Madelyn Cline Talks I Know What You Did Last Summer’s Changed Ending

[This story contains major spoilers for 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer.]

It’s been an especially busy summer for Madelyn Cline.

She’s not only in the middle of filming the final season of her hit Netflix series, Outer Banks, but she’s also been simultaneously promoting this weekend’s theatrical debut of Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). And that’s not even half of it. Just one month ago, she happily carved out time from her existing shooting schedule and flew from South Carolina to Los Angeles in order to film a new ending for her character in Robinson’s slasher.

In Jim Gillespie’s 1997 franchise launcher, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Julie James and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Helen Shivers played best friends until the latter met her end in a heartbreaking duel with Ben Willis’ murderous Fisherman. In Robinson’s legacy sequel to that film and 1998’s I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Chase Sui Wonders’ Ava Brucks and Cline’s Danica Richards are essentially the new Julie and Helen of Southport, North Carolina. (Spoilers ahead.)

Cline’s character is a former Croaker Beauty Pageant Queen à la Helen, and her (first) fiancé, Teddy Spencer (Tyriq Withers), is a wealthy loose canon just like Helen’s boyfriend Barry (Ryan Phillippe) was. However, thanks to test screening audience feedback, Danica no longer suffers the same fate as Helen, and Cline didn’t learn that her character would survive the newest Fisherman’s wrath until the middle of June.

“I only got the news that I was coming back about two-and-a-half weeks ago. We shot all those very, very end scenes about two weeks ago,” Cline tells The Hollywood Reporter during a June 28 press day.

June’s Los Angeles-based additional photography also included a new scene where Danica visits Helen’s grave and picks up a framed picture of her that’s been left behind. The purpose of this scene was to further set up the surprise return of Gellar’s Helen in Danica’s forthcoming dream. According to Cline, the nightmarish sequence itself was not a part of the original script, but it was eventually added during the rehearsal phase of production. Gellar twice posted from the Australia set as if she was only visiting husband Freddie Prinze Jr. for Thanksgiving last year. (Prinze Jr.’s Ray Bronson joined Hewitt’s Julie as two of the new film’s three surviving legacy characters.)

“I did not know that [dream sequence with Sarah Michelle Gellar] was happening. Jenn [Kaytin Robinson] texted me that we were going to do it. And I was absolutely floored. Gobsmacked,” Cline recalls. “She then sent me the sides and was like, ‘What do you think?’ And I said, ‘I absolutely love them, but whatever. The fact that we’re doing this, write whatever you want. I’m in. I will do whatever you want.’” 

As for working with Gellar, Cline remains impressed with how casually she carried herself that day as both an actor and a mother.

“I do believe it was one of the most iconic days of my life, and I just felt like everything conspired for us to have that in the script. It only felt right for Danica to meet and face Helen,” Cline says. “It’s just so special to have that stamp of approval and to be ushered in as a next generation by Sarah Michelle. [She] is, and has always been, a force.”

Below, during a recent spoiler chat with THR, Cline also discusses her character being a source of comic relief and how her Glass Onion director Rian Johnson bolstered that side of her. Then she addresses her name’s inclusion in a couple years’ worth of Spider-Man 4 casting rumors.

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To recap, you were raised in South Carolina, and that’s where you shoot your show about North Carolina [Outer Banks]. And now you’re starring in a North Carolina-set horror franchise. In the case of I Know What You Did Last Summer, is it a total coincidence? 

Yes, it’s a very big coincidence, but I Know What You Did Last Summer was a North Carolina movie shot in Australia. So we’re branching out. We’re getting further and further away.

Outer Banks, Glass Onion and I Know What You Did Last Summer all have summer vibes. Your next two movies also have summer vibes, and there’s a couple past indies of yours that have summer vibes. Does this town think you’re allergic to winter climate? 

Yeah, I think so. I do believe there’s something about my vibe that doesn’t give winter. I don’t know if it’s the fake tan or the frosted tips, but the running joke that I can’t get away from boats is so funny.

But you will do snow if it comes your way?

