Ready or Not 2: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood Inter. Transcript
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Ready or Not 2: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood Inter. Transcript
In the transcript of our interview with Ready or Not 2: Here I Come stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Elijah Wood, we discuss rebranding the horror genre and more.
Published Sun, 22 Mar 2026 15:17:09 -0500
by Kaitlyn Booth
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Article Summary
- Sarah Michelle Gellar and Elijah Wood discuss rebranding the horror genre in Ready or Not 2 interview.
- The stars reflect on why horror is often seen as "lowbrow" and push for greater respect for the genre.
- Behind-the-scenes insights on which scenes came together flawlessly and why these roles appealed to them.
- Conversation touches on industry trends, the evolution of horror films, and creative challenges on set.
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come hit theaters this weekend, and we got the chance to interview stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Elijah Wood. We had a great back-and-forth about the merits and possible rebranding of the horror genre, what scene just came together perfectly, and more. Here is a transcription and a video of the entire interview.
Kaitlyn Booth: So you've both spent a decent amount of time in the horror genre. What made this one stand out so much that you wanted to join it?
Elijah Wood: I mean, it was loving the first film, honestly. Being big fans of that movie and how original and surprising it was. Loving their work, Matt [Bettinelli-Olpin] and Tyler [Gillett], Radio Silence, and the subsequent films that they've made. And just being honored to be asked to play in that sandbox, you know?
Sarah Michelle Gellar: I have a weird question I've never asked, but I feel like you might have the answer to it. Why do people always ask, you've done horror, you've been in, like… Do people not wanna talk about horror? I feel if you're doing a lot of dramas, no one's like, "well, this is your fifth drama in a row."
Wood: It's so funny.
Gellar: Why is that?
Booth: I think it's because horror is still kind of seen sometimes as a lowbrow genre, which is ridiculous.
Wood: It is ridiculous.
Booth: It is. Horror is incredible.
Gellar: That's why I wanted to ask you.
Booth: Yeah, horror is like, it's so beautiful. It's political. It is an amazing genre. And I feel like people are finally starting to really give it the respect it deserves.
Gellar: I was wondering if that's what you were going to say. That's why I wanted to ask you, because I think it's so interesting. As a female in this industry, I get asked that a lot. And I think to myself, well, I'm a female who likes to play strong characters, right? Three-dimensional characters. And genre is where those characters live.
Booth: Absolutely.
Gellar: When you do an action-only movie, it's not the woman who ever saves the day. The men are the superheroes. They're the more developed characters. And only the leads are the developed characters in those films. This is like the funny other characters. And, you know… Genre was created to answer the questions that either we don't have the answers to or that we don't want to accept the answers to. And to me, that's where creativity really can live and blossom, and then you look at the box office, and right now, you know, overall, that's where the box office is. And I wonder when people are going to realize that you don't ask someone, well, you've made eight comedies. When are you not gonna make a comedy? I asked you because obviously this is a genre that you love and I wanna know what do we have to do to change the conversation?
Wood: It's interesting.
Booth: I think it is changing. I think Sinners coming in and becoming such a big thing at the Academy Awards was a big step in the right direction. But also for both of you, you've also not just done mainstream horror, you have done a lot of independent horror. And independent horror is where so much of filmmaking is, you know, born. So much of it. So that's one of the reasons why I'm like, not only have you guys done mainstream, but also independent. And that's why I want to know why this one, and I like what both of you guys have done in this genre.
Gellar: Rebrand the word horror. Maybe that. Maybe because the connotation of the word is associated with, you know, like a Roger Corman type, whatever, which by the way is fabulous, but it's more specific for certain people. Maybe we need to just call it genre. It just needs like a fancier core name. I'm going to work on this. I am going to rebrand the entire thing. And I'm going to work on it [and] campaign.
Wood: [laughing] I love it.
Gellar: Because I just, I think it's unfair.
Booth: I wholeheartedly agree with you. When Guillermo del Toro won that Oscar for The Shape of Water, I was pumping my fist.
Gellar: Right? When you talk about directors that are pushing envelopes and creators that are creating worlds and bringing franchises back, this is where it's happening. And I just think it gets labeled unfairly. I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm sure those weren't your questions, but…
Booth: No, it's okay. Like one of the questions I'm gonna ask the directors is like technology is like, one of things we're gonna ask directors is horror is where good tech is born.
Booth: So, Elijah, you said in the production notes that the characters "will tell you exactly who they are with very little." What do each of you think that moment is for your character?
Wood: I mean, as soon as he sort of steps out, places the book, kind of puts his hands like this," Wood explained as he demonstrated the almost triangle The Lawyer forms with his hands [see the third photo in the gallery]. "I don't know, his body language is like, okay, this guy's official and mysterious, but I get a sense that he's about to sort of tell us what our fate is.
Gellar: And I think when you meet Ursula and Titus [Shawn Hatosy], and you see what happens in their very first meeting, I think you get a pretty good idea of who they are.
Booth: Very memorable [laughs]. What scene for each of you just kind of came together really flawlessly? You walked in, you did it, and it was done. It was just perfect, instead of what was hard.
Gellar: I think the answer is the same for what was hard and what was perfect, which was the scene we all did, the one scene where he's explaining the rules. I mean, it's technically challenging always to have 20 actors in a scene, and you had an extreme amount of dialogue, but you could just see the entire movie within that scene."
Wood: Yeah, it's sort of the scene for which everything then kind of moves from there," Wood continued. "And so it was hugely important, but also really fun. Everyone is also expressing their characters so fully, it did really fall into place, and it was fun to play and fun to watch.
Booth: All right, well, I'm getting the "please wrap." Thank you, guys, so much. And thank you for the really interesting, lively conversation about horror. I really enjoyed watching the movie last night. So thank you both so much for taking the time to speak with me.
Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come – Summary, Cast List, Release Date
Moments after surviving an all-out attack from the Le Domas family, Grace (Samara Weaving) discovers she's reached the next level of the nightmarish game — and this time with her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) at her side. Grace has one chance to survive, keep her sister alive, and claim the High Seat of the Council that controls the world. Four rival families are hunting her for the throne, and whoever wins rules it all.
Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, stars Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, Néstor Carbonell, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng, Varun Saranga, and Daniel Beirne. It was released on March 20, 2026.
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