'I Know What You Did Last Summer’s' director shares about film's surprising twist

I Know What You Did Last Summer’s director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson talked about Sarah Michelle Geller’s cameo in the film's sequel.

Sarah found a way to return as her iconic character in the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel despite her character's original demise.

The actress had previously stated in October 2024 that she would not be returning for the film's sequel as her character Helen Shivers' death in the original saying "I am dead."

Sarah  sparked speculation when she shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the sequel's Australian set, where her husband Freddie Prinze Jr. was filming but she quickly reassured fans she wouldn't be appearing in the film.

Now, during a recent interview with PEOPLE, Jennifer explained how the biggest surprise came in her movie.

In a surprise twist, the 48-year-old does appear in the film as her character Helen Shivers, but in a dream sequence where she taunts Madelyn Cline's character Danica while dressed in her iconic Croaker Queen costume.

The director told the outlet, “As a super fan of this franchise, I was never not going to put Helen Shivers in the movie. And I didn't lie, she is dead."

She continued, “we wanted to bring Madelyn and Sarah together on screen, and I'm so excited about the results. I feel like it’s just so fun, we recreated the Croaker Queen crown. That is an exact replica of the crown from the original movie. I really went for it in trying to create this David Lynch-y Helen Shivers dream sequence."

Meanwhile, the producer Neal H. Moritz recalled Sarah's continuous refusal to reprise her role, but she knows her close relationship with director Jennifer may have changed her mind.

He said, “I think the idea that the way we were able to bring her back without bringing her alive was great.”

“I think a lot of times, and I've been guilty of it before, is we bring too many dead people back. But we could bring her back without making her alive, which is why I respected that,” Neal added.

I know What You Did Last Summer was released on July 17, 2025.