As spooky season gets underway, update your viewing queue with the latest slasher thrillers: Amazon Prime Studios’ “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and Netflix’s “There’s Someone Inside Your House.” But before you turn down the lights and lock the doors, watch actors Brianne Tju and Sydney Park sit down to catch up on their latest projects, their similar career trajectories and more.
Tju stars in “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” a television series based on the classic slasher film of the same name, about a group of teenagers stalked by a ruthless killer a year after covering up a fatal car accident. This is hardly the actress’ first time in the horror genre, having been featured as Riley in MTV’s “Scream” and as Alex in Hulu’s supernatural thriller “Light as a Feather.”
Park, on the other hand, has appeared in AMC’s “The Walking Dead” as Cyndie and as Caitlin in Freeform’s “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists,” the sequel to the network’s most popular series. She stars in “There’s Someone Inside Your House,” a movie adapted from Stephanie Perkins’ 2017 novel that follows a high school transfer student who finds herself in the middle of gruesome murder spree plaguing her new town.
The two young actresses are already veterans of the entertainment industry, with Park getting her start on Disney Channel’s “That’s So Raven” and Tju playing the adorable Haley on “Cory in the House.” As child actors, they’ve not only grown into their careers but have also witnessed the evolution of Hollywood representation as young Asian American actors.
“We’ve both been doing this for so long, and I feel like when you grow up with your audience and the world is ever-changing … there’s so many more opportunities for people,” Park told Tju. “Roles that are traditionally set for maybe someone who doesn’t look like me [are opening up].”
Tju also noted how much the industry has evolved since they were children. “We’ve seen it change, we’ve seen the ins and outs of it, the good and bad,” she said. “I finally feel like we’re at a place—and there’s still a lot of work to be done—but I finally feel like our industry is coming to a place where we are acknowledged and I feel more comfortable in my skin.”
Park additionally spoke on how significant it was for her, as a mixed-race actress, to be able to portray her real-life heritage as a half-black and half-Asian young woman in “There’s Someone Inside Your House.” “I was taught not to think of my background as something that hinders me, [but] rather encourages me to be the best version of myself that I can,” Park said. “I am me, I don’t have to be defined by … Korean and black.”
Representation has been a key motivator throughout Tju’s career as well, as she explained that she’s always wanted to do Asian children justice with her roles. “Your unique experience of being someone of mixed-race is also so important,” Tju told Park. “There are so many people that will identify with you and your life experiences.”
Even with Hollywood finally moving in the direction of inclusivity, that doesn’t stop the two actresses from getting creative and daydreaming about a partners-in-crime assassins flick à la “Violet & Daisy.” Even if they have to forge their own opportunities in the industry, Park and Tju aren’t backing down from the challenge.
Watch the full conversation above, then make sure to check out “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “There’s Someone Inside Your House,” both streaming now.
