Netflix's horror series The Haunting of Bly Manor has rounded out its cast with five new additions: T'Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli, Amelia Eve, Amelie Smith, and Benjamin Ainsworth. Catherine Parker, who played 1920s ghost Poppy Hill in The Haunting of Hill House, will also be returning for the second season of the anthology series. The Haunting was created by Oculus director Mike Flanagan, and adapts classic ghost stories like Shirley Jackson's The Haunting (which Hill House was based on) and Henry James' The Turn of the Screw (which Bly Manor is based on).
Parker isn't the only returning cast member from The Haunting of Hill House. Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Victoria Pedretti will all appear in The Haunting of Bly Manor, though not as the same characters they played in Hill House.
Flanagan himself announced the new cast members on Twitter, revealing that Miller, Kohli and Eve are all playing lead roles. Miller is best known for her role in Russell T. Davies' drama series Years and Years, while Kohli is best known for playing medical examiner Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti in The CW's iZombie, and Eve is a newcomer who has so far mainly appeared in short films. Smith and Ainsworth will be playing Flora and Miles, the two children at the heart of the original story, who are targeted by a malicious pair of ghosts.
The Turn of the Screw is about a governess who is hired to care for young orphans Miles and Flora by their absentee guardian and uncle. After arriving at the stately home of Bly Manor, she begins to see frightening apparitions of two deceased former employees of the household, who seem determined to corrupt the children. The novella was most famously adapted into the 1962 movie The Innocents (pictured above). Since The Haunting of Hill House was a very loose adaptation of The Haunting, it's safe to assume that The Haunting of Bly Manor will similarly use The Turn of the Screw as inspiration rather than sticking to James' story exactly.
Filming on The Haunting of Bly Manor will begin in September, and the second season of the anthology series is set to release on Netflix in 2020. The Haunting of Hill House received widespread praise from critics and fans alike, so anticipation is naturally high for this continuation. We hope to bring you more news about Bly Manor's story and cast soon.
Source: Mike Flanagan