Francesca Noel and Ana Ortiz are a mother and daughter who must reckon with the resurgence of a secret from the former’s past inGoosebumps: The Vanishing. The latest season of the Disney+ adaptation of R.L. Stine’s novels continues Noel’s rise to stardom, having previously appeared in a variety of shorts, as well as the coming-of-age dramaSelah and the SpadesandR#J, a modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare’s classic. Ortiz, on the other hand, has enjoyed a career of both main and supporting roles in a variety of hit movies and TV shows, namelyUgly BettyandHulu’sLove, Victor, among others.
Noel and Ortiz star inGoosebumps: The Vanishing’s storyas Alex and Jen, the neighbors to David Schwimmer’s Anthony, with whom the latter was also a childhood friend. Jen is a police detective who has been secretly investigating the mysterious disappearance of Anthony’s brother that occurred when they were all teenagers, while Alex is in the group of teens who protagonists Devin and Cece befriend. But while Cece and Alex endure some friction upon meeting each other, terrifying forces will push them to overcome their differences and save those they love.
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Alongside Schwimmer, Noel and Ortiz, theensembleGoosebumps: The Vanishingcastincludes Jayden Bartels as Cece, Sam McCarthy as Devin, Elijah M. Cooper, Galilea La Salvia and Stony Blyden. With Hilary Winston back as showrunner and Rob Letterman also still spearheading development on the new season, the show introduces an intriguing new mystery, chilling set pieces and engaging characters for audiences to see be horrified.
Ahead of the show’s return,ScreenRantinterviewed Francesca Noel and Ana Ortiz to discussGoosebumps: The Vanishing, why joining the show was “mind-blowing” for a horror fan like Noel, how the latter found it “really fun” to be part of the franchise her children grew up reading and loving, as well as what to expect from their character arcs, and the stuntwork Noel participated in for the show.
Being Part Of TheGoosebumps: The Vanishing Cast"Means So Much" To Noel & Ortiz
“It’s so much fun to be part of something that’s so iconic.”
ScreenRant: I’m really excited to chat with you both forGoosebumps: The Vanishing. I’ve only seen the first episode, but I’m loving what I’m seeing so far. Francesca, I’ll start with you, and then Ana. Obviously,Goosebumpsis quite the storied franchise now, both on screen and in book form. What does it feel like for you both really getting to become a part of it and carry the mantle forward for modern audiences?
Francesca Noel: It means so much to me. I’m a huge horror fan. I’m a huge comic book superhero person, a nerd, to be honest. So, coming into something like this that was very action-heavy, and it’s a book series that I grew up loving, I mean, it’s mind-blowing. And then, walking in and seeing her is like, “I’m dead.” So, yeah, Goosebumps, amazing, very happy. [Chuckles]
Ana Ortiz: Yeah, we had a lot of fun. It’s so much fun to be part of something that’s so iconic. My kids grew up reading Goosebumps, and I just realized, like, maybe this is why they love horror movies so much, is because that’s what made them become readers. So, it’s been really fun, and working with this incredible cast. I feel like I had the best of it. I got to work mostly with David [Schwimmer] and Francesca. So, for me, every scene was juicy and fun.
So, Francesca, since you mentioned being sucha hugeGoosebumpsbook fan, I’d love to hear what your favorite book is.
Francesca Noel: I’d have to say Haunted Car, because that’s a little teaser for something that comes up in the show. That’s a very cool one. I would say second favorite is Slappy, because he’s puntable, as we discovered. And yeah, I don’t know, all of them. They’re all great.
Jen’s Investigation Will See Her Confronting Some Emotional Things From Her Past
“…it really has effected her whole life.”
Ana, I would love to actually expound on the fact that you mentioned getting to work a lot with David and Francesca, because I love how, again, the pilot really sets up your and David’s characters' past. What can you share about how that dynamic unfolds throughout this season, especially as David becomes afflicted with this thing?
