Spoiler warning: This article contains major spoilers for the first season of Crystal Lake, including the finale.
Jonathan Tison, who plays the adult Jason Voorhees in Peacock's Friday the 13th prequel Crystal Lake, says he signed on without knowing the character he was playing. He told Phantasmag that the truth arrived when he showed up at the special-effects studio to prepare for the role.
Tison said he auditioned for a part called Joey in a project titled Mama's Boy. The material described a figure with a bag over his head, so Tison cut an eye hole in a grocery bag for his self-tape. Producers followed up by asking whether he was comfortable with prosthetics and a haircut, and he signed as Joey.
The reveal came during a fitting for the finale's skull-crushing scene, when the effects team took a mold of his finger. Tison said the request left him puzzled until the team told him he was playing Jason. Gizmodo and Dread Central have also reported on his account.
The Skull, the Sack and the Prosthetics
Crystal Lake premiered on Peacock on October 15. The series follows Pamela Voorhees (Linda Cardellini) as the events that turn her son into a killer unfold, with Callum Vinson as the young Jason and Tison as the sack-headed adult version seen in the finale. Brad Caleb Kane is the showrunner.
Tison has since shared behind-the-scenes photos from the set, including his Jason chair and a shot with Vinson, per Dread Central. Dread Central published those photos on October 20, a day before the Phantasmag interview ran.
Tison's Jason wears a rough sack over his head rather than the hockey mask, which TVLine described as a nod to Friday the 13th Part 2. CBM reported on the official first look at Baghead Jason.
In the finale, his Jason crushes the head of his father, Elias Wittering (Hamish Linklater), per TVLine's recap. Tison told Phantasmag that Linklater took part in many takes. The effects team, led by David Presto, built a reusable skull puppet to survive them, and Tison called the scene exhausting.
The makeup took about three hours in the chair, and Tison said he arrived about four hours before the crew. An optometrist sized a custom eye for him, and he wore dentures. The prosthetics wrapped around his lips, so he drank shakes in place of eating, and he had limited sight in one eye and hearing in one ear.
Tison said he studied the earlier films, with particular attention to the burlap-sack look of Part 2, and drew on the mother-son relationship at the center of the series.
What Comes Next
Tison said he enjoyed the role and is open to returning. He added that he has been bulking up after fan comments asking for a bigger Jason, and that Kane has ideas for a second season.
Peacock had not announced a renewal as of HollywoodLife's October 17 report. Kane has said he built the first season to work as a complete story if the series does not continue. The first season is streaming on Peacock now.
What did you make of Tison's Baghead Jason, and would you want him back for a second season?