completely stepped away for two decades, a hiatus he is now breaking with his upcoming film Crimes of the Future.
Jason X certainly wasn’t responsible for Cronenberg’s horror hiatus, but it’s an interesting bookend to his career as a master in the genre. It’s not a well-regarded entry in the franchise, nor would it have been at the time. However, Cronenberg had helmed an episode of Friday the 13th: The Series in 1988 so perhaps he felt a kinship with the franchise even in its later years.
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