Paul Anthony Kelly Joins Sydney Sweeney in ‘The Housemaid’s Secret’

Paul Anthony Kelly will star opposite Sydney Sweeney in “The Housemaid’s Secret,” Lionsgate’s sequel to its December 2025 $400 million-grossing thriller. Lionsgate’s official sequel casting announcement arrived on Thursday, June 11, 2026, locking the Canadian model-turned-actor into the role of Douglas Garrick, the billionaire husband at the center of the new story.

It is Kelly’s first feature film role. He arrives at Lionsgate from FX’s breakout anthology “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette,” where he played the title role of JFK Jr. opposite Sarah Pidgeon and earned a Newport Beach TV Fest Breakout Award. “The Housemaid’s Secret” is set to open in wide release on December 17, 2027.

Kelly Lands the Sequel Role, His First Film

The casting is the first major piece of business for a sequel that Lionsgate fast-tracked the moment the original film broke out. “The Housemaid” was a December 2025 release.

“The Housemaid” opened in December 2025 on a modest $35 million production budget and, per a full cast breakdown of the sequel, finished its theatrical run having grossed over $400 million worldwide. Lionsgate quickly greenlit the sequel. Kelly has inked a deal to play Douglas Garrick, the billionaire husband of Dunst’s Wendy and the new employer of Sweeney’s Millie. Sweeney is on board to executive produce through her newly launched Honey Trap banner. The sequel enters production later this year.

13 Years of Auditions, Then a 1,000-Actor Search

Kelly’s path to the role is the kind of story casting directors trade over drinks. Born in Port McNicoll, Ontario, he moved to Toronto and was discovered by talent scouts while working at American Apparel, signing first with Ford Models and later with Innovative Artists.

He worked as a model for Rhone Apparel, Vivienne Westwood, Bonobos, John Varvatos, Loro Piana, Perry Ellis, and Brooks Brothers, and auditioned in New York for acting work on the side. For roughly 13 years, the acting work did not come. The only screen credit he landed, a project called “The Venery of Samantha Bird,” was never released, in part because of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Then Ryan Murphy’s team came calling for FX’s “Love Story” anthology and put him through a months-long search that, by Deadline’s count, involved around 1,000 actors.

Kelly won the part of JFK Jr. just weeks before cameras rolled, after a chemistry read and screen test with Sarah Pidgeon locked it in, per Ryan Murphy’s Love Story trailer. Emmy buzz followed. He took the Breakout Award at the 2026 Newport Beach TV Fest for “Love Story,” and Murphy has since cast him in the 13th season of “American Horror Story.” The news was announced at the 2026 Disney Upfront in May, where Kelly was brought onstage by fellow “AHS 13” cast members Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, Billie Lourd, and Emma Roberts. The feature film debut lands on the back of that momentum.

Sweeney, Dunst, and Morrone Round Out the Cast

Sweeney returns as Millie Calloway, the live-in housemaid at the center of McFadden’s trilogy. She is the only confirmed returning principal.

Michele Morrone is back as Enzo, Millie’s ally turned love interest. New to the franchise is Kirsten Dunst, who plays Wendy, the wife of Kelly’s Douglas Garrick. Lionsgate has billed Dunst as a “newcomer” to the franchise in casting notes. Sweeney is also stepping up her role behind the camera as an executive producer, working through her newly launched Honey Trap banner. The full cast, as confirmed by Lionsgate:

• Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway (returning)
• Kirsten Dunst as Wendy (new)
• Paul Anthony Kelly as Douglas Garrick (new)
• Michele Morrone as Enzo (returning)

Sweeney’s co-stars from the first film are not all returning. Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar played the Winchesters, Nina and Andrew, in the original. Lionsgate has not announced whether they will appear in the sequel, and a representative did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

Seyfried, for her part, has her own upcoming Mamma Mia 3 dream cast list news, which she shared publicly. The sequel moves the action to the Garrick household, which Lionsgate’s synopsis describes as another locked-door story. The first film was set in the Winchesters’ home. Lionsgate has optioned the trilogy plus a short story for future adaptation.

Why the Sequel Moved This Fast

Lionsgate moved quickly on the sequel because the first film, by every available measure, over-performed. It opened in North America on December 19, 2025, on a $19 million domestic opening weekend, and per the original film’s $200 million global milestone report, finished four weekends later with $100 million domestic and $100 million international. Word-of-mouth drove the run.

