I love a good teen comedy/coming-of-age movie! So, Hulu’s Darby and the Dead went on my list of must-watch as soon as the trailer dropped. I had a chance to attend the virtual press junket with cast members: Asher Angel, Riele Downs, Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Chosen Jacobs (Sneakerella), Nicole Maines, Kylie Liya Page, as well as Genneya Walton. There was also director Silas Howard and producers Adam Saunders and Eddie Rubin.

DARBY AND THE DEAD TACKLES MEAN GIRLS AND DEAD PEOPLE

(L-R): Riele Downs as Darby Harper and Auli’i Cravalho as Capri in 20th Century Studios’ DARBY AND THE DEAD, exclusively on Hulu. Photo by Marcos Cruz. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Reile Downs plays Darby, a young girl who can see dead people, but it’s not a scary movie. Darby helps those who can’t cross over finished their business so that they can. Auli’i Cravalho plays Capri, the popular mean girl. When asked if they were anything like their characters they both laughed. Auli’i Cravalho shared that it’s impossible to hate Riele, but that it was easy for her to slip into that character. “Maybe there are bits of me that decided to show itself with Capri. I love her confidence, and
yeah, it was really fun” Cravalho said. She also brought her own fluffy pen to set to help her get into character. Fun Fact: It made the poster!

Downs had nothing but nice things to say back about Cravalho, who is also “impossible to hate”. She also feels she’s more like her character than she realized. She’s also very introverted and loves doing things by herself.

Chosen Jacobs loved the Darby and the Dead script when he read it. He also wasn’t bothered by the fact that his character takes a backstreet to the female-driven storyline. When looking for characters and scripts to bring to life he’s always looking for genuine and interesting characters, doesn’t matter if they’re a man or a woman. He wants every character to be fully developed, and this film checked all his boxes.

NODS TO ICONIC TEEN FILMS YOU CAN’T MISS

Whether it’s dialogue or the incredible costuming, Darby and the Dead makes sure to give nods to your favorite teen movies of the past. Nicole Maines (Supergirl) who plays Piper, loved getting to play a mean girl.

We wanted to just make a, like, a fresh take on the classics that we grew up with. But also, not make it too mean. Like, it’s fine to have characters that are funny or dumb, as you say, but there’s, like, depth to them in a way of exploring grief and what it means to also have performative grief. And figuring out, like, how to move on with that. And Riele does a really great job of also giving deadpan humor to the camera, bringing the viewers into that journey.

-Nicole Maines about Darby and the Dead

Genneya Walton who portrays Bree feels like Darby and the Dead perfectly shows why we love the teen movies of the 90s and 2000s because it gives the viewer “the outfits, the cliques, the teenage drama, the problems”. But what makes the film stand on its own is the incredible cast.

Our cast is so incredibly diverse and perfectly displays the actual world that we live in and what it’s like to be around this age, like, living in this time. So, we get all the lovely things from the 90s, 2000s but in our modern world.

Genneya Walton – Darby and the Dead

I’m sold. Are you sold? Darby and the Dead begins streaming on Hulu on December 2, 2022! Make sure to check it out and let me know!