“We all live with terror inside of us,” says Judith Light. So does her character in the upcoming Season 3 of anthology series “The Terror” called “Devil in Silver” and out later this year.
“This woman has been put in an institution for 30 years – by her own husband. He didn’t want to deal with her ‘mood swings.’ She’s been desperate to find her voice and has sold herself out on so many levels within this institution in order to survive.”
Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker executive produce via Scott Free Productions, with Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert (Emjag Productions), Guymon Casady (Entertainment 360), Brooke Kennedy and Dan Stevens, who’s also starring. As previously announced, Stevens plays a man wrongfully committed to New Hyde Psychiatric Hospital, where he needs to deal with other patients, doctors and maybe even the devil himself.
Based on a novel by bestselling author Victor LaValle, the show is horror-infused, adds Light – just like its previous seasons.
“It’s certainly within that genre. One psychologist once said to me: ‘People want to see something that matches how they feel inside.’ They are afraid of the world, of not being able to provide for their children or losing their homes. That may very well be the reason why horror is doing so well right now.”
Light starred in popular sitcom “Who’s the Boss?,” as well as appearing in “Ugly Betty,” “Transparent” and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.” In 2024, she won an Emmy for “Poker Face.” Fresh off her stint as jury president at Monte-Carlo Television Festival, she’s eyeing projects that don’t shy away from uncomfortable or even upsetting topics.
“Right now, I want to make things that have an impact,” she says.
“If we’re going to start relating to each other globally and internationally, a lot of it is going to come through television. I want to see stories about homelessness, animal welfare, and climate change.”
She also wants to see more women in charge.
“We’re finally seeing how women are impacting the industry and our business. Women are speaking up. Women are telling the truth. They are talking about salary parity. Look at Scarlett Johansson, Robin Wright. Some say: ‘You have to tell them you’ll walk.’ Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but in my experience, you have to say: ‘I know my value, my gifts and my talent, and who I am as a human being.’ That may sound very ‘Pollyanna,’ but let’s not argue. Let’s negotiate, for God’s sake!”
“You may not always get what you were supposed to get, but you can get something else. So speak up.”
Light, a known activist, is all for the fight – but also fighting with kindness. Even when it comes to the audience’s poor behavior on Broadway.
“Nobody’s been educating them. They’re not used to the theater and sometimes, they just don’t understand. When I went to see Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Othello,’ they took our phones away and locked them up. Many theaters are doing that now. People are not texting and they’re actually paying attention,” she says. Light won Tony Awards for “Other Desert Cities” and “The Assembled Parties.”
“If you get bored watching the show, just go. I’ve known actors who have taken people’s phones. I’ve known people who have stopped mid-performance, waiting for everyone to get quiet. This one actor said: ‘I’m going to wait for a minute while you all put your phones away or turn them off.’ A minute in the theater is a very long time.”
She’s concerned by the lack of concern for others.
“I’m concerned that we don’t stay conscious, that we don’t stay aware of all the things that are happening around us because we don’t always want to see it. We don’t want to see the terror. My mother used to say: ‘I’m worried.’ To which my father would add: ‘No, you’re just concerned.’ He’d say that because once you create a hysteria around something, you can’t solve it.”
“When I see something unjust, I have to say something. When I see women who are disempowered, when I see animal cruelty or what we do to the planet. In the early days of HIV/AIDS when I saw how my friends, who were dying, were being treated, I had to speak about it,” she adds.
“I know I’m not the only voice out there. I know I’m not the only one holding up the sign. So let’s just keep doing it and hopefully it’s going to get better one day,” she says, quickly reiterating: “Actually, I don’t ‘hope’ for it. I know it will be better. There’s no question about it.”
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