Pittsburgh’s Joy Suprano goes from black-and-gold to blood red in Crystal Lake role opposite Linda Cardellini

How much more juice can be squeezed from a horror franchise with 10 original entries, one crossover film, and a remake? Apparently enough to create an eight-episode prequel series. Streaming now on Peacock, Crystal Lake flips the Friday the 13th narrative to focus on slasher icon Jason Voorhees’ mom, Pamela, and the strange aftermath of her young son’s tragic death (or is it a disappearance?) at the titular camp where she works. Since it debuted on Oct. 15, the show has clearly resonated with horror fans, scoring high marks on Rotten Tomatoes and becoming one of Peacock’s most successful series , according to NBCUniversal. In addition to Linda Cardellini of Freaks and Geeks and horror series favorite Hamish Linklater, the show also stars Pittsburgh-area native Joy Suprano in a major supporting role as Rita, a savvy, delightfully horny, astrology-loving townie who bonds with Pam. Suprano, who grew up in Lower Burrell, tells Pittsburgh City Paper she moved to New York City “exactly 12 days after graduating high school” to pursue her acting career. Before landing Crystal Lake , the 46-year-old built a long resume, mostly TV work, with roles on Law and Order , The Blacklist , Ray Donovan , and FBI . Video game fans might know her as a voice actor on Grand Theft Auto V . While Suprano says she’s a “total wimp” when it comes to horror, she partly credits the Pittsburgh region’s penchant for Halloween as an early inspiration for her becoming a performer. “Looking back, I’m pretty sure dressing up and pretending to be someone else was my earliest form of acting; I just didn’t know I could make a career out of it yet,” she says. She recalls how, each year, her mother would pull “the big Halloween box down from the attic, and we’d get creative.” “Both of my parents were imaginative, so our costumes weren’t nec