Carla Gugino thought ‘Gerald’s Game’ would “end” her career

Carla Gugino has spoken out about her role in Gerald’s Game, admitting that it could have led to the end of her career.

In a new interview with Buzzfeed, the actress discussed working with Mike Flanagan on the 2017 Stephen King adaptation and how it could have easily been mishandled.

“It was always considered an un-adaptable book by Stephen King,” Gugino said. “Also, someone was attached to play the role before. So, from the moment that I spoke to Mike Flanagan to the moment we were filming Gerald’s Game, it was literally two weeks.

“So, to come on to that role in that project, in which I was chained to a bed within that period of time, was a real risk. And I thought, ‘We’re either going to do something really special here, or this is the end of my career.’ You know what I mean? There’s no middle ground here. I’m so thankful that it was the former.”

Gugino stars in the film as one half of a BDSM couple trying to reignite their marriage. However, a planned vacation soon goes awry after her husband (Bruce Greenwood) dies during a sex act and she’s left handcuffed to the bed.

“I’ve never gravitated toward horror, per se. Meaning, I love any genre done well. So I’m in for all of it,” Gugino said of the role. “But it was funny; I wasn’t looking to do that, even though horror has obviously been an extremely successful genre for quite some time now.

“But what I was really compelled by was Mike’s voice as a filmmaker. Really, it was me talking to him when he was scouting in Atlanta via FaceTime. I didn’t even know until later that it was sort of the movie would fall apart shortly thereafter if I couldn’t have gone on board. His ideas, his clarity of vision, and the way into the story, it was just so precise. It made perfect sense to me. I aligned with it right away, and I thought, I really want to come help this person bring their vision to the screen.”

Flanagan wrote and directed Gerald’s Game before going to adapt fellow King novel Doctor Sleep. He also directed the 2018 mini-series The Haunting Of Hill House, in which Gugino starred.

“That was the beginning of that relationship with Mike,” she added of Gerald’s Game. “And since then, it has just continued to be a really easy and inspiring collaboration. I love to come in and help him tell his stories. He’s such a wonderful writer and director, and editor.

“I also think because he has this sort of gentle perfectionism and he has a real strong sense of what he wants it to be, he is also therefore very collaborative. I always find the most confident people in their art are actually collaborative, you know? So I love what we get to create together. There’s not one that I haven’t really enjoyed.”

Back in October 2023, Flanagan marked the end of his six-year partnership with Netflix with The Fall Of The House Of Usher, which also starred Gugino.