Israel Broussard Teases 'To All the Boys' Sequel, Explains What Makes 'Happy Death Day' Worth Revisiting

Israel Broussard on Happy Death Day 2U, To all the boys
Israel Broussard is pictured attending Entertainment Weekly Celebrates Screen Actors Guild Award Nominees sponsored by L'Oreal Paris, Cadillac, And PopSockets at Chateau Marmont on January 26, 2019, in Los Angeles, California. Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly

Blumhouse's Happy Death Day 2U arrives just in time for Valentine's Day. While the sequel may seem like an unlikely way to honor the romantic holiday due to its horror roots, star Israel Broussard explained what made the film worth revisiting a second time around and why audiences should spend Valentine's Day with the flick.

In October 2017, filmmaker Christopher Landon's Happy Death Day became an unexpected hit during its box office run. Its respective sequel, out Wednesday, follows Tree (Jessica Rothe) as she's trapped in a parallel universe that causes her to relive her birthday repeatedly. Broussard, who has appeared in films like The Bling Ring, returns to reprise his role as Tree's love interest, Carter. According to Broussard, revisiting the slasher flick is worthwhile for audiences as they'll gain a deeper understanding of why Tree is forced to continue reliving the same day.

"What I like about the story of the second one [is] it kind of explained what was going on in the first one," Broussard, 24, told Newsweek. "In the first one, Tree understands where she needs to change. That was kind of the heartful moment of the whole movie, was you can be a better person. This one, you immediately get shoved back into it."

"It was interesting seeing Tree get the opportunity to continue her growth and have this element of another dimension. It was nice going deeper into Tree's psyche of being a good person and what it means to be a good person," he added.

Broussard enjoyed his role of Carter, who he describes as "happy-go-lucky" kind of guy. "He's definitely not the most popular. He's definitely not the smartest, but I don't think that's what he focuses on. I think he focuses on caring about the people he cares about," he said.

HDD2U Sequel Israel, Jessica
Jessica Rothe (L) as Tree and Israel Broussard as Carter are pictured in a still for "Happy Death Day 2U," out February 13, 2019. Universal Pictures

Broussard didn't expect for Happy Death Day to earn a sequel. While he claimed "it's kind of hard to do sequels," he recognized how expanding the film's universe would play out after he "understood the kind of movie Chris [Landon] was making."

At first glance, Happy Death Day 2U may not seem like the ideal flick to venture to over Valentine's Weekend, especially with Rebel Wilson's Isn't It Romantic and Taraji P. Henson's What Men Want being out. However, Happy Death Day 2U has elements of a romantic comedy, of sorts, beneath its sci-fi slasher film core. "This one has a bit more of a genre mix in there. But honestly, bring a date. If a guy is anything like me, I get scared of horror. So you could be the shoulder for the girl or guy to curl up in...You get tensed up and put at ease," he said.

In addition to being involved in a successful horror movie franchise, Broussard also helmed a prominent role as Josh in Netflix's smash hit To All the Boys I Loved Before. A sequel to the beloved film was ordered by the streaming giant in December 2018. While Broussard couldn't share too much on the upcoming feature's development, he did confirm the cast and crew has "not yet" begun shooting.

"There's a lot of things going on with that," he said. "I don't think we have a script yet. It's in the works. We're definitely excited...We'll see!"

Happy Death Day 2U hits theaters Wednesday.

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more

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