The lead stars of the recent Thanksgiving slasher commented on the prospects of their characters having a role in the upcoming sequel.
Thanksgiving 2 was recently properly announced by director Eli Roth, but, as expected, all plot details remain a mystery.
The movie ended with Jessica and Bobby surviving their encounter with John Carver and discovering that Sherriff Eric Newlon was the killer all along. While it seems like he was blown to smithereens in the final act of the film, a body wasn't found—which is never a good thing.
Will Milo Manheim & Nell Verlaque Return for Thanksgiving 2?
In an exclusive interview with The Direct’s Russ Milheim, Thanksgiving stars Milo Manheim and Nell Verlaque spoke about their time on Eli Roth’s horror slasher and if they could return for the sequel.
When the topic of Thanksgiving 2 came up and the pair were questioned on if either would be appearing, the two were tight-lipped.
Manheim joked that “[he’s] knocking on everything” and how “[he’s] not gonna say a word.” However, the actor did slip in a hopeful, “We’ll see.”
Verlaque returned the question to the first film’s director, “Ask Eli [Roth]. I mean, we have a lot to explore here, so.”
But, when it came to the first installment, what surprised the two stars the most about it?
Manheim admitted that he didn’t expect “how funny it is:”
“For me, it's how funny it is... I wasn't expecting a horror movie to be such a delightful experience for me. I'm sure Nell had a much different story.”
“I was actually gonna say the same thing,” Verlaque added, remembering how “Eli [Roth] brought such a fun energy to set:”
“I was actually gonna say the same thing. However, I was quite traumatized during most of the movie. It made it so nice that the rest of the cast and Eli [Roth] brought such a fun energy to set. So if I was, you know, in a scene, crying hysterically, then I could walk outside, and Eli would be like screaming at young children to be traumatized. And it was very entertaining.“
The Direct then asked if either of them wished their characters could have done anything else in the movie, to which Manheim diplomatically responded, “We serve the story and not ourselves:”
“Look, we serve the story and not ourselves. By serving the story, we serve ourselves. So whatever Eli [Roth] had in plan in store for our characters was correct. Of course, I want Ryan to do a bunch of shit here and there... I'd love to kill. I'd love to get killed. I'd love to get sprayed with blood. But we got a whole career to look forward to to do that stuff. So the story is what's the most important, and it was a great story.”
While the two may have been happy with what their characters got to do, was there anything they did that they wished made it into the movie?
Manheim recalled “a great learning experience” for him which included some reaction shots to the Black Friday massacre:
“I have--I don't wish that people could have seen this because it doesn't really make sense. But it was a really great learning experience for me. In the opening scene, when the like riot is happening. You know, it doesn't make sense for my character to be there. However, we did shoot just like three takes of him reacting to all of it.”
The actor explained that Eli Roth had to take him aside and tell him, “This isn’t Disney Channel,” referring to his background with the House of Mouse as the lead of the Zombie trilogy:
“And the first time I did it, I was like, you know, I'm seeing--I don't want to like expose too much--But I'm seeing Bobby on the floor. And I was like, Oh my God, that's Bobby. Dude. That's Bobby and I was like, doing all this stuff. And Eli takes me, he's like, 'This isn't Disney Channel. You're seeing like madness unfold in front of you. Go do it again. Like unfiltered.' And I'm like, 'I'm not read.y And I go back and, 'I'm like Fuck, fuck, what the fuck?' Like I don't have words. Yeah. And it was a cool little thing that I unlocked.”
The movie centers around the masked John Carver killer, whose identity remains a mystery throughout the movie. But in the final act, it’s revealed that Patrick Dempsey’s Sheriff Eric Newlon was the bad guy the entire time.
So, how surprised was the cast?
Verlaque shared how “the script initially did not have the killer reveal,” as that secret was hidden “until the last possible moment:”
“The script initially did not have the killer reveal. So when we were all auditioning, I thought that it ended where you don't know who it was. And I thought that for a very long time, by the way, because they gave me an updated script for a long time. And then it would sort of change. And he did his best to hide it until the last possible moment. So, by the time we got to that, we were all quite shocked. Yes.”
The full interview can be found below:
Are Jessica and Ryan Safe From John Carver?
Everyone knows when there’s no body found, said person is probably still alive.
So, for Nell Verlaque's Jessica in particular, the threat of John Carver’s return is genuine. If she sticks around with Milo Manheim's Ryan, his life could be just as in danger.
The interesting part of a sequel is that the first movie was so specific and pinpointed regarding the killer’s motive. Whatever John Carver’s next step is, it's not a clear puzzle to solve—especially since everyone knows Eric was the one under the mask.
It would be strange to ditch the Thanksgiving theme, given the title, so whenever John Carver returns, it's a safe bet to say it’ll be a holiday affair.
Thanksgiving is now available to buy digitally.
