Sarah Michelle Gellar has an unofficial role on the upcoming untitled I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel. Gellar played doomed pageant queen Helen Shivers in the original 1997 movie, which was written by Scream‘s Kevin Williamson, loosely adapting the Lois Duncan novel of the same name. The upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel, which will be the fourth feature-length installment in the franchise, will feature Gellar’s husband Freddie Prinze Jr. reprising his original role as fisherman Ray Bronson, who was in a burgeoning relationship with final girl Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt).
Sarah Michelle Gellar recently chatted with PEOPLE about the possibility of her reprising her role in the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel, which also stars Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, and Jonah Hauer-King. She revealed that she will not be returning as Helen because “I am dead.” However, because of the fact that the movie’s director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is her “best friend,” she has found herself with an “unofficial job” maintaining continuity on the script. Read her full description of the job below:
[I won’t reprise my role.] I am dead. [But] my best friend [Jennifer Kaytin Robinson] is directing it, so we joke that I have an unofficial job, which is I am continuity. So I’m always the one telling her, “Well, that would happen, or that wouldn’t happen with those characters,” so I do have kind of an unofficial job title.
What This Means For I Know What You Did Last Summer
Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Involvement Honors The Franchise’s Legacy Behind The Scenes
Although Gellar will not be appearing onscreen in the sequel to the iconic teen horror movie, her involvement behind the scenes shows that the movie will be honoring the franchise’s legacy in ways that go beyond just bringing back original characters. It also seems to show that she still has a measure of affection for her early movie role in I Know What You Did Last Summer despite not being able to appear in any of its sequels due to her character’s fate.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. met while filming I Know What You Did Last Summer and got married five years after its release, in 2002.
However, Gellar’s behind-the-scenes involvement could encourage more legacy cast members to join the project. At the time of writing, Prinze Jr. is the only returning cast member, though it was previously announced that Hewitt was in talks to join the project. Brandy, who played Julie’s roommate Karla in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, has also revealed that she has had a conversation about potentially returning to the franchise. The combined presence of Prinze Jr. and Gellar, even in a small capacity for the latter, could possibly encourage both to say yes to the project.
Our Take On Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Unofficial I Know What You Did Last Summer Role
The Franchise’s Future Looks Bright
Ultimately, either because of her continuity contributions, her help in potentially bringing on more cast members, or both, Gellar’s involvement could help make the movie a success. This could potentially allow the reboot of the franchise to stick, spawning further installments in a way that Prime Video’s cancelled I Know What You Did Last Summer TV show failed to do when its single season aired in 2021.
Source: PEOPLE
