‘The Haunting of Hill House’ actors admit pressure doing ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’

Returning stars from “The Haunting of Hill House” Victoria Pedretti and Henry Thomas have admitted there is pressure in doing the series follow-up “The Haunting of Bly Manor.”

In a roundtable interview with the press including GMA News Online, Victoria and Henry said they felt the pressure especially from fans who had expectations after their over the top performance on “The Haunting of Hill House.”

“I think there’s a lot of pressure going onto the second season. Going onto the show you want to live up to expectations and you might even want to exceed those expectations or completely subvert those expectations,” Victoria told the press.

Victoria said the cast and crew certainly “don’t want to bore people and you don’t want to disappoint them so there is a lot of pressure there.”

Agreeing with Victoria, Henry said they didn’t want to disappoint the fans of “Hill House,” saying “Bly Manor” was “a bit of an ask from the fans that we’re creating a new world and totally new characters for them to view now after getting so engrossed with the Crain family.”

However, Henry said no matter how much of a masterpiece and engaging “Hill House” was, “the story is told, there’s really no way to go from there and [Bly Manor] is the new frontier.”

“The Haunting of Bly Manor” is set in 1980s England. After an au pair’s tragic death, Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) hires a young American nanny (Victoria Pedretti) to look after his orphaned niece and nephew (Amelie Bea Smith, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) living at Bly Manor with their home chef Owen Rahul Kohli), groundskeeper Jamie (Amelia Eve), and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose (T’Nia Miller).

Victoria will play Dani Clayton, the young American nanny who will look after the orphaned children in Bly Manor. The actress previously played Nellie or the iconic “Bent Neck Lady” on “Hill House.” 

Meanwhile, Henry will play Henry Wingrave, the man who hired Dani to look after his nephew and niece inside the house. He previously played the young Hugh Crain, the father of the Crain family on “Hill House.”

Aside from Victoria and Henry, other stars from “Hill House” who will also be on “Bly Manor” include Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Sigel, and Tahirah Sharif.

Producing partners of “The Haunting of Hill House” Mike Flanagan and producer Trevor Macy also return for this follow-up.

In a previous behind the scenes featurette, Mike said while “Hill House” was centered on family and their issues, “Bly Manor” was about strangers and gothic romance.

Flanagan and Macy are the executive producers of the show for Intrepid Pictures, along with Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television.

“The Haunting of Bly Manor” will premiere Oct. 9 on Netflix with nine episodes.

Bly Manor’s Facebook page recently revealed the titles of the episodes along with eerie posters. – RC, GMA News