In a series of exclusive interviews, The Direct's Russ Milheim sat down with the cast of Goosebumps: The Vanishing, where the cast revealed their childhood nightmares and talked about their time on the series.
Season 2 of Goosebumps will feature an entirely new set of characters and stories, separate from Season 1, that will pull from some of the franchise's most iconic original books, including Stay Out of the Basement, The Haunted Car, Monster Blood, The Girl Who Cried Monster, The Ghost Next Door, and Welcome to Camp Nightmare.
The cast that The Direct spoke with were Sam McCarthy (Devin Brewer), Jayden Bartels (Cece Brewer), Ana Ortiz (Jen), Francesca Noel (Alex), Elijah M. Cooper (CJ), Galilea La Salvia (Frankie), and Stony Blyden (Trey).
The Cast of Goosebumps: The Vanishing Reveal Their Childhood Nightmares
Readers Beware of 100-Feet Tall Booger Monsters, Zombie Cows, and Rogue Decorators.
- The Direct: "In the vein of Goosebumps, what were some of the things that you guys had nightmares of growing up?"
Sam McCarthy: When I was three years old, I had a dream that the Hudson River, because I've lived in New York my whole life, was made out of boogers and was a ginormous booger monster, 100-feet tall... I'm so serious, I'm so serious. It was ginormous.
And this kid I knew who was like five, so he was super old and cool, was like on a flying skateboard, fighting the booger monster... I was no older than four, and I just remember this booger monster in the Hudson River.
Jayden Bartels: I used to have a reoccurring nightmare about the guest room in my childhood home. There was nothing creepy about the guest room. It was like, literally, the room is decorated yellow and blue. It's so lively and happy.
I had a reoccurring nightmare that there were these two random girls who would come in and decorate the room as if to be a haunted house. And it was bad. They did not do a good job. But then they would turn off the lights, and the production value went up millions of dollars, the creepiest haunted house you would ever experience.
Galilea La Salvia: I feel like I would have a lot of reoccurring dreams of my teeth falling out for some reason, which I feel like, if you go online and search that up, that should mean something... I'm a big dreamer. I sometimes lucid dream, and I feel like that's also scary within itself.
Elijah M. Cooper: I just had the falling down the never-ending stairs.
Stony Blyden: You guys ever have sleep paralysis? I never had, like, nightmares, but I had that a lot... That is the scariest thing I've ever experienced.
Ana Ortiz: I mean, mine are so like pedestrian next to y'all. I was scared of like snakes in my dreams––Oh, actually, no, when I [am] really stressed out, my anxiety dreams are always zombies. It's always zombies chasing me. And once it was cow zombies, like I was on this farm, and it was awful. I wake myself up.
Francesca Noel: Let me tell you the secret with zombies. I get zombie dreams a lot. You stick them in the head with a fork. Let me tell you.
Jayden Bartels Talks About Cece and Her Twin Devin
"... Their Determination and Relentlessness and Their Mind Are Where Their Similarities Fall."
- The Direct: "How did you [ and Sam McCarthy] work to build the chemistry between [Cece and Devin] as twins, both on and offset?"
Jayden Bartels: I don't think it took a lot of work, fortunately. So we really, right off the bat, hit it off... We're very different, just like Devin and Cece. But I think one thing is, we bicker like siblings. It's never serious. It's never even about anything serious, but like... on set we would have full debates about acting techniques, and it would get pretty heated, and then they would yell action and then we'd have debates about whatever Cece and Devin we're debating about.
- The Direct: "They say twins are really close to each other, sometimes even maybe feels supernatural, you know, they subconsciously do some of the same stuff. Were there any tics or similar habits that you guys wanted to maybe develop between your two characters and maintain throughout the show?"
Bartels: We never even [thought about that]. Interestingly enough, I think that Devin and Cece move very differently. I'll say for me, I did give some ticks to Cece, but they wouldn't have made any sense for Devin, and I think that's part of the reason why they're so likable is because they're so opposite. Absolutely, some twins are literally the exact same thing. But I think for Devin and Cece, that isn't where their similarities fall. I think their determination and relentlessness and their mind are where their similarities fall.
