Interview: Victoria Pedretti and Henry Thomas On Netflix's The Haunting Of Bly Manor

What was it like working Mike Flanagan again on another horror series?

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Victoria: It was great. I really enjoyed the first season so reuniting and working with Mike again was so much fun.

Henry: It was great to work with Mike again. Even though he only directed the first episode and wrote some of the episodes, his involvement did not feel the same as it was on Hill House when he directed every episode. It was interesting to work in that world that Mike set up with new, emerging directors that were coming in. Some of them had just done short films or standout horror features, so it was really cool to work with them and I think we got some really cool episodes out of their contributions.

Victoria: Yeah if you watch their films, they all have a really unique and strong style. That was really cool.

How do you feel that Bly Manor is coming along with great expectations from fans of the Hill House?

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Victoria: Can't think about it too much. I think it is important to keep those thoughts at bay during production. But as soon as filming was over, I was like, did we do it, did we meet the mark? Everyone has different expectations and different reasons why they love the first season. Ultimately, I feel really great by the fact that Mike took the risk to bring the show into a new place with new stories and characters. It really is a great opportunity for an actor to explore a completely different world. So yes, it is absolutely scary that we might disappoint fans who made the [first] show such a success.

Henry: It’s a new world and a new story with new characters even though there are familiar faces. Fans of Hill House will enjoy Bly Manor and it will feel familiar. The world is a similar world.

What preparations did you take to differentiate the character from Nell of The Haunting of Hill House?

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Victoria: Well we dyed my hair - that was an important part to differentiate. Beyond that, I’m just working from a script with a completely different character. That starts with the writing, which I am not responsible for. My job is to interpret that and bring it to life. So it is about bringing myself to the role and doing what it takes to make the story and character multidimensional, realistic and believable to the audience. What that involves is a lot of brainstorming and sitting down to put the pieces together to make it make sense to myself. Once I am comfortable with that, I work intuitively to establish the vocabulary within the script and the physical vocabulary in the sense of how the character vocalises based on that. It is like trying to make the picture as detailed as possible. It’s kind of spiritual and I’m still perplexed by it. I’m just doing my best and I know I can do better as I keep figuring things out. I think I’ll get better at articulating what goes on as time goes on.

If what happened to your character happened to you in real life, how do you think you would react?

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Henry: The situation of my character would be a really bad situation to be in. I would probably react the same way he did - just go on autopilot and self-destruct.

Victoria: My character Dani doesn’t cope with her experiences very well. There is a ghost living inside her that doesn’t allow her to forget the experiences she has had and the trauma she has incurred. I would probably do the same thing as her and eventually walk into that lake. The characters are doing their best though, they’re trying.

What are your thoughts about the afterlife after the two shows?

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Henry: I like to believe that there is something more to this. But who knows? Nobody gets out of here alive and comes back to tell anybody about it. I am a bit of a skeptic, to be honest.

Victoria: I have a bit of belief about everything other than heaven and hell.

Did you encounter any paranormal experience while filming?

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Henry: No, other than the loud noises on set that were probably caused by the aeroplanes. It was supernatural that we couldn’t control the aeroplanes from coming through the ceiling of our sound stage.

Any paranormal experience in your personal life?

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Henry: I’m afraid not. Loud noises in the night perhaps but that’s it.

Victoria: I convince myself that I am experiencing things but I also have a very intense imagination. So I’m very open to the fact that it can be anything. Keep things fun you know? Can’t see in the dark so it can be anything.