Spoilers ahead for the new I Know What You Did Last Summer.
It’s a great time to be a horror fan, as the genre’s renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down. Its popularity has resulted in some of the best horror movies returning to theaters, including the new I Know What You Did Last Summer. The movie featured a number of surprise cameos, and it turns out that Sarah Michelle Gellar’s scene was so top secret that not even her co-star knew it was happening.
SMG lied about I Know What You Did Last Summer for months ahead of its release, where her character Helen appeared in a dream sequence. OG fans were hyped about seeing her back… despite dying back in the first movie. Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson spoke to EW about just how tight security was when filming this sequence, offering:
iconic scream queen Sarah Michelle Gellar.
In the new I Know What You Did Last Summer, Helen appears to the new protagonist, Danica Richards (Madelyn Cline), during a dream sequence, where she’s haunted and mocked ahead of waking up. This was a clever way to bring Gellar back without having to retcon her death. Clearly, Robinson was keeping this scene under wraps, as she said in the same interview:
It was one of those things where it was kind of lock and key. It was never even in any of the pages. They were kind of pages unto themselves, and we really tried to do it as secretively as we could, so that it didn’t get out that she was in the movie. I think we succeeded.
In the end, I Know What You Did Last Summer hit theaters without any of its cameos being spoiled. So even though Sarah Michelle Gellar posted from the set, her role in the new sequel still hit. And it was nice to have 3/4 of the original stars back for the latest sequel.
Of course, this wasn’t the only major cameo. Brandy also appeared in the mid-credits scene, after her character Karla survived the first sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. While she didn’t get into the action, hopefully another slasher is ordered.
I Know What You Did Last Summer is in theaters now as part of the 2025 movie release list. Sarah Michelle Gellar is currently filming the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot pilot, so there’s a lot of nostalgic goodness surrounding the actress.