‘The Haunting of Hill House’ Star Would Gladly Play a New Character in Season 2

Mike Flanagan, director of The Haunting of Hill House, has made it quite clear that the Crain family from the first season won’t be the focus of a second season. Carla Gugino, who played Olivia Crain in the series, says she’d be interested in portraying an all-new character in a second season if the show takes an anthology route.

“Mike Flanagan said he would be interested in the notion of an anthology, where some actors come back to play different characters. I think he feels like he has told the complete story of the Crain family,” Gugino shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “But if I was invited and I was able to, I would really love to, just because I do love to collaborate with him.”

She added, “When you find [a like-minded collaborator] — and in the case of Mike Flanagan that is for sure the case — then I’m always excited about the idea.”

Gugino previously collaborated with Flanagan on the Netflix film Gerald’s Game, establishing their affinity for collaborating together. This relationship not only led to the actress scoring the role as the Crain family’s matriarch, but also allowed her to contribute to the character’s development.

“Because I had worked with Mike, and because he was excited about what I was going to be able to bring to the table, I was able to be a part of creating some very key elements in the character [of Olivia Crain] before she was even fully written,” the actress admitted. “That gave me more ownership of who I was playing that directly relates to how I was able to bring this woman to life.”

A second season of the series hasn’t officially been confirmed, though its success on the streaming service makes its continuation feel like an inevitability. Were that the case, Flanagan confirmed the new season would feature new characters.

“I don’t want to speculate too much about season two until Netflix and Paramount and Amblin let us know if they want one. What I will say, though, is that as far as I’ve ever been concerned with this, the story of the Crain family is told. It’s done,” Flanagan revealed to Entertainment Weekly. “I think more than anything, the show is about haunted places and haunted people, as Steve says, and there’s no shortage of either. So, there’s any number of things we could do, in or out of Hill House.”

When it comes to anthology horror TV series, fans are familiar with American Horror Story‘s history of bringing back actors to play new characters. Whether a follow-up season takes a similar approach, or merely shifts forward or backward in time within the same narrative, is yet to be revealed.

The first season of The Haunting of Hill House is streaming now on Netflix.

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