Freeform’s breakout hit Cruel Summer is getting a complete makeover for season two.
The series, which began production on its second season today, will feature a completely different storyline for its upcoming second season, complete with a new cast and showrunner.
Sadie Stanley (The Goldbergs), newcomer Eloise Payet, Griffin Gluck (Locke & Key), KaDee Strickland (Private Practice), Lisa Yamada (All American), Sean Blakemore (Greenleaf) and Paul Adelstein (True Story) will star in the second season play the lead roles. The latter, who reunites with his former wife and son in private practice at Strickland and Gluck, is slated for a recurring role.
Elle Triedman (Freeforms Siren, Guilt) has been named season 2 showrunner, replacing Tia Napolitano in the role. Napolitano, who boarded Cruel Summer after the pilot when creator Bert V. Royal departed after a creative stint with a Freeform executive, remains credited as executive producer. “After getting Cruel Summer Season 2 up and running, Tia Napolitano resigned from the show and will therefore no longer serve as showrunner,” a show representative told THR. “Tia was instrumental in the show’s success and will remain executive producer.”
According to sources, season one stars Olivia Holt, Chiara Aurelia, Michael Landes, Froy Gutierrez, Harley Quinn Smith, Allius Barnes, Blake Lee, and Brooklyn Sudano knew when they signed on that there was a possibility of Cruel Summer in season two could go the anthology route. The cast were informed of the decision to reset the series with a new story once a formal decision was made some time after the Season 1 finale.
Cruel Summer, whose first season took place over three summers in the ’90s and explored a shift in popularity dynamics, was the first scripted series to debut at Freeform under Tara Duncan’s regime. She replaced Tom Ascheim as President of Freeform in 2020. The series ranks as the most-watched scripted original series in Freeform history, and it’s also doing well on Hulu, where all the cable network’s basic programming is available for next-day streaming.
Set in an idyllic coastal town in the Pacific Northwest, the second season of the anthology follows the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship. Approaching the story from three different timelines around the year 2000, the season twists and turns as it explores the early friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan’s best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that has surrounded their entire lives would affect, traced. The second season returns for a date to be determined later this year.
Entertainment One is Cruel Summer’s studio. Royal created the series and said goodbye to it after the pilot (turned its back on backend profit-sharing as well). Triedman Executive is producing alongside Iron Ocean Productions’ Bill Purple, Napolitano, Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple.
Here are additional details on the cast and their respective roles:
Sadie Stanley plays Megan Landry, a computer programmer and honor student from a working-class family. Once Megan meets Isabella, she begins to live in the moment and embrace her true self. When events take a tragic turn, her long-cherished dreams are dashed and she wonders who to trust. Stanley (Dead to Me) is represented by Gersh, Stagecoach Entertainment and Goodman Genow.
Payet portrays the seductive and enigmatic Isabella, the daughter of foreign diplomats who spends a year as an exchange student with the Landry family. She quickly stirs up life in this small town, but her charm can’t hide the truth about her past or the real reason she came to live with the Landrys forever. She is represented by Innovative Artists, Brave Artists Management and BMEG.
Gluck plays Luke Chambers, Megan’s lifelong best friend from a celebrity family. As time goes on, Luke finds himself at a crossroads as he tries to find his own place in the world, detached from the expectations of his powerful father, Steve (Adelstein). Gluck is with Paradigm and Hansen Jacobson.
Strickland (Shut Eye) plays Debbie, Megan’s hardworking single mother, who believes having Isabella as a guest will open Megan’s eyes to a bigger world than her small town. She is represented by Gersh, Anonymous Content and Meyer & Downs.
Yamada plays Parker, a popular musician who becomes increasingly cynical as the world around her takes a dark turn. She is with the Park Noack agency.
Blakemore (General Hospital) stars as Sheriff Myer, an old-fashioned law-and-order guy under pressure to solve Chatham’s first big crime. He is with SDB Partners.
Showrunner Triedman credits Power Book IV: Force, The Shannara Chronicles, Finding Carter and Devious Maids. She is with Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and Yorn Levine.