Warning: This story contains spoilers for “The Long Walk”, now in theaters.
Let’s throw the land: a group of 50 young men, all of different states and counties, walk side by side in the intimidating summer heat. The boys do not know where they are going, their bodies stop slowly, everything they say are watched at any time so that America can look. The only objective in their minds is to walk until there is only one last standing man.
It is the totalitarian company that Richard Bachman (alias Stephen King) created by writing “The Long Walk”, his first novel, Now a feature film. With an intimate look within masculinity and male friendships, “The Long Walk” has resonated with several generations in the last 46 years, presenting the loss of young people in disastrous circumstances.
While “The Long Walk” follows the story of Raymond Garranty (Cooper Hoffman) and Peter Mcvries (David Jonsson) while they have a friendship throughout the walk, the film also focuses on various walkers who find themselves in disagreement with the society in which they are born, and who are desperate to make a change with the price and wish they are granted if they are.
One of the walkers, Stebbins (Garrett Wareing), is distinguished from other walkers, avoiding making close links with the other candidates to try to win. While Stebbins begins to question the point and the authorities behind the march, he quickly realizes that he could have more in common with his competitors than he believes.
The articles talked to Variety About the hearing behind the role of Barkovich, why Stebbins chooses to get out of the competition during the last moments of the film, and why “The Long Walk” had a lasting impact since its release in 1979.
Garrett Wareing, on the left, Roman Griffin Davis, Charlie Plummer, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Ben Wang, Joshua Odjick, Jordan Gonzalez and Tut Nyuot in “The Long Walk”.
© Lions Gate / Courtesy Everett Collection
How did you get attached to “The Long Walk?”
At the start, I auditioned for “The Long Walk” five years ago when it was a completely different team. I just remember having fallen in love with this story at the time, and when I saw the film come back, it simply invigorated the excitement in me. I initially auditioned for the role of Barkovich, and Rich Delia, our casting director, then asked me who I potentially wanted to play in the film. I was given the new script to read and I found myself attracted by Stebbins. One thing led to another, and I ended up making a strip for Stebbins. I obtained my friends from “Ransom Canyon” to go out in the desert to shoot it with me, and we fired on my hearing band while walking in the desert.
At the very beginning, Stebbins is who all the other boys think will win the walk or will get the first post. They have their own opinions and thoughts on him at the start of the walk, and they make these feelings very clear. Where is his head space when he heard all the other competitors who talk about him so openly?
I don’t think Stebbins comes from a place to want to hurt these boys. In his mind, he will win this race, and to win, he must beat everyone. I found this space with Francis [Lawrence] Due to being selected and it does not come from a place of hatred or anger. It comes from a self-preservation place. If he begins to love these boys and starts to know something about them and that they end up getting along, it will only hurt him more. In his mind, he will win this walk. He holds his hand to know them because he does not want to injure himself and hurt them in the process.
In the book, Stebbins is a very polarizing character. Throughout the novel, he talks with other boys, but he also laughs when they are killed one by one. In this version, we can see a more subtle version where it is constantly in combat or flight mode, and is very removed from everyone around it.
In the book, he is quite impetuous. Francis directed a place of unification and camaraderie where all these boys, Stebbins included, do not want to be wavering and do not want to be died. On the set, the casting has found a place together to give more heart to these characters, and I really like the way we end up finding the truth and love within Stebbins.
In a scene after Olson [Ben Wang] Dies, the remaining walkers learn that he was the only one to have had a woman at home. The remaining competitors make this pact that the one who wins will support his widow with financial assistance, and Stebbins is immediately on board to help in any way possible with the rest of the boys. Is it the turning point where he slowly begins to realize that he cares about the remaining walkers?
The moment for me came a little earlier. This is the moment when Tressler [Samuel Clark] Holds this radio and everyone sings ‘Fuck the Long Walk, fucks the Major!’ all around. When we turned that, everyone got there. I remember that Garrett and Stebbins, I started to smile because there is a little camaraderie with everyone. At that little, Stebbins is starting to see these boys like companions and not opponents. It is a surprise for him that he finds throughout the film, especially at that time.
It is also such a vulnerable moment for him, because it feels like he is telling you a fuck for his father, who turns out to be the middle finger at the end of the film. When they are the last three, Stebbins announces that he wanted to use his wish to be invited to his father for tea. It seems that before dying, he realizes that he will never be his father and that he does not want to be like him in a form or a form.
I think he may have entered stupidly, thinking that he will remove something from it. But then throughout the walk, he learns that it may be something else. In the end, we are changed because of what we are going through.
When towards the end, does Stebbins realize that he will not win the walk?
I have the impression that Stebbins could have continued to walk, but I think he is starting to see that he does not have what it takes to be the winner of his soul. He sees what Ray and Pete share and I think he almost sacrifices himself to let them have these last moments together. I really realized that towards the end of this monologue there at the end of the film, when it allows them to continue to move forward. Even if he falls ill and he has it physically, the love that Stebbins sees between the two boys, he can be at peace and say that he is happy that it is both at the end.
“The Long Walk” has resonated with the public for almost 50 years. Why do you think this book spoke to adolescents and continues to have a lasting impact on several generations?
There is something that we can all relate to history. Even if it is this brutal walk that we see these boys pass, it is also a lesson to appreciate what we have while we have it. Everything is temporary in life, but if we can have great experiences and share them with others during this temporary experience, can this be enough? We see how much these boys can love each other and know each other, and it ends up teaching us a lesson by being a member of the public to appreciate what you have while you have it. We are on a long step from the moment we were born at the exact moment when we die. This is the lesson here for me, to treat others with respect and kindness, honor the wishes of the dead and have this dream of a better future. We are all together.
This interview was published and condensed.
