‘The Haunting of Hill House’: Kate Siegel Returning for Season 2

The Haunting of Hill House Season 2 is bringing back another original cast member. On Thursday, Aug. 29, series director Mike Flanagan announced that his wife Kate Siegel, who portrayed Theo Crain in Season 1, is officially returning for The Haunting of Bly Manor. Siegel’s role in the upcoming season has not been revealed.

The actress, who has worked on a number of other Flanagan-helmed projects, including Hush and Oculus, and who learned that she was expecting her second child in the midst of filming Season 1, had teased her return late last week. She also took to Twitter following the Thursday confirmation of her return.

In a second tweet, she seemingly revealed that she was taking off the glovers that her Season 1 character, who could sense other peoples’ emotions with just a simple touch, was renowned for.

Siegel joins returning cast members Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Henry Thomas, suggesting that The Haunting anthology will follow in the vein of American Horror Story and largely keep the same cast members. Speaking to Birth.Movies.Death. earlier this month, Flanagan did confirm that there would be a few fresh faces gracing the screen when Bly Manor appears sometime in 2020.

“We’re hanging the season on Victoria Pedretti [playing the governess Dani] and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and in addition to them, there are going to be other familiar actors from season one,” he said. “Beyond that, I’ve got quite a few candidates among new faces who I really love, but we haven’t formally cast anybody yet.”

Announced at the same time it was revealed Flanagan and fellow executive producer Trevor Macy had signed a multi-year deal with Netflix, Bly Manor is set to step away from the Shirley Jackson source material of the freshman run. Instead, the season will focus on Henry James’ classic novella The Turn of the Screw, which tells the story of a young governess who is hired to nanny two children at an old country mansion in England called Bly, which she comes to expect is haunted.

Although many details of the season are being kept under wrap, Flanagan has confirmed that Bly Manor will continue one tradition from Hill House. Lurking in the backgrounds of scenes will be hidden ghosts.

The Haunting of Hill House is currently available for streaming on Netflix. The Haunting of Bly Manor is set to debut sometime in 2020.