How Many Miles The Long Walk Cast Walked While Filming The Stephen King Movie

There are many, many, many Stephen King books out there. Many of the prolific author's books have been turned into movies. Perhaps none of them, though, had such a long, difficult road to the screen as that of "The Long Walk." Directed by Francis Lawrence, this is a project that has been in development for decades, with many other directors coming and going over the years. At long last, Lawrence managed to get the adaptation of King's dystopian thriller across the finish line. Doing so required a great deal of actual walking, it turns out.

"The Long Walk" recently arrived in theaters from Lionsgate and sees one boy from each state take part in a contest where the winner is awarded whatever he wants. They have one simple objective: walk at a pace of three miles per hour without stopping. After three warnings, you're out. And by out, we mean shot.

In a recent interview with Today, star Cooper Hoffman ("Saturday Night"), who plays Ray Garraty, discussed the process of filming the adaptation. Perhaps not surprisingly, the boys selected to play these 50 participants had to walk an awful lot to convincingly bring King's story to life on screen. Here's what he had to say about it:

"We're actually walking. We ended up walking close to 400 miles total. We were walking like 15 miles per day in like 100 degree heat, on concrete, no shade. I think that we all got really excited for this thing that will never be made again and we all wanted to be a part of it. But when we got there and started walking, there was a real anxiety to making it through the day." 

Unlike most movies, "The Long Walk" was shot in chronological order, which probably helped demonstrate the cumulative effect of all this walking on the actors. Granted, it wasn't actually life or death for them, but it was undoubtedly tiring. Garrett Wareing, who plays Stebbins, had something similar to say about the grueling amount of walking that was required for the production. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in July, the actor said:

"I had my phone in my backpack the whole time, so I had to hide it, but I had my counter, right?" he says. "We were all walking — in addition to our crew members as well, who I want to shout out here — we were all walking eight to 15 miles a day. So what is it? 25,000 to 30,000 steps?"

"We're walking, we're actually walking," Tut Nyuot, who plays Arthur, added. "It's something that I don't think has ever been done, just constantly on the move. So mentally, just getting into that headspace and just staying locked in and treating every scene as if it's new, 'cause we're doing it so many times. We filmed one scene a day."

All of that walking paid off in the end. "The Long Walk" has been met with stellar reviews thus far, currently ranking as one of the highest-rated Stephen King movies ever made. That's no small thing, considering the likes of "The Shawshank Redemption" and "It" are also out there. Plus, Hoffman, David Jonsson, and the rest of the cast all made it out alive, as a little added bonus.

"The Long Walk" is in theaters now.