Why such a horrible actor for the lead?

I AM ASSUMING HE WAS GOOD IN HIS AUDITION...IF YOU CHECK HIS RESUME ELVIS AND ME IS THE ONLY LEAD ROLE HE HAD BEFORE PET SEMATARY.

What I remember him from was the TV series “Time Trax” from the 80’s. He was the main star in that so when “Pet Sematary” came around I knew who he was. He wasn’t that bad I think. You didn’t need Olivier for this for Pete’s sake.

I’ve always wondered the same thing - I noted on another thread that one of the biggest problems I had with this movie is the wooden acting most of which came from the male lead. It really takes me out of the movie

The whole cast was terrible, overacting and being overly sweet. And the little kid was embarrasingly bad. I blame Mary Lambert's directing. The 2019 remake was much better in this regard and the ending was more convincing because they got to work with an older kid actor.