I would love to do snow, but I just don’t trust snow’s continuity.

Growing up, when you weren’t watching reruns of Seinfeld and Friends, did the Last Summer movies make their way onto your radar at all?

No …

The I Know What You Did Last Summer movies never reached you?  

Oh, sorry, I thought you said Last Summer movies. 

My fault. I was doing that Hollywood thing where nobody says the full title of anything. 

(Laughs.) Yes, let’s abbreviate. But I wasn’t allowed to watch horror at all. So the first time I saw the original was probably during a sleepover at a friend’s house whose parents did allow horror movies to be watched. And I probably watched it [through my hands] because I was a big fraidy-cat. But then as I got older, my taste changed, and I began to love horror-thrillers and psychological thrillers.

The original movie is one of my best friend’s favorite movies, and when this audition came around, we rewatched it. And it’s so funny because Outer Banks shares some of the production crew that shot the Last Summer movies. (Cline cracks herself up upon calling back to my franchise abbreviation.) So it’s always been around and a part of the aura.

Danica is a very comedic character. She’s quirky and, dare I say it, loopy. I know he’s praised your comedic instincts in the past, but was Rian Johnson the one who gave you the confidence that you could do comedy?

Yes, absolutely. A hundred percent. I remember being on set for Glass Onion and watching Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson and Daniel Craig just lean in and be so free. My first job was also with Danny McBride [on Vice Prinicipals], and I had the same kind of realization there. But to hear that from Rian and to get that stamp of approval, that’s when I realized, “Oh, I think I want to do this.” 

I spoke to you ages ago for a very peculiar horror movie called The Giant, and you said something that’s been stuck in my head ever since. You said the most frequent note you received from the director was the phrase “low and slow.” (It makes sense to anyone who’s seen the movie.) Were Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s notes on the complete opposite end of the spectrum?

Yes! Since then, it’s actually been the opposite most of the time.

High and fast?

Yes, high energy and fast pace. 

When you first read the script, did you correctly guess the killer reveal?

No, I did not. When you’re reading any kind of whodunit for the first time, you’re immersing yourself in the story and you’re trying to guess, but you’re looking in all the wrong places. That’s exactly how you know a whodunit is written correctly.

So even though you worked with Mr. Whodunit, Rian Johnson, your guessing skills are still …

Terrible! I have the survival instincts of a pickle.

After the accident, Danica drives into a parking garage, and I loved this ice-cold look you give in the rear-view mirror. When you go for late night drives with four of your closest friends, what percentage of the time are you the one driving? 

I used to [drive] a hundred percent [of the time], but as I get older, I realize the liability. So it’s probably more like 60-40 now.

When you and your co-star Jonah Hauer-King first encountered each other on set, who was the first person to reference Rocky III?

(Laughs.) I don’t know, but Jonah was in Harry Potter. 

Oh, was he? 

Yeah!

In case my reference was too vauge, you and Jonah previously made a movie [This is the Night] that’s partially about Rocky III. 

Oh fuck! He keeps mentioning that, and I keep forgetting. We had a shoot last week, and he was like, “Madelyn and I shot together before.” (Cline mimics Hauer-King’s British accent.) And I was like, “What are you talking about?” But we’ve had this conversation so many times. I don’t know why I blocked it out of my head. (Laughs.) Maybe it’s because we [filmed] in Staten Island. 

[The next eight questions/answers involve major spoilers for 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer.]

This is the part of the interview where we transition into spoiler questions. Firstly, the dream sequence with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Helen Shivers. How did that go down?

That was not in the original script. I did not know that was happening. I was on the way home from a rehearsal, and Jenn [Kaytin Robinson] texted me that we were going to do it. And I was absolutely floored. Gobsmacked. I could not believe what was happening. She then sent me the sides and was like, “What do you think?” And I said, “I absolutely love them, but whatever. I don’t care. The fact that we’re doing this, write whatever you want. I’m in. I will do whatever you want.” 

