The OA Star Says He’s Optimistic Cancelled Series Will Continue

When The OA was cancelled in 2019, it was a significant decision by Netflix as it marked an experience that not only had a passionate following, but also because there were so many unanswered questions left entirely unresolved, with it being one of the scrapped series that Netflix fans continue to campaign to bring back. Even star Brandon Perea recalled that he’s not giving up hope on the project, despite having joined major projects like Nope and Twisters, and he feels like creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij will find a way to finish the storyline once and for all.

When asked by The Hollywood Reporter if he’s surprised the creators are still holding out hope for a resolution, Perea confirmed, “Oh, not in the slightest. It doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m one of those people that has a feeling it’s not over. I think they have a way to continue the story, which I have no idea about, but I’m down and I’m willing to be a part of The OA whenever it’s time to come back around. I leave my door open with it, too.” 

He continued, “It just feels like there are some chapters that we’ve got to close that aren’t closed yet. We have this weird feeling, and Zal is very hopeful.He’s not even hopeful; he just seems very sure of himself. So that gives me assurance as well where I’m like, ‘You know what? I feel like we will [finish].’ So I carry that same hope, and I’m not surprised by it at all. Those two are warriors, man. The stuff that we went through for that shoot and how we got it done — I appreciate those two so much.”

While discussing the possible future for the series last year, co-creator Batmanglij confirmed that Netflix did offer the storytellers the chance to make a movie that would tie up loose threads, but with three more seasons planned, they rejected the offer to condense so many narrative explanations.

“The OA ending was unexpected to me, but they did try to get us to wrap it up with a movie and we said no. So I didn’t feel burnt because of that; I felt more puzzled,” Batmanglij shared with The Hollywood Reporter back in November. “If you’re Netflix, why don’t you just finish it with more than just a wrap-up movie? Why don’t you finish it with a third season? It would force us to bring the three [remaining and planned] seasons into one and close it up, and then you could outsource it to Max or Hulu or wherever. You can do so much with it if it’s finished. This idea of all these unfinished homes littering their platform, I just don’t see the economics of it. It’s much better to have a finished thing and then license that thing and make money off that thing for the next 10-to-20 years.”

He added, “So we didn’t feel bitter about it, and when Darby [Emma Corrin] came to us, we just saw, as Brit said, a beginning, middle, and end. But maybe, subconsciously, we were [protecting ourselves]. But everything these days is a limited series in the sense that the season has become the new pilot. Big Little Lies was a limited series, but it’s now an ongoing series. True Detective was a limited series, but it’s ongoing. So it’s smart to do a beginning, middle, and end for any season that you do.”

Stay tuned for possible updates on The OA.

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