It became Lionsgate’s second consecutive wide release to cross the $200 million mark worldwide after November’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” ($241 million). The books give the sequel a runway. “The Housemaid” novels have sold more than 12 million units across 40 languages, and “The Housemaid’s Secret,” the second novel in the trilogy, has been on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 70 weeks. It won the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Thriller, and McFadden published the third book in the series, “The Housemaid Is Watching,” in June 2024.

The sequel’s green light was a bet on the audience for the next book as much as the audience for the last film. “The Housemaid’s Secret” enters production later this year.

• $400 million+ worldwide gross for the first film
• 12 million units sold across McFadden’s trilogy
• 40 languages translated
• 70+ weeks on the New York Times bestseller list

Kelly Steps Into the Garrick Household

Kelly plays the billionaire husband of Dunst’s Wendy and the new employer of Sweeney’s Millie. In Lionsgate’s synopsis for the sequel, Millie “takes a job keeping house for yet another woman she’s never allowed to see, only to discover the truth behind the locked door that threatens to expose secrets far darker than her own.” Kelly’s Douglas Garrick is, by casting notes, the man on the other side of that door. His recent credits stack up as follows:

Kelly is repped by Innovative Artists, Luber Roklin, and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz. The role marks his first feature film work after a year of being touted as a breakout on the back of “Love Story.” Production on the sequel is set to begin later in 2026.

Feig, Sonnenshine, and the McFadden Machine

Director Paul Feig and screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine are both returning to the sequel. Feig, who directed “Bridesmaids” and steered the first “Housemaid” to its $400 million result, will direct from a script by Sonnenshine, who adapted the first novel for the 2025 film.

Lionsgate announced Sonnenshine’s return alongside the Kelly casting. The producing team mirrors the first film. Hidden Pictures’ Todd Lieberman returns as a producer, with Carly Elter and Alex Young also exec producing for Hidden Pictures. Laura Fischer and Feig produce through his Pretty Dangerous Pictures banner, with Kaylee McGregor of Honey Trap co-producing. Chelsea Kujawa and Maria Ascanio oversee the film for Lionsgate.

Feig, for his part, is not slowing down. While the sequel gears up for production, he has also been attached to a separate project at a different studio. The 20th Century Studios adaptation of a novella called “Persona” came out of a heated pre-publication auction, per a separate report on his next thriller Persona.

Feig’s calendar, in other words, is the kind of overstuffed schedule that mid-budget thrillers tend to demand. There is no trailer yet, and Lionsgate has not set an earlier festival slot for the sequel. What the studio has set is a wide release of December 17, 2027, and a cast that blends a returning Sweeney with new faces in Kelly and Dunst. McFadden’s third book, “The Housemaid Is Watching,” came out in June 2024, and Lionsgate has optioned the full trilogy plus a short story.

The Housemaid’s Secret enters production later this year. The sequel is Kelly’s first feature film role and Sweeney’s first producing credit through her newly launched Honey Trap banner. Lionsgate has said it anticipates adapting more of McFadden’s Housemaid thrillers in the years ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Paul Anthony Kelly?

Paul Anthony Kelly is a Canadian model and actor, born in Port McNicoll, Ontario in 1988. He began modeling after being discovered at American Apparel and signed with Ford Models, working for brands including Vivienne Westwood and Loro Piana. He landed his first major screen role as John F. Kennedy Jr. in Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” in 2026, after a months-long casting search.

When does The Housemaid’s Secret come out?

The sequel opens in wide release on December 17, 2027, with production scheduled to start before the end of 2026.

Who is in the cast of The Housemaid’s Secret?

Sydney Sweeney is back as live-in housemaid Millie Calloway and Michele Morrone returns as her ally-turned-love-interest Enzo. New additions are Paul Anthony Kelly as the new on-screen husband, Douglas Garrick, and Kirsten Dunst as his wife, Wendy.

What is The Housemaid’s Secret about?

The plot moves Millie into the Garrick household, where she takes a job as live-in help and discovers the truth behind a locked door. The film is based on the second novel in Freida McFadden’s bestselling thriller trilogy.

What book is The Housemaid’s Secret based on?

The film adapts McFadden’s 2023 novel of the same title, which sits between “The Housemaid” (2022) and “The Housemaid Is Watching” (June 2024) in her thriller trilogy. Across 40 languages, the three books have sold more than 12 million copies. The Housemaid’s Secret also won the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Thriller and stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 70 weeks.