I do believe it was one of the most iconic days of my life, and I just felt like everything conspired for us to have that in the script. It only felt right for Danica to meet and face Helen, and look in the mirror and see herself. Also, almost every character in this movie gets to have the baton passed to them from an original cast member. It’s just so iconic and so special to have that stamp of approval and to be ushered in as a next generation by Sarah Michelle. 

Could you tell if Helen’s return was surreal for Sarah?

No, she was just cracking humor all day. She was ordering lunch, and she was mom the whole day. We were having a great time. The whole family was there, and we shot it on a Saturday. So it kind of felt like an off day, but also an on day. It felt casual and really chill and very familial. But Sarah Michelle is, and has always been, a force.

There’s a graveyard scene where Danica looks at Helen’s photo and relates to her as a fellow Croaker Pageant Queen. Was that also added later to set up the dream sequence? 

Yeah, it was added when we did additional photography in L.A. months after our shoot [in Australia]. 

Most importantly, was your character saved in post-production? Did test audiences revolt over Danica’s death, leading to additional photography? 

From what I’ve heard, allegedly, yes. 

I was also really frustrated by your character’s death, so I’m glad that was undone.

Thank you. I only got the news that I was coming back about two-and-a-half weeks ago.

What!? Two weeks ago? [Note: This interview was conducted on June 28.]

Yeah, we shot all those very, very end scenes about two weeks ago. 

Oh my God, movie magic. 

I know, I know. How crazy.

You mentioned that I Know What You Did Last Summer, aka Last Summer, is one of your best friend’s favorite movies. Have you shared these secrets with her?

I haven’t told her. She’s coming to the premiere, and I want to hear her scream. 

[The spoiler section for I Know What You Did Last Summer has now concluded.]

Sony is behind I Know What You Did Last Summer. They’re also the proprietors of those Spider-Man movies. Maybe you’ve seen them. 

I have! 

Your name has been thrown around in various Spider-Man 4 rumors the last couple years. Is there any truth to them? Or did someone take your Spider-Gwen Halloween costume too seriously? 

Never say never. Look, I am a huge fan of Spider-Gwen, but I haven’t heard anything. 

I always assumed your Spider-Gwen costume was a reference to your True Grit audition.

(Laughs.) I know! I feel like Hailee [Steinfeld] and I have had these parallel lives and loves. But no, I’ve always just loved Spider-Gwen, and that costume was made by a local artist [in South Carolina]. It was the best one I’ve ever seen, so, of course, I had to wear it for Halloween. 

You’re filming the final season of Outer Banks right now. Does this feel like the right time to wrap, at least for you? 

I think so. We’ve told the story we need to tell, and everybody, of course, loves it. But at the same time, just like our characters, it’s time for us to grow up again in a way. It’s the same thing for the original cast of Last Summer. It’s time for us to pass the baton and usher in whoever the next generation is in the Outer Banks universe. 

The Notebook was set and filmed in South Carolina, and if you were to remake that, no one could dispute that you’re now the queen of Carolina fiction. 

It’s beautiful down here. The locations are beautiful, but very buggy. On our call sheet yesterday, it, in very, very official language, said: “Mosquito-y location. Dress accordingly.” That’s like every location down here, though. But I’m a huge fan of The Notebook, and I’m a huge fan of shooting here. My family is still down here, and I have a great, great love for it. So maybe we will.

Decades from now, when you’re reminiscing about the Last Summer experience, what day will you likely recall first? 

I’ll always recall the first day when I was so incredibly jet lagged. I got off the plane, and Chase [Sui Wonders] and I immediately walked to the Sydney Opera House. And I remember thinking, “Am I still drunk from the plane? Or am I jet lagged? I don’t know which one.” (Laughs.) We then texted Jenn a picture of us outside the opera house, and we were like, “We’re here!” And then everything else was just off to the races.

I promise I won’t put, “Am I still drunk from the plane?” in the headline of this piece.

You can put it in the text below it. 

The DEK, as we call it. 

(Laughs.) Yeah, the DEK!

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I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) is now playing in movie theaters.