Galilea La Salvia Reveals How Her Real Life Influenced Frankie
"I Did Feel Involved, and That's Something That You Don't Get Often."
- The Direct: "What was something you brought to your own character that maybe wasn't on the page originally?"
Galilea La Salvia: I actually have a fun story for this. So, during the first week of shooting, we had a dinner with the executives, the showrunners, and everyone. And I was talking to Rob Letterman and Hillary Winston, and they were asking me about my personal life and all that stuff.
And I was telling them about my home life, and they said that they wanted to include a scene with Frankie's mother. They're asking me [about] my relationship with my mother. And I said, 'Well, first of all, my mother's from Argentina, and I'm Latina, and I fully communicate with her in Spanish.' And they were like, 'Oh, well, should we include that for Frankie? Like, would you want that?' And I said, 'I would love that. Like, Are you cool with that?' And that was just...
Frankie is now bilingual, and I'm like, this is so fun that we get to shoot scenes in Spanish and interact. And they were also very kind that they were so inclusive. And even after, when they were writing the subtitles, I got it sent to me [by] the editing team, and they're like, does this accurately depict what you're trying to say...
I did feel involved, and that's something that you don't get often, and it's so sad that you don't get that too often. But I feel like Rob and Hillary gave us a lot of freedom with our characters.
Francesca Noel and Ana Ortiz on What Excited Them About Their Journeys
"I Loved My Character Because She Was Like an Action Figure."
- The Direct: "What excited you the most about how your characters factored into the season as a whole?"
Francesca Noel: I loved my character because she was like an action figure. And for me, I love action, horror, and superhero stuff, so getting to do that in this 'Goosebumps' world and defeating monsters and working with [Ana Ortiz], crazy, yeah? So that was such a gift.
Ana Ortiz: I think for me, it was a lot of the same. I mean, being this serious cop, but also, then being thrown into this world that doesn't make any sense. She's a very logical person, and then she's confronted with all these things that can't possibly be happening, on top of having a very complicated relationship with her kid and seeing again, this man from her past that she feels super guilty about for reasons that we can't say. There was just so much going on, but it all made perfect sense, and it was really exciting to play it.
What Makes Goosebumps So Special, Even Today?
"It's Kind of Lightning In a Bottle..."
- The Direct: "What do you think it is about Goosebumps that really keeps it around because everyone still loves it and remembers it?"
Jayden Bartels: I think the reason why 'Goosebumps' stays so iconic and amazing is because horror is very popular. I get it. Horror is my favorite thing ever. So it touches that interest in people, but also there's so many relatable things.
And I think it's really enjoyable to find something that is kind of spooky and scary and intriguing and weird monsters, but also you're like, 'Oh, I feel that, I go through that, I relate to that.' So, I think it's a perfect blend between the two. And that's, in my opinion, why it stays so iconic...
Sam McCarthy: That's a hard question because it's kind of lightning in a bottle, 'Goosebumps.' With anything like that, like 'Goosebumps,' 'Harry Potter, ' 'Lord of the Rings,' these things that have withstood the test of time, and people have connected to and loved. If I could bottle that, I wouldn't tell you, and I'd do it myself. I don't know.
Galilea La Salvia: It's just something different and unique. I think ['Goosebumps' author] R.L. Stein was, I believe, a comedy writer before he wrote the series 'Goosebumps.' And I feel like horror for kids is something that is not seen too often.
And I feel like 'Goosebumps' really paved the way for that whole genre and that whole era of frightening kids. I think that's why it's something so unique. And I feel like people love to be scared, but then also be able to sleep at night, but then also maybe leave the lights on. I feel like it builds character.
The full interviews with the cast of Goosebumps: The Vanishing can be seen below:
Goosebumps: The Vanishing debuts on Disney+ starting on January 10, 2025.
Be sure to check out some of The Direct's interviews for the first season of Goosebumps!
