MGM+’s The Institute is finally here for our horror-viewing pleasure. Adapted from prolific horror maestro Stephen King‘s 2019 novel of the same name, the story zeroes in on the titular Institute and its mysterious inhabitants as well as the goings-on of a former police officer, Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes), in a nearby town. Ms. Sigsby (Mary-Louise Parker) oversees the Institute, including a bevy of children with unusual abilities.

One of her employees is Maureen, played by Jane Luk, a haunted, dishonorably discharged veteran who spends her days cleaning and looking after the kids. Recently, I had the privilege of chatting with Jane about her recurring role on The Institute, what fans can expect and working with Mary-Louise Parker. 

This interview is edited for length and clarity. 

We had a family farm, but when we were little, we didn’t go out to work. Back then, my parents left me at home. I was the oldest, so I took care of my siblings. TV was our babysitter. We watched copious amounts of TV. I thought, “Oh, I want to do that.” Never thought I could do anything with it, mainly because we lived in a rural part of Ontario.

There weren’t many Asian kids, so there weren’t many opportunities. People were writing plays, but not with me in mind. That’s when I first caught the bug. Later on, I remember watching Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball, not realizing that I liked them so much because they were funny. I thought, “I want to do what they’re doing.”

The Institute is based on Stephen King’s book of the same name. The book is so dense with stuff that I’m glad they made it into a series to address a lot of material. I auditioned like any other actor. It’s really funny how, in our industry, one project can change the entire trajectory of your career. I auditioned via Zoom on a recall for a different character. Then, on the recall, I was asked to do the role of Maureen as well.

I hadn’t read the book and didn’t know the story. I had to do a lot of research. A lot of times, these big productions are on the hush-hush in terms of how much material they release to you. 

I was so lucky because [for] Jack Bender, who’s the executive producer and also directed a number of the episodes, it’s his passion project. He was on the Zoom call. That’s very rare. He said, “This is what’s going on with this character. This is what I’d like to see. Let’s do it again.” I took in all his notes.

I redid the whole thing, did a complete 180. He said, “Oh, wow, yes, I really like you for this part.” At that point, I should have kept my mouth shut, but I said, “What about the other role I auditioned for?” He said, “Yes. You probably prepared for it. Why don’t we see you do that role?” There was a second where I thought, “Maybe I won’t do as good a job because then he’ll really consider me for this other role.”

At the end of the audition, he said, “No, you’re better for the other role.” I thought, “Did I just get cast?” I didn’t know for sure. Anyway, it was really exciting to audition for him. That was the process. I wish I were at a point where I could pick and choose my projects, but not just yet. I got lucky with this one.

The Institute — I’m going to be very general, so I won’t give any spoilers, but it’s a place where all these children, from ages 10 to 18, are there because they either have telepathy or telekinesis. It’s run by this woman, Ms. Sigsby. She’s got other people working for her as well. It’s a dark and foreboding place.

It’s set in this town where the townspeople don’t know what’s going on there. Now, we have two storylines. I wasn’t involved in the other one, which is what’s happening in the town. Maureen works in the Institute. She’s there under very sad circumstances. It’s been a hard time for her. She’s there to deal with the children and to report to Sigsby. Sigsby is her boss. 

First of all, I was so impressed with everyone’s performances. They’re younger actors. The youngest actor we have is Viggo Hanvelt, who’s 10. Everybody else is up to teens.

It’s dark because it’s Stephen King. There are some really good stunts. There’s a lot of makeup. My character is by no means a glamorous version of me at all.

I love getting into characters, including makeup, prosthetics, that kind of thing. I don’t have any prosthetics, but some people do. It’s really quite a journey. You’re always on the fence about who the good guys are and who aren’t. Sometimes, they really reveal themselves right away.

Foreboding. Trap. Power-hungry.

She does look after the kids. I was very lucky to be working with kids. This was a big project for me. It was really interesting to work with kids because I love working with them. I know sometimes people say, “Oh, the worst things you have to deal with are kids and animals in any kind of project.” That was what was similar.

Maureen is very hard on herself, and I see that in me as well. In terms of why she’s there, she’s given up, and that’s not me. I don’t give up or surrender to a life that I know I’m not meant for. 

MM: Without giving too much away, of course, do you have a highlight or a favorite scene from filming?

JL: One of the highlights was working with Joe Freeman because I had a number of scenes with him. This was his first acting job. It was really great getting to know him. Some of the more difficult scenes we got into later on, it was great that we could at least talk about it a bit. We would share shorthands. I said, “Do you want to do this at this point?” He said, “Yes. Okay.” We would really try to make it work. That’s what I loved.

Also, working with Mary-Louise Parker. Phenomenal. I have a couple of scenes with her. I have this one big scene — it’s just her and me. When we were both in the makeup trailer, she said, “Do you want to run lines?” I thought, “Oh, yes. How amazing that you would ask me.” Because a lot of times, when you have the top of the lead, very rarely, I find, do they want to run lines. They ask another actor if they want to run lines. I thought that was really great. I loved that.

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See, I’m an improviser. I discovered it a long time ago, and now I teach it as well. She uses similar basic guidelines of improv, which are to really listen and be in the moment. Sometimes, the moments would shift a bit based on the way the other person gave me their line, and she would do the same. I thought that was so great. I love working like that. You’re both really present and authentic with each other. That was one highlight with two people.

MM: What else is on the horizon for you, career-wise?

JL: I’m auditioning. There are lots of projects happening. Our industry is so unpredictable. This year, I’ve been doing mostly voiceover work. It just happened that way. Whereas in other years, I’ve had theater or was teaching at the University of Windsor. It’s like you throw all this confetti in the air, and then wherever it lands, like, “You’re doing this, this, and this for this year.”

I love voice work. My friend Sam Agro is an animator. Also, he’s done comedy writing for sketch and stuff like that. We wanted to do voices, and we were really interested in sinking our teeth into more characters. We created a silly — I’ll say silly because it’s meant to be comedic, but it’s a murder mystery between this husband and wife duo.

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He’s a lead detective for the Department of Uncanny Cases. She is a star reporter for this fictitious Northern Upper New York paper. We haven’t decided on the name of that yet. Kitty O’Donoghue. It’s set in the ’50s. We’ve already got one script done. We’re working on a second one. That’s been a lot of fun, just researching the colloquialisms of the day. Also, trying to make it relevant for today and trying to skew it to make it using today’s events to showcase them in that time period. 

MM: Have you watched anything interesting lately?

JL: I just started watching Ginny & Georgia again, the new season. I’m behind, but I’m seeing a number of my friends in there because it’s shot in Toronto, which is so great.

I finally got onto Better Things with Pamela Adlon. I thought, “I wish I knew more about this human before.” She is just an amazing person. 

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MM: Name your favorite films.

JL: I have eclectic taste. I still say The Court Jester from way back, because when I was little, I got some great catchphrases from there, like, “The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.” Cool Hand Luke. Blade Runner. The Shawshank Redemption. Stand by Me. The Princess Bride.

You can follow Jane Luk on Instagram (@janelukpicard). Be sure to catch new episodes of The Institute every Sunday on MGM+.

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