http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ6bsUmFxyE
No 'Bones' about it
Stephen King’s latest project hits TV
Annabeth Gish stars in ‘Bag of Bones’ this Sunday
Annabeth Gish is a busy lady. Not only does the New Mexico native have two young sons to corral, but she’s got three television projects to promote. She likes to keep herself busy, and having multiple smaller projects on the go means she can juggle acting and being a mom more easily.
In addition to continuing her recurring role on ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars — as Dr. Sullivan — and helping send off Catherine Willows on CSI, Gish co-stars in A&E’s spooky Bag of Bones this Sunday and Monday night.
The one-time Brotherhood and X Files actress assumes the role of Jo Noonan, the deceased wife of Mike Noonan (Pierce Brosnan), who communicates with her grieving hubby from beyond the grave.
Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, Bag of Bones isn’t your typical horror fare from King. It’s more of a haunted mystery story that explores the deep love between a man and his wife.
After Jo is tragically and suddenly killed, successful novelist Mike retreats to the cabin the couple own on Maine’s Dark Score Lake to write another novel for his eager agent (Jason Priestley) and grieve his loss.
Once there, strange things begin to happen. The bell around the neck of the moose head hanging over the fireplace starts to jingle, alphabet fridge magnets move and spell out words, pictures fly off walls and dreams about Jo begin to haunt him.
One dream ends with Mike peeking under the bed where he spots Jo for a moment before she is pulled backward, screaming and clawing at the floor, a scene Gish really shot from under a bed.
“My husband would probably cringe to hear me say this, because he’s a stunt coordinator, but it was one of the scariest stunts I’ve done,” Gish recalls with a laugh, on the line from Los Angeles.
“I’m under this bed, they’re yanking me out and I’m supposed to scream and scratch the floor and keep my head at a certain level so I don’t hit my neck. Really, what is scary is talking to your husband from the other side. It’s really kind of eerie and I couldn’t sleep that night.”
What Mike quickly discovers is that small towns hold deep, dark secrets.
With Jo’s hints, he unravels a long-hidden murder, racism, obsession and love. His interactions with single mother Mattie (Grey’s Anatomy’s Melissa George) and her daughter, Kyra (Caitlyn Carmichael), re-ignite a long-simmering feud with a powerful old man in the community and unearth the long-unsolved murder of hometown jazz singer Sara Tidwell, whose body was never found.
“There’s this triptych of women — Mattie, Jo and Sara Tidwell — in Mike’s life and there is this strong essence of Jo,” Gish explains. “Their love has transcended time enough for her to come back and present herself as a ghost and give him psychic clues and drive him to reach the daughter that he couldn’t — or wouldn’t — have had.”
Bag of Bones reunites Gish with director Mick Garris, who worked on another King project, the 2006 TV movie Desperation (which starred Tom Skerrit, Steven Weber and Ron Perlman), about a the effect a creepy abandoned mine has on a small Nevada town. She leapt at the chance to work with Garris again.
“Normally I’m high drama girl, slit your wrists type of drama,” Gish laughs. “I like to watch it, I like to do it. I didn’t know that I would have such a proclivity for doing horror, but apparently Mick thinks I’m one of the best screamers he’s ever heard. And I do quite enjoy putting myself in these crazy-ass worlds.”
Stephen King’s Bag of Bones airs Sunday and Monday at 9 p.m. ET on A&E.
Want a primer on Bag of Bones before Sunday’s debut? Gish recommends visiting the Dark Score Stories website.

