Ben Mears in Salem's Lot

Stephen King's haunted town, carried by a leading man who plays fear quietly rather than loudly.

In the 2024 adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot, Pullman plays Ben Mears, a writer who returns to his childhood town of Jerusalem's Lot and finds it being hollowed out by a vampire. It is a classic King setup — the outsider who sees what the town refuses to see — and Pullman plays Ben as a man trying to stay rational while the evidence gets worse. The film, released on Max, gave him his first outright horror lead after supporting work in the genre (The Strangers: Prey at Night).

Place in his career

Salem's Lot sits between two bigger swings — Lessons in Chemistry and Thunderbolts — and shows the through-line: Pullman keeps choosing literary, character-first material even as his franchise profile grows. For audiences tracking his range, it is the horror entry in a filmography that now spans westerns, thrillers, prestige TV, blockbusters and Marvel.