“Sometimes, dead is better,” reads the eerie tagline of a terrifying new film about the untold chapter of a certain Stephen King novel. Pet Sematary: Bloodlines follows the book’s protagonist, Jud Crandall, but as a young adult in the year 1969, as the origins of that infamous graveyard are revealed in blood-curdling fashion. Jud’s dad is played by veteran actor Henry Thomas, who once rose to fame at a young age thanks to his iconic role as Elliot in E.T. Decades later, he’s pals with Mike Flanagan (giving haunting performances in Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House, and Midnight Mass), and remaining ever busy in Tinseltown. We recently caught up with Thomas to learn more about his latest scary movie and other recent projects.

Plank Competitions with David Duchovny

Mike Flanagan is everywhere these days and can even be credited for Thomas getting involved with this thrilling new Pet Sematary prequel. “[Director] Lindsey Beer was an acquaintance of his. He recommended that I read the script, and I did,” Thomas told MovieWeb. “It seemed like a great character, a guy kind of holding on to some secret and sort of willing to sacrifice himself before his family. And I thought, ‘Okay, Montreal sounds nice.’ That’s where it was shooting.”

In addition to Thomas, Bloodlines is graced with other acclaimed actors who have been in the Hollywood game for decades. We’re looking at you, Pam Grier and David Duchovny. “It’s always fun to meet people that you’ve seen over the years and never worked with,” said Thomas. “We had a great crew and a great cast. So the only problem was shooting a lot of nights, like you do in horror things. As I get older, I start looking at the nights in the script. And I’m like, ‘Am I in that night? I hope not.'”

Related: 10 Stephen King Movies That Would be Better as a Modern Miniseries

And on the topic of cast and crew, Thomas recounted a funny ongoing experience he shared on set with Duchovny and the film’s young star. “Jackson White, David Duchovny, and I had ‘plank competitions’ outside of the house, every time we were working together,” said Thomas. “It was always kind of bittersweet because either Jackson or David would always beat me. I don’t think I ever beat either of them. They’re in better shape.”

Given Thomas’ extensive work in the horror department in recent years, one might assume it’s a genre he’s been craving as of late. But our recent interview revealed a surprise twist:

“Having worked on so many Stephen King adaptations and horror-genre things, it’s not a genre that I particularly gravitate towards. But I appreciate it. But I don’t go to sleep at night going, ‘Please, man, I hope I’m in that next adaptation of blankety-blank.’ So for me, it’s more about what the character means to the story and possibly what the story means, but usually I stop at the character because that’s usually as far as my job needs to take me.”

So, if not horror, then what genre might Thomas be on the prowl for? “I really would love to see like a resurgence in historical dramas,” he told us. “Things like that are interesting to me. Fantasy is kind of interesting to me as a genre. It’s kind of unexplored. They kind of throw something out there, and then they wait like 10 years, and then they throw something else out. And I’m kind of personally bored with the superhero genre. And I think it’s overdone. It’s become, like, ‘Are this the western for this age?’ And also, I’d like to see a resurgence in westerns because that’s a lot of fun to work on.”

Related: 10 Performances in Stephen King Movies That Are Massively Underrated

On Mike Flanagan and Superhero Fatigue
Netflix

At the moment, outside of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, Thomas can be spotted in Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher. Cinephiles and TV buffs will also recognize Thomas from countless other Flanagan projects. “Mike is a great guy, and he’s always been a friend as well as a collaborator,” said Thomas. He added:

“We met through work on Ouija: The Origin of Evil. That was the first thing he cast me in. And he said, ‘I want to put you in everything I do.’ And I said, ‘Sure, all right.’ And he ended up doing it. Against all my prejudicial thought, he actually followed through, and it was a great collaboration because it gave me a chance to do a lot of characters that I don’t usually get flagged for, like a blind man, or I played an English lord [with] an upper class British accent […] It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of opportunities to explore things that I’ve wanted to do, but I haven’t been able to do.”

Given that Thomas’ career has spanned decades, following that little known family classic that Spielberg directed in the ’80s, we had to ask Thomas how it feels to still remain active in Hollywood as he embraces his 50s. He had an insightful response about acting as a career and Hollywood at large:

“Half of the time, it’s a lot of scrambling for relevance and kind of scrambling for a stake in things, really, because it is a town that respects names and legacies and things, but it’s also a town… an industry that turns over new people all the time. So there’s always an influx of new actors, new directors, new executives. It’s always changing. So, it’s very hard, as an actor, to maintain a career other than doing what you can do and just staying visible.”

From Paramount Home Entertainment, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is now available to buy on digital and debuts on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD December 19. You can always watch the film on Paramount+ through the link below:

Watch on Paramount+