Jennifer Kaytin Robinson Wants to Make A Divas Live for Final Girls

Long before Jennifer Kaytin Robinson directed some of NYLON’s favorite It Girls — Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Sarah Pidgeon, and Gabbriette — in I Know What You Did Last Summer, she almost starred alongside TV’s ultimate It Girl: Ms. Hannah Montana. “I got down to the finals to play Lily,” Robinson says. “I was 16, turning 17 years old, and I met with Miley [Cyrus], who was 12. I was like, ‘Well, I look like her babysitter. I don't think I'm going to get this.’" It all worked out for her (and Emily Osment), in the end: “I thought I wanted to be an actor, and then I realized quite quickly that I wanted to write the thing that was on the page, not say the thing that was on the page.”

After selling her first pilot (MTV’s short-lived but immediate cult classic Sweet/Vicious) at 25, Robinson, 37, went on to write and two beloved Netflix hits: 2019’s Someone Great (so emotionally pitch-perfect that it inspired Taylor Swift to write one of her best bridges of all time) and 2022’s dark comedy Do Revenge. For other writer/directors, taking on a legacy sequel to one of the ‘90s most iconic slasher films would have been a hard no. For Robinson, it was an “immediate yes.” “The originals hold up really well, especially because I think the core conceit of it is kind of evergreen: making a mistake with your friends, and then making all the wrong choices after that mistake,” she says. “That kind of works forever. And then the other thing that I think is evergreen about the movie is how hot the cast is.”

With the new undebated hot cast of the box office and this summer’s most talked about movie under her belt, here, Robinson goes deep on IKWYDLS big swings, and ideas for a sequel.

Spoilers for I Know What You Did Last Summer ahead.

Let’s start at the end: Did you go into this moving knowing what the big twist would be, with Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.) being the ultimate killer?

I knew going into it what I wanted the end to be. The Ray thing was one of the first things I thought of. I went to Sony and was like, "Here's what I want. I want a really high body count. I don't want them to be in high school, and I want Ray to be the killer. And if you guys are okay with that, let's keep going. And if you're not, I totally understand, but I don't want to make this movie." I don't know that any version would've made sense to me in my brain. It was like this was the thing that I was most excited about.

Why Ray specifically?

If you look at the first two movies and you think about the way in which someone is repressing this, would they over time become very angry at the hand that they were dealt? Part of this is also him wanting revenge for his own life circumstances. For everything that he feels, and he feels went wrong. It made sense that this man who is not in therapy would get to this place.

Did you know that Freddie was down to come back at that point, or was that like, "Well, we’ve got to get him back now?”

I pitched to Freddie before we even wrote it. Because I was like, "If he's not into this, then..."

Was there a backup plan?

There really wasn't one. And so I'm really glad he was down.

Was he the first person you cast?

He and Jen [Love-Hewitt], in tandem, were the first two. It wouldn't have worked with just him, and it wouldn't have worked with just her. It really was about Julie and Ray.

“It's fun to have Sarah Michelle Gellar's decomposing molten face on screen. Who doesn't want that?”

The younger cast is also absolutely perfect in all of their roles. A throughline for all of your movies is a really hot, young cast of rising talent. In Do Revenge alone you had Maya Hawke, Cami Mendes, Talia Ryder, Sophie Turner, Austin Abrams, Rish Shah, Alisha Boe, etc.

I really pride myself in the casting of all three of my movies now. I really care about it, and I'm really thoughtful about it. To me, chemistry is more important than a single good actor. That is the North Star for me.

What was the casting process like for this film in particular?

It was just a traditional audition process. Everyone that is in this movie auditioned, except Jonah Hauer-King, who was unable to come in, and I just didn't want to lose him. I love Chase. I've loved Chase since Generation. I'm a massive Chase Sui Wonders fan. So you kind of have a feeling. You're kind of just like, "I think you're who I want," but you never know.

I think in a different universe, Chase would be Danica and Madelyn would be Ava. But the thing that I like to do the most in my career, is take Austin Abrams and make him the coolest guy in school. I'm way more interested in watching people act, not just play a version of who they seem like. Going against type is so much more interesting; allowing Freddie Prinze Jr. to be the villain, having Madelyn Cline be the comedic relief. All of those things are what I'm looking for when I'm casting. So with Chase, I talked to Chase on the phone before we read together, and when I got off that phone call, I was like, "I know it's her, because I want to be her friend so badly." She's just the coolest person I've ever talked to. And that's what I want a final girl to feel like. You want the final girl to be someone that you're like, "God, I want to be your best friend."

Then Maddie read and was so immediately like Danica. She lit up, and I hope she's in a thousand million more comedies. When Tyriq [Withers] came in, and [casting director] Ashley Marks called me and was like, "You need to get down to Sony right now, and actually be here and meet this kid." He has such presence. It feels like you're in the room with a movie star. And then Sarah Pidgeon, God bless her, absolute psycho, used a butcher knife in her audition.

“I'm a massive Chase Sui Wonders fan. She's just the coolest person I've ever talked to. That's what I want a Final Girl to feel like. ”

How did the Gabbriette casting come to be, especially as her first on-screen role?

Ashley Marks again. I obviously knew who Gabbriette was, but I didn't know that she wanted to act. Gabbriette is the single only person we read for Tyler. Going in, I was like, "Listen, you never know.” But she wanted to be an actor, she grew up doing theater — that’s her background. And it's like with Nasty Cherry, I should have suspected. But she blew me away, she's so funny. Even just talking to her before and after she started reading, I was like, "Oh, you’re just an absolute megastar."

Speaking of megastars, we also get an appearance from Sarah Michelle Gellar in the form of a dream sequence here.

I wanted Sarah in the movie. She's so fabulous. And it's fun to have Sarah Michelle Gellar's decomposing molten face on screen. Who doesn't want that? But I think for myself and Sam Lansky, my co-writer, we just wanted to make what was the most fun version of bringing Helen Shivers back, especially with knowing that Jen was going to have her scene later with Brandy. There was something really fun about the idea of 2025 Helen Shivers and 1997 Helen Shivers meeting, this Croaker Queen face-off. We wrote the scene and I said to Sarah, "Just read it, and then if you don't want to do it, that's totally fine.” And she read it and immediately was like, "Yes."

In keeping with the originals, we end on a cliffhanger, where Sarah’s character Stevie, who was Freddie’s co-killer, is still alive.

Sarah's not dead. There's actually a deleted scene that I'm hoping they'll release after release, and it’s actually in the trailers, where shot the fisherman going through the window at Sarah, and you find out where Sarah ends up. Like the originals, if I make a sequel, it was never going to be canon. But yes, Stevie's still out there. All the men are dead, and we have so many final girls.

Have you started thinking of the sequel and what that could be?

Yes, I have. I mean, listen, let's just get through opening weekend. Let's just see how it does. I put everything I had into this one. But yes, of course. It's hard not to, especially in post, to be like, "Where did this keep going?" I do have an idea that I think could be really fun, that brings back everybody that I think we love. It would definitely be a Final Girl All-Stars... “Divas Live,” but Final Girls.