A bit of casting news for the Freaky Friday sequel came out this weekend. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis announced that Darth Bortles himself (IYKYK), Manny Jancito, is co-starring as Anna’s (Lindsay’s character’s) husband. I’m sure there are some of you wondering, “What about Jake?! Why didn’t Anna end up with the high school boyfriend that for fell for her after going on a very weird date with her mom while they were body swapped?” Well, have no fear. Chad Michael Murray is reprising his role, as is Mark Harmon (Tess’ husband/Anna’s stepdad, Ryan), Stephen Tobolowsky (Mr. Bates), Haley Hudson (Peg), and more from the original cast.
Sorry, Anna and Jake shippers. It appears the beloved character played by Chad Michael Murray in Freaky Friday is not married to Lindsay Lohan‘s Anna in the upcoming sequel, Freakier Friday.
In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Lohan and her onscreen mother, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis), revealed that Anna is married to Manny Jacinto‘s character, whose name hasn’t been revealed yet.
“Manny plays Lindsay’s husband. But that’s like as much as we can say,” Curtis told the publication, sharing that they’re still in the middle of shooting. “Manny is lovely. So funny,” Lohan added of her onscreen love interest.
When Disney revealed that Murray would be returning to play Jake in the Freaky Friday sequel, fans were filled with excitement, hoping that they’d get to see Lohan and Murray’s characters together 20 years after the original film.
While it appears they won’t be in a romantic relationship, Curtis teased, “Chad is in it. And boy, oh boy, is Chad in it.”
Lohan, Curtis and Murray aren’t the only cast members returning for the sequel. They’ll be joined by original stars Mark Harmon, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Haley Hudson, Lucille Soong, Stephen Tobolowsky and Rosalind Chao, as well as newcomers Jacinto, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.
The Freaky Friday sequel picks up years after Tess and Anna switched bodies, and now Anna has a daughter of her own and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. “As they navigate the myriad challenges that come when two families merge, Tess and Anna discover that lightning might indeed strike twice,” the film synopsis reads.
Aside from Jacinto playing Lohan’s onscreen husband, no further details have been released about Butters, Hammons and Ramakrishnan’s roles — though it’s likely at least one of them will be playing Lohan’s daughter and another one may take on the part of her almost-stepdaughter.
Freakier Friday will hit theaters sometime in 2025.
My first, and only real, question is how do I get Manny to play MY husband? I’m pretty sure Mr. Rosie is totally fine with this imaginary situation. He’s seen both The Good Place and The Acolyte. He gets it.
Anyway, I bet that CMM pops up in one scene playing the role of a teacher or wedding singer or even a therapist co-worker of Tess. There’s also supposed to be some drama regarding Manny’s daughter becoming Anna’s stepchild. My plot prediction is that it’s not actually Tess and Anna that switch places. I think there’s a brouhaha at the rehearsal dinner for Anna and Manny’s unnamed character that takes place at the Chinese restaurant owned by Lucille Soong and Rosalind Chao’s characters (Pei-Pei and her mom). I think Anna ends up swapping places with her future step-daughter and they have to understand each other before the wedding. That’s just my very simple guess, based on having seen 80% of the movies in this same vein over the years. In the original, Jamie Lee did a much better job acting the swap than LiLo did though, so it would be a shame not to see her play that again. We’ll see in 2025. For now, I have to get an answer to my very serious question of how I get Manny to play my husband.
Photos credit: Dsanchez/Cpr/Backgrid, Getty, Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon, celebrityphotos uk / Avalon and Michael Williams / Avalon
BORTLES!!!! I think he’s a great actor and very attractive man so I don’t want to pigeonhole him, but it’s interesting how my mind strongly associates some actors with the first or biggest role I saw them in. He’ll always be Jason to me apparently.
Me too. He was so good in that role. I’ve seen him in other things, but I always think back to, “I have no idea how I got here, I have no idea what’s going on, and I’m freaking out, homie! You gotta help me… I’m scared!”
The Good Place is one of my feel good shows ☺️
Me three!
Jason Mendoza, the drug dealing D.J from Jacksonville, Florida – FOREVER!
You are correct. I read somewhere that Anna switches with her stepdaughter to be and Tess switches with her granddaughter. I thought the plot was common knowledge. I wish I could remember where I read it.
I am Filipina American, so I’m soooooooo excited by the ascension of Manny Jacinto to global hottie status!!! I really think that if Steven Yuen and Manny Jacinto were white, with their same levels of attractiveness and acting talent, they would both have been MUCH MUCH bigger before now. At least both of these very gifted Asian American/Asian Canadian actors, plus Simu Liu, are getting good roles. Not as many as their white counterparts but I guess quality is better than quantity. Yuen won an Emmy (and tons of other awards) for Beef so here’s hoping we see more Asian performers on the awards circuit. (Ofc we have some prominent elders on that scene — Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan — but I am hoping for strong romantic leading man-type Asian American/Canadian men with this generation.)
filipina here too and i have been crushing on manny as well
I actually think Lindsay’s performance in Freaky Friday is so underrated because (similarly to Mean Girls) her character isn’t as crazy / outlandish saying all the snappy one liners as others around her (in this case vs a grown Jamie Lee Curtis acting like a bratty teenager) she’s the straight man and more subdued, but acting wise I believe more is actually required from her (especially at such a young age) and she makes everyone else around her work together perfectly in that same universe if that makes sense.
Did everyone see his wife standing in line for a meet and greet with him? So cute – https://x.com/michelle_lynn/status/1822745937753886994
That is so sweet! I didnt know he is married.
This would have been Jason Mendoza’s high school dream 😆
I wish these has beens who pissed away their careers weren’t allowed to make a come back. Yikes all those years of smoking and had fillers have finally caught up with her.
thank you for covering manny here. i love that thumbnail photo of him