What initially drew you to the role of Francesca El Caído, and what stood out to you when you first read the script?

From my initial read, I think it was her outrageous ambition that attracted me. She’s insanely flawed, yes, but if we’re giving her the benefit of the doubt, she’s also an extremely determined young woman and wickedly salty ex, which may have been the most fun trait to play with.

Francesca has a personal history tied to Alex and the Le Domas family — how did that emotional backstory shape the way you approached the character?

It’s actually pretty funny. As you may not know, Mark O’Brien (who plays the one and only Alex Le Domas) and I worked together on another film a few years back titled ‘Seven Veils’, by the Oscar nominated Canadian director Atom Egoyan, starring Amanda Seyfried. In ‘Seven Veils’, it is eventually revealed that Mark’s character is cheating on Amanda’s character with my character. I joke that ‘Seven Veils’ was actually the prequel to ‘Ready or Not’.

The sequel expands the mythology beyond the original film’s family dynamic into a larger network of powerful families. What excited you most about being part of this expanded world?

I was a fan of the original and was stoked to hear it was coming back for Round 2. The first ‘Ready or Not’ film was shot in Toronto (my hometown) and I was happy to learn that after nearly 7 years, the same creatives behind the first would be back in Toronto again to work on the epic sequel. It was also great the world was expanded to be able to include new council families and get to work with the likes of Elijah Wood, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Geller and my dad in it, Nestor Carbonell etc.

Francesca operates within a very elite and secretive circle — how did you interpret her motivations when it comes to loyalty, power, and survival?

Yes, Francesca definitely does play within a very secretive circle. Fortunately, early on in our shoot, we got the opportunity to work all together during this one huge and hilarious ensemble scene that takes place closer to the top of the film. Filming this scene early on was great, as it gave us time to watch each other and also create nuances on how each of the council families collectively behave and treat Grace and Faith. I would agree with you, I think Francesca’s tunnel vision only saw loyalty to power and survival.

Without getting into behind-the-scenes secrets, what was it like filming some of the more intense or suspenseful moments in the movie?

It was surreal. Without giving away much, I was quite excited when I found out what my ‘weapon of choice’ would finally be, as it kept getting changed/upgraded with script revisions. I’m still in a bit of disbelief realizing what weapon my character ends up using, but I really think it made the scene iconic.

Ready or Not blends dark humor with horror so well — how did the tone of the film influence your performance?

We were lucky we had the first film to lean on as reference. The original is such a standout and Sam is so damn mesmerizing as she clearly embodies the tone of the franchise.

“Working with the cast made landing the tone of the film much easier.”

She’s also a gem of a human being and very inviting into her world, which made filming wildly fun.

Did you create any additional backstory or character traits for Francesca that helped you connect more deeply to her journey?

Because we had the first ‘Ready or Not’ film as backstory, I watched it quite a few times before filming.

She was a brutally bitter ex freshly dumped by the so-called love of her life, looking for an outlet for her anger.

What was it like collaborating with the directors and cast to help bring this next chapter of the Ready or Not universe to life?

The entire cast was generous and supportive throughout the entire shoot. Filming the large ensemble scene early helped us understand the insane world we were creating.

Now that audiences can finally see the film, what do you hope fans take away from Francesca and her role in the story?

I hope fans have a great time watching the film in theaters with great friends and snacks. It was a treat to play such an absurdly flawed character.