Brandywill return to the horror genre for her role in the upcomingA24 movieThe Front Room. PerThe Hollywood Reporter, the film teams up filmmaking siblings Max Eggers (The Lighthouse) and Sam Eggers (Olympia) to co-direct, marking the joint directorial debut for the brothers. Max Eggers co-wroteThe Lighthousewith brother Robert Eggers, who directed the film. Sam Eggers co-wrote the documentaryOlympia, which follows Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis, with Harry Mavromichalis.
The Front Roomis an adaptation of a short story of the same name by Susan Hill. It follows a “young, newly pregnant couple forced to take in an ailing stepmother who has long been estranged from the family.”
Along with Brandy, the ensemble cast ofThe Front Roomalso includes Kathryn Hunter (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Andrew Burnap (WeCrashed), and Neal Huff (Spotlight). Lucan Toh, Babak Anvari, Bryan Sonderman, Julia Oh, and David Hinojosa are producing.
With more than 40 million records sold worldwide, Brandy is best known for her accomplishments in music, though she has made some acting appearances on the big and small screens. She starred in the hit sitcomMoeshabefore going on to lead a TV movie version ofCinderella. Brandy went on to star in the BET sitcomZoe Ever Afterand has been more recently appearing in the drama seriesQueens. In years past, the Grammy winner has also appeared in movies likeOsmosis Jones,Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, andThe Perfect Match. It was reported in March that she will also soon star in the Netflix movieBest. Christmas. Ever.
Related:Temptation Interviews with Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Brandy Norwood [Exclusive]
Brandy Returns to Horror for The Front Room
Brandy is also known to horror fans for her role in the 1998slasher moviesequelI Still Know What You Did Last Summer. In that movie, Brandy’s character manages to make it to the end of the film alive, though she didn’t appear in the follow-up movie,I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. In a 2018 interview, writer Trey Callaway praised Brandy’s acting and explained why she was perfect for her role in the film.
“Brandy is not only a talented performer, but a lovely human being,” Callaway toldBloody Flicks. “And I thought she injected some great energy to the film. Because Julie was so haunted by the events of the first film— you really needed someone like her character of Karla Wilson to keep things as light as possible for as long as possible— and then function as Julie’s stalwart friend and defender to the end.”
Perhaps one reason why Brandy hasn’t rushed back to the genre is because she found herself frightened on the set ofI Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Her co-star Muse Watkins, who played the movie’s killer, toldScreen Rantin 2020 that Brandy was so terrified of him that he could visibly see her trying to get away the first time he approached her.
“I do remember Brandy, when I got on set of the first day of the [sequel], Jennifer Love Hewitt ran up to me and said, ‘Brandy is like, falling apart, shaking, because she knows she’s gonna have to meet you,”’ Watkins explained. “And I said, ‘Where is she, Love?’ She said, ‘She’s over in the cafeteria.’ So I walked over to the cafeteria and Love came with me, and lord have mercy, [Brandy] was sitting at the table with eight other girls, in a booth, so there was no way she could get out. And as I walked in the door, she immediately saw who I was, and she got to screaming and trying to get across the other people.”