Ana Ortiz: I think for Jen, for my character, one of the reasons I think she became a detective, and she stayed in the neighborhood, is because of what happened in their past — which I can’t really say — but it really has effected her whole life. And Anthony has been gone for so many years, and when he comes back, seeing him brings all of that up, and it really kicks off the whole mystery of it. But I think that she really has to have a reckoning about her responsibility for what happened, and what sort of spurns everything that goes on during the show. I think that was just a really fun thing to play, and it gets completely bad. [Laughs]
I did also want to ask about the pilot’s ending, in which you might know more than you’re letting on, even with Anthony. Can you tease some of what’s to come from your investigation this season?
Ana Ortiz: Well, Jen definitely knows more than she’s letting on, and she has to sort of reckon with the fact that she’s got secrets that may have to be discovered, much to her chagrin, which puts her in a really bad light. I think what’s interesting is Jen, as a teenager, was a lot more like her daughter than she cares to admit. She was sort of a rule-breaker and a rebel, and I think that’s why she’s so hardcore on the rules as an adult. So, there’s that part of Jen that was definitely a sort of rapscallion, if you will, in her past, and that all comes to pass.
Francesca Noel: Jen’s the cool mom, that’s what I would say.
Alex & Cece’s Friction-Filled Dynamic May Not Stay That Way
“…Cece’s got some spice in her, and Alex is also quite picante.”
Francesca, I’ll turn back to you. I also love that your character and Cece, at the start, seem to share a rebellious streak, and while they’re not quite foes, there seems to be some tension between them, as well. What can you share about how that dynamic sort of evolves as the season goes on?
Francesca Noel: You know, there is not much I can share, unfortunately, but I will say I personally love a good enemies-to… arc. And who knows, I mean, Cece’s got some spice in her, and Alex is also quite picante. So you know what’s going to happen.
Ana Ortiz: Alex don’t take no mess. [Laughs]
Francesca Noel: That’s true. Cece also doesn’t, either.
I see I’m almost out of time, so I wanted to turn back to something you mentioned, which was loving action and getting to be thrown into action with this. I was talking with David earlier, and he was mentioning getting to do some of his own stunts and stuff like that. I’m curious if you worked a lot with the stunt team to capture this show’s action, or if you handed it off to the doubles more than doing it yourself?
Francesca Noel: No, I am absolutely here for us doing our own thing, and that’s what we were doing. Yeah, I’m a huge action person. I love fighting. And in this show, in particular, I was doing a lot of green screen work. And with my particular monster, it was very violent to the body. So, I spent a lot of time in the gym, surprisingly, learning how to do all that stuff. I also want to say I love ScreenRant, because normally I’m on there looking for geeky, nerdy content. So, this is really cool.
AboutGoosebumps: The Vanishing
Goosebumps: The Vanishing begins when twins Cece and Devin Brewer are sent to spend a summer in Gravesend, Brooklyn, with their divorced dad. A threat is stirring, and they quickly realize that dark secrets are among them, triggering a chain of events that unravel a profound mystery. As they delve into the unknown, Cece, Devin and their friends — Alex, CJ and Frankie — find themselves entangled in the chilling tale of four teenagers who mysteriously vanished in 1994.
Emmy Award nominee David Schwimmer leads a brand-new cast as Anthony Brewer, a former botany professor who has immersed himself in science and mystery, alongside Ana Ortiz as police detective Jen, Jayden Bartels as Cece, Sam McCarthy as Devin, Elijah M. Cooper as CJ, Galilea La Salvia as Frankie, Francesca Noel as Alex, and Stony Blyden as Trey.
Nicholas Stoller and Rob Letterman developed Goosebumps: The Vanishing, along with showrunner Hilary Winston. All three serve as executive producers alongside Neal H. Moritz, Scholastic Entertainment’s Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman, Pavun Shetty, Conor Welch, Erin O’Malley, Karl Frankenfield and James Eagan.
Check out our otherGoosebumps: The Vanishinginterviews with:
Goosebumps: The Vanishingwill begin streaming in full on Disney+ and Hulu on January 10!
Goosebumps
Cast
R. L. Stine’s horror book series receives its second television adaptation with the 2023 Disney+ series Goosebumps. The new series brings in the creative minds behind the first two Goosebumps films and centers on five teenagers who haphazardly unleash evil supernatural forces on their town. As they attempt to send them back to where they came from, they learn that their parents harbor similar secrets from their younger days.
