STILL SLAYING

WITH A KILLER NEW ROLE ON HER RÉSUMÉ, THE STAR IS BACK IN THE GAME

- Jennie Noonan

Actress Kathryn Newton was already thrilled to be joining the cast of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, the sequel to the cult 2019 horror hit about a bride (played by Australian scream queen Samara Weaving) hunted by her wealthy in-laws but, during early rehearsals in Toronto, she was bowled over by a new development. "I saw Sarah Michelle Gellar's photo on the wall and I was like, 'She's in the movie?'" Newton shared in December during an onstage conversation at CCXP in São Paulo, Brazil. "They were like, 'Yeah, we just got her yesterday.' And I literally fell on the floor because Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a huge inspiration of mine."

Once filming began on the project, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Newton couldn't resist paying homage. In one scene, she recreated an outfit Gellar wore in the Buffy pilot, which first aired in March 1997 - a blue button-down shirt layered over a white tank top, hair pulled into a messy bun.

"I'm in the first scene with her, and I was like, 'You know, your outfit reminds me of something,'" Gellar spilled to Entertainment Tonight of the look. "And she was like, 'Does it?' And so I have a great side-by-side. Yeah, the hairdo is exactly the same."

Tickled as she was by the tribute, Gellar's interest in Ready or Not 2 stemmed from her love of the original. "It was one of those movies when I saw it, I was like, 'Why couldn't I be in that movie?'" she told US Today in March 2025. "'I wanna play that role, 15 years ago; but then here I am."