Original Smile Star Shoots Down a Return for Upcoming Sequel

Recent weeks have seen a handful of casting updates about the upcoming Smile sequel, but star of the original movie Kal Penn admits that he hasn’t heard anything about a return for the follow-up movie, likely confirming the ways in which the new film will be moving away from the debut 2022 movie. While a number of characters from the original Smile died before the closing credits, Penn’s Dr. Desai was only tangentially connected to the unsettling experience, allowing him to stay out of harm’s way. However, given the success of the debut movie, it’s entirely possible that Smile 2 is just the beginning of a long-running franchise and it’s only a matter of time before Penn returns to the series. The Smile sequel is set to hit theaters on October 18th.

“As far as I know, I’m not in the sequel. But, I would obviously say ‘yes’ if they called,” Penn revealed to Screen Rant. “That was a blast, that movie. I think originally it was called ‘There’s Something Wrong With Rose,’ and it was this lower budget horror movie. I thought the script was awesome, and I’m from New Jersey, we shot mostly in New Jersey, so it seemed very cool. And I like horror. And then, the way it kind of blew up, I was so excited and so happy for, obviously, the cast, and Sosie [Bacon], and the director, but just the idea that horror fans were like, ‘All right, that’s the movie,’ that we didn’t even think was gonna go theatrical, and then it did. So I’m excited for the second one, as a fan.”

Bacon’s Rose is one of the many characters that didn’t survive the events of the movie, with new cast members in the sequel including Rosemarie DeWitt, Naomi Scott, and Lukas Gage. The cast isn’t entirely newcomers, as Kyle Gallner will also be involved in the project, despite the tease that his days were numbered in the film’s final scenes.

In the original Smile, after witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality. 

Smile started its life as the short Laura Hasn’t Slept, which filmmaker Parker Finn then expanded into the feature-length movie. Initially slated to be a Paramount+ exclusive, the film got a theatrical release and became a hit with both audiences and critics.

The Smile sequel is set to hit theaters on October 18th.

Would you like to see Penn return to the franchise? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!