Who Is Jason Voorhees' Father? Widow's Bay Fans Will Recognize the Crystal Lake Actor
Hamish Linklater has earned a rep for crushing roles in horror series.
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Key Takeaways
- Hamish Linklater makes an uncredited appearance in Crystal Lake as Elias Wittering, Jason Voorhees’ biological father and a key figure behind the secretive Project Argonaut experiments.
- Elias manipulates Pam Voorhees into undergoing dangerous experimental treatments while working for Bellflower Chemical, ultimately presenting Jason as a successful radiation-resistant test subject before Pam flees with her son.
- Linklater is also known for major horror roles in Midnight Mass and Widow’s Bay, continuing a trend of playing mysterious characters in acclaimed horror series.
Warning: Major spoilers for Peacock and A24's Crystal Lake series below!
Halfway into Crystal Lake Episode 6, "Kill Them Mommy," reporter Brianna Brooks (Devin Kessler) is waiting to meet a source in a New Jersey amusement park when she encounters a mysterious figure. But eagle-eyed fans of two high-profile horror series — Widows Bay and Midnight Mass — likely placed the actor right away.
In an uncredited role, Hamish Linklater plays a man who tells Brianna he was involved in the top-secret clinical trials known as Project Argonaut. "The project was voluntary, the subjects were carefully vetted, and the science was sound," he insists, before issuing a vague threat. He also says he's searching for one of Argonaut's test subjects: Pam Voorhees (Linda Cardellini).
In visually-stunning flashbacks, Episode 7, "Friday...," reveals who this man really is: Jason Voorhees' biological dad. He's highly involved with Project Argonaut, and Pam Voorhees and Jason Voorhees have been on the run from him for years.
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Who plays Jason Voorhees' father on Crystal Lake?
Hamish Linklater plays Jason's father, Elias Wittering. He appears in Crystal Lake episodes 6, 7, and 8.
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Hamish Linklater TV horror roles include Widow's Bay and Midnight Mass
Hamish Linklater has been a working actor since 2000, and played Julia Louis-Dreyfus's brother on sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine from 2006-2010. He is the long-term partner of American Horror Story actress Lily Rabe, sharing four children.
In more recent years he's earned critical acclaim for two high-profile horror roles. Linklater played the villainous, supernatural Father Paul in Mike Flanagan's limited series Midnight Mass. And in 2026, Linklater nabbed an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nomination for playing immortal town founder Richard Warren on Widow's Bay.
That's right: Linklater played an immortal resident of a spooky island on both shows. And as with Crystal Lake, Linklater's Widow's Bay part was an unannounced surprise.
"The [horror] genre sees something in me that I am going to try to stay as blind to as long as I possibly can. I don't know what's going on. But if I get to work with wonderful people, I'll take it," Linklater told Deadline in May 2026.
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Jason Voorhees' father Elias was Pam's husband gone bad on Crystal Lake
First appearing as a shadowy rep for Bellflower Chemical, the company who created Project Argonaut, Episode 7 goes back to 1959 to re-introduce Linklater's character. Elias Wittering was then a low-level employee at Bellflower, and the boyfriend of aspiring New York City singer Pamela Scott (Cardellini). When Pam's facing a miscarriage when she's pregnant with Jason, Elias convinces her to relocate to Houston, Texas for a "state of the art" treatment. The two get engaged.
Pam discovers the experimental "treatments" at Project Argonaut are terrifying, and at least one case, deadly to mothers. Despite her struggles, Linklater's character insists she stick with the protocol as he climbs the ranks of the company. He lies to and regularly gaslights Pam as she mothers her disfigured son Jason. When Elias unveils Jason as Project Argonaut's success — a child who can survive radiation — a horrified Pam escapes with her son. But Jason's father Elias manages to track them down.
