Making of ‘The Bad Seed Returns’: Lively roundtable panel with Mckenna Grace, producers and writers [WATCH]

Rob Licuria
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

No one was safe when “The Bad Seed Returns” premiered on Lifetime last fall. To celebrate the success of the anticipated sequel to Rob Lowe‘s Lifetime original film “The Bad Seed,” check out our special 40-minute “Making of” roundtable discussion with star Mckenna Grace, who developed the story and co-wrote the script with her father Ross Burge. Grace also executive produced the film alongside her parents, Ross and Crystal Burge, with multiple-Emmy nominated producer Mark Wolper also returning to executive produce alongside writer Barbara Marshall, who also co-wrote the film. Together they are joined by Gold Derby senior editor Rob Licuria for a memorable Q&A about their highlights, key scenes and goosebump moments.

The delightfully unhinged Emma Grossman (Grace) is back and more diabolical than ever, so what made the team want to revisit her story after the shocking events of the first film? Was there much discussion about how far they were willing to go as she becomes more unhinged and sinister? Are villains fun to write? These were some of the questions answered by the team during our lively chat. Watch our exclusive Q&A video above.

More from GoldDerby

SEE dozens of interviews with 2023 awards contenders

“The Bad Seed Returns,” directed by Louise Archambault, is the follow-up to Lowe’s 2018 remake of the iconic 1956 horror film. Grace reprises her role as Emma, who after the shocking death of her father, has moved on to high school and is living with her aunt Angela (Michelle Morgan) and step-uncle Robert (Benjamin Ayres). When Robert and a new girl at school begin to suspect that Emma is not as innocent as she seems, Emma slips back into her old ways and manipulates everyone around her, with deadly consequences for anyone standing in her way.

Grace, who is just shy of 17 years old, began her acting career as a six-year-old in 2013, landing her a breakthrough role in 2017 playing a child prodigy in Marc Webb‘s drama “Gifted,” for which she scored a Critics Choice Movie Award nomination for Best Young Performer. She then went on to co-star in the Oscar-nominated film “I, Tonya” as a younger Tonya Harding, and the younger version of the title character in the MCU blockbuster “Captain Marvel.” Last year she starred in the blockbuster hit “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and capped off a big year by garnering an Emmy nomination for her acclaimed role as abused child bride Esther Keyes in Hulu’s multiple-Emmy winning smash “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

In “The Bad Seed Returns,” Grace is at her unsettling best, as Emma is a little older and much wiser about how to elude and manipulate her way through any situation where anyone she encounters might suspect that she is up to no good. Grace has become a natural at playing subversive and complicated young women, which she suggests is pure coincidence. “I don’t know why I’m always drawn to these roles,” she declares with a wry smile. “It’s interesting to play a character like Emma,” she adds. “To me, she’s a psychopath and yes, she does have her fair share of traumas. But it’s interesting because, what does affect her? What is she feeling affected by? Does she feel remorse for what happened to her father in the last film? Or did everything go according to plan? You know, I think that she loved her father, but to an extent it was necessary,” she explains, pausing, and then concluding with what she thinks likely goes through Emma’s mind when presented with an obstacle in her path: “I liked you, I enjoyed our time together, but you’ve become a problem.”

PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.