Two more Hill House cast members move to Bly Manor

The Haunting of Hill House was a sensation, and the second season, The Haunting of Bly Manor, has steadily been adding some familiar faces to its cast.

First came the announcement that Victoria Pedretti would be playing the role of Dani the governess in The Haunting of Bly Manor. Pedretti broke our hearts in her very first role, that of the adult Nell in The Haunting of Hill House.

Then, Mike Flanagan announced that Pedretti’s onscreen twin, Oliver Jackson-Cohen (adult Luke) would be playing the role of Peter. In The Turn of the Screw, Peter was an employee at Bly Manor, who had an affair with the prior governess, Miss Jessel. Both Peter and Miss Jessel are ghosts that haunt the manor.

On Wednesday, Hill House creator Mike Flanagan announced that “the inestimable, irreplaceable, invaluable Henry Thomas” was confirmed to also be joining the cast of The Haunting of Bly Manor. No other details about his role have been released at this time, but I predict that he will play the Uncle, who is caring for his young niece and nephew after the deaths of their parents.

Thomas played the younger version of Hugh Crain, the patriarch of the family whose lives were forever changed by their short stay at Hill House. Of course, he is best known for his role as Elliot in 1982’s blockbuster ET the Extra-Terrestrial, but he has quite a resume under his belt.

Thomas has appeared in many movies and tv series, including the horror-related Psycho IV: The Beginning, Dead Birds, Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, Ouija: Origin of Evil and Gerald’s Game. If you look up his acting credits on IMDb, you will be amazed, he has worked steadily since he appeared in ET at age ten.

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While The Haunting of Hill House fans were still doing cartwheels at this exciting news, we heard about another casting announcement today. Kate Siegel, who played the role of Theo in Hill House will be playing an undisclosed role in The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Siegel has also acted in several horror films, including Hush and Oculus, and she performed with Henry Thomas in Ouija: Origin of Evil and Gerald’s Game.  All four of those films were also created by Mike Flanagan, to whom she is married. Is your head spinning yet?

Flanagan’s newest project is the screen version of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep, which is a sequel to The Shining. Check out his tweet announcing her involvement!

My guess is that Siegel may be cast in the role of the ghostly Miss Jessel, but as I learned from The Haunting of Hill House, all bets are off when Flanagan adapts a well-known novel. While some of the character names were used in The Haunting of Hill House, most of the story was entirely different from the novel.

I am still hoping for some more crossovers, and here are my predictions: I would cast Carla Gugino (Olivia Crain) as Mrs. Grose the housekeeper, Violet McGraw (Young Nell) as young Flora, one of the children cared for by Dani, and Julian Hilliard (young Luke) as her brother Miles.

What do you think, readers? Will there be more actors from Hill House who make the move to Bly Manor? Give me your thoughts in the comments section.