The Purge Election Year: 10 Things You Didn’t Know

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Zoe Soul, left, and Carmen Ejogo in a scene from “The Purge: Anarchy.” (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Justin Lubin)

7. Carmen Ejogo turned down reprising her role from The Purge: Anarchy

While at least one star of The Purge: Anarchy agreed to return for the third flick in the series, there was another that emphatically disagreed to come back. That would be Carmen Ejogo, who played the lead character, Eva. DeMonaco could have brought Eva back for Election Year, but Ejogo had made it clear— not just to DeMonaco, but to everyone— that she wasn’t interested.

Speaking in an interview with Collider in 2015, after a third Purge movie had been announced, Ejogo was asked if she would be returning for the next sequel in the series. She laughed off the question, giving a firm “No,” by stating that she wanted to change “as an actress”. It wasn’t clear whether she wasn’t a fan of the movies themselves, or if she just had an aversion to playing the same character in more than one movie.

However, in any case, Ejogo will be in the upcoming Ridley Scott film Alien: Covenant, so she’s not done with the horror genre just yet. She just seems to have moved on to a bigger franchise. Note to Scott: go ahead and kill her character off, as you might not be able to get her to come back for the next one.

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