“I Know What You Did Last Summer”: Behind the Scenes with Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Legacy Cast Surprises

One of the great delights of the new “I Know What You Did Last Summer” for fans of the original is the movie’s thoughtful, satisfying use of the first movie’s stars: Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt don’t just make perfunctory cameo appearances; they’re integral components of the plot. This leads to another great delight — and surprise — when Prinze turns out to be one of the movie’s two killers.

For co-writer and director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, securing Prinze and Hewitt early was key — she ensured they agreed with the new direction before even writing the script. “There were some big swings with the characters, so those were conversations I had early on with them,” Robinson told IndieWire on an upcoming episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “I didn’t want to run in a direction that one or both of them would have disliked.”

Robinson was determined to craft versions of the characters that felt like a natural evolution from where they began in the 1997 film and was delighted when she met Prinze in a diner and found he was quickly on board with his character crossing over to the dark side. “It was not necessarily the pitch he thought he was going to get from me, but he was immediately on board,” Robinson said. Prinze being a huge horror fanatic, constantly recommending films during production, was an added bonus. “I leaned on him hugely during this process.”

The greatness of Prinze’s performance comes from playing his character without self-consciousness or winking at the audience — the revelation that he’s the killer is as tragic as it is scary, thanks to the clarity and depth with which Prinze delivers his climactic monologue. “He committed so hard,” Robinson said of Prinze’s final speech. “Everything was layered and deep and nuanced, and you could feel that pain. He executed it so beautifully.”

While Prinze and Hewitt’s appearances were announced well before production, Robinson and the studio kept other legacy cast cameos secret until release. Perhaps the biggest surprise was a cameo by Sarah Michelle Gellar; though justified as part of a dream sequence, it shocked fans because Gellar had publicly dismissed the idea of her dead character returning.

“It was a very easy misdirect because neither of us have lied,” Robinson said. “People say, ‘Is she going to be in the movie?’ and I say, ‘She’s dead.’ And she is dead. It was fun to… obfuscate, but not lie.” Having worked with Gellar on her previous movie, “Do Revenge,” Gellar was Robinson’s first call when offered this film. “She was so supportive. She was like, ‘You have to do this.’”

Another surprise cameo appears in the film’s post-credits sequence, when Brandy returns as her character from 1998’s “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.” Like Gellar, Brandy had been evasive in interviews, making the appearance more surprising and satisfying, thanks to how Robinson ties all the films together.

The fact that Hewitt’s character had retreated into isolation due to trauma gave Robinson the narrative hook to bring Brandy back. “The movie had a reason to push you to Brandy and give you that prize at the end of enduring the experience of ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer.’ It gives you a fun moment of levity where someone comments on the craziness you just witnessed. It felt true and it felt right.”

“I Know What You Did Last Summer” is now playing in theaters. To catch the Jennifer Kaytin Robinson episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.