While fans have been anticipating an iZombie reunion since the show’s finale on The CW in 2019, series star Rose McIver reveals audiences will get their wish with her next project. Well, sort of. During a conversation with PopCulture.com in support of her CBS smash hit ensemble sitcom Ghosts, McIver revealed her upcoming film Next Exit will co-star iZombie actors Rahul Kohli and Tongayi Chirisa.
But as it is a reunion for McIver, it is also a project she is particularly inspired by. In a directorial feature film debut by Mali Elfman, the Ghosts star says the filmmaker is a “very good friend” of hers, who also produced the short film Nice Ride that McIver wrote and directed in 2020. “We’ve been kind of creative chatters about anything we are working on or coming up with. We’ve kind of held each other quite accountable and encouraged each other and so I was fortunate to be with her when she wrote that script,” she said. “She came with me to a convention in Hawaii one weekend, and I said, ‘You’re coming with me and you are finishing writing that.’ She’d been talking about it for a long time, and I’m so inspired by her.”
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Sharing how Elfman finished the draft that weekend following their get-together, McIver admits being in a unique position amid the global pandemic and getting the chance to “put the whole thing together” was something that left her awestruck. “She put the whole thing together, directed, and we had a lot of our friends involved. It was Katie Parker — the female leader in that film, is a very good friend of mine and Karen Gillan’s a dear old friend, so it was a passion project.”
Adding that Parker, along with her iZombie co-stars Kohli and Chirisa, are “absolutely phenomenal,” McIver says the whole movie is “really stunning” to see come together. “That’s kind of the dream to me, is working with people who you’ve come up alongside and you’ve watched learn and grow,” she said. “I’m so proud of her, so I’ll come down to Tribeca. I think she made a beautiful film.”
Set to release next month at the Tribeca Film Festival, Next Exit chronicles how life after death exists. In an official summary of the film via Tribeca, the widespread acceptance of ghosts has led to Life Beyond, a radical scientific study launched by Dr. Stevenson (Karen Gillan), by which volunteers can willingly commit pain-free suicide. Meanwhile, in New York City, two ready-to-die strangers, Rose (Katie Parker) and Teddy (Rahul Kohli), by chance, end up sharing a rental car for a cross-country trip to their respective Life Beyond appointments. Amid their arrangement raising a deep emotional connection, the two confront personal traumas and embrace the love they’ve each previously rejected. But will it be enough to go through with their appointments?
In the meantime, McIver can be seen in Ghosts, which returns to CBS this fall for Season 2. With the show receiving an abundance of love from critics, fans and new audiences, the New Zealand actor admits the reception has been a “totally surreal” moment for her and the cast. “We’re so excited and grateful and I was hopeful — I knew that the cast was a really strong cast and the writing was wonderful and they’ve done such a great job with all the production design. The elements were all there,” she said. “Then just when you see that it actually lands and that the audience is kind of tuning in the way they are, it’s just a great feeling. We’re all super pumped.”
Keep it locked right here for the very latest about the show, news about the cast and everything in between. In the meantime, relive the first season of Ghosts on Paramount+ and get an exclusive streaming offer here.
