Kathryn Newton Is Still Not Used To People Blowing Up After Ready Or Not 2 Directors’ Reunion

Newton joins the 2026 horror sequel as Faith MacCaullay, the estranged sister to Samara Weaving’s returning protagonist, Grace. Ready or Not 2 picks up immediately from its acclaimed predecessor, in which Grace has narrowly survived being hunted by her husband and in-laws, only to be recaptured by a cabal of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful families. Handcuffed to Faith, the sisters must put aside their differences if they hope to survive the latest hunt, in which Grace’s victory would seemingly give her control of the world.

Alongside Weaving and Newton, Radio Silence has assembled a star-studded roster for Ready or Not 2: Here I Come‘s cast, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, Néstor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng, Varun Saranga and Nadeem Umar-Khitab. Making its world premiere at SXSW, the sequel has thus far garnered generally favorable reviews from critics, praising its blood-soaked action and humor, currently holding an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In honor of its festival premiere, ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan interviewed Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kathryn Newton and Elijah Wood in our SXSW media suite to discuss Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. Newton opened on getting to reunite with the Radio Silence team for their long-awaited horror sequel, including still not being able to handle a certain aspect of the production, and Gellar on how the film stands out from her prior horror efforts.

Newton Still Isn’t Used To People Blowing Up In Front Of Her

The past few years have seen Newton steadily becoming a bigger name in the world of modern horror, from Christopher Landon’s body-swapping slasher twist Freaky to Zelda Williams’ colorful throwback Lisa Frankenstein. With Ready or Not 2, though, Newton finds herself reuniting with Radio Silence after previously co-starring in their vampire comedy Abigail, playing the thrill-seeking hacker Sammy, who meets her end in explosive fashion after being turned by the titular character.

Much like the 2024 film, Newton once again comes face-to-face with exploding people in the Ready or Not sequel, this time due to the Satanic deal all the wealthy people in the films have made in order to acquire their power. Described as “pathing,” which Gillett says comes from the sound that such an explosion makes, Newton confessed “you don’t get used to” the effect of a character blowing up in front of them, particularly as the clean-up is “uncomfortable“:

Kathryn Newton: But you think about the fans when you do it, and you want to give them something worth watching. Who gets to do that in real life? So, you’re really excited about it, and you prepare a lot for it. And it’s a little like what I imagine being backstage at a concert is like, like if you’re in a band, ’cause everyone is like, “Okay, we’re doing the blood now. It’s happening now,” and everyone starts moving, and there’s like a lot of anticipation. You got to make sure it’s pointed at you, because you don’t want to have to do it again.

Wood concurred by acknowledging that resetting big setpieces like a person exploding as being “a bummer“ to have to deal with, while Gillett also acknowledged it bringing “a live theater element to” the production. Gellar and Newton went on to joke that they ended up learning a lot more about the insanity of movie gore while making Ready or Not 2, with the former saying “getting cake out of hair is harder than blood,” while the latter said there “are levels” to cleaning up.

Gellar, who has a range of experience in the supernatural and horror genres thanks to everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to I Know What You Did Last Summer, further put Ready or Not 2 as being No. 1 on her experience with gore, saying the 2026 sequel “doesn’t even compare” to anything she’s done. Turning to her directors to ask about how much fake blood they actually used, Bettinelli-Olpin confirmed they used 325 gallons, joking that “maybe if we make a third one, we’ll add some zeros” as Wood pitched “a river of blood” for the next Ready or Not.

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