‘Haunting of Hill House’ Star Carla Gugino May Return for Season 2, ‘Bly Manor’

Olivia Crain may still be locked in the Red Room, ruling out any hope that she will return in The Haunting of Hill House Season 2, but actress Carla Gugino may be returning to fill a different role in The Haunting of Bly Manor, the anthology series’ second season.

The actress, who took on the role of Crain family matriarch in the series’ debut season, recently revealed that she is currently “in talks” with series director Mike Flanagan for a potential return in Bly Manor.

“Well, I can’t say anything definitive at this point, other than Mike and I really love collaborating and working together and any opportunity where a schedule allows for us to do that, we will, and I would be honored to,” Gugino, who also starred in Flanagan’s 2017 film Gerald’s Game, told The Wrap.

“So we’re talking a lot about it and we’ll just see if all schedules allow,” she added. “All I can say is I’m very excited for Season 2 and to see what Mike does.”

Should the talks prove fruitful, it would entail Gugino taking on an entirely new role, as Season 2 of the series will venture away from Shirley Jackson’s 1959 horror novel and transform into an anthology, this time taking on Henry James’ 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw.

The change in scenery and source material was first teased when Netflix officially announced the series’ renewal back in February.

Although it had heavily been teased that the series would transform into an anthology, it remains to be seen if it will continue in the same vain as fellow horror anthology series American Horror Story and maintain largely the same cast throughout seasons or if each season will feature new actors.

Flanagan tends to favor starring the same actors throughout his works, including his wife, Kate Seigel, who has starred in Hill House, Gerald’s Game, Flanagan’s 2016 horror movie Hush, and his 2013 movie Oculus, where they first met.

Told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator listening to their friend read a manuscript, The Turn of the Screw tells the story of a governess who is hired by a bachelor to watch over his niece and nephew at an old country mansion in England called Bly. Once there, however, the governess begins to suspect that the manor is haunted.

Season 1 of The Haunting of Hill House is currently available for streaming on Netflix. The Haunting of Bly Manor is scheduled to be released sometime in 2020.