Jake Manley. Photo Credit: Alex Evans.<\/p>\n
Actors Francesca Reale of \u201cStranger Things\u201d and Jake Manley discuss their new thriller \u201cDo Not Enter,\u201d which will be released on March 20th, 2026 in theaters, on digital and On Demand.<\/p>\n
The synopsis is: The Creepers are thrill-seeking urban explorers who love pushing things to the edge, and their latest stunt \u2013 livestreaming from New Jersey\u2019s abandoned Paragon Hotel \u2013 is their biggest yet. <\/p>\n
With its mobster past, supposed ghosts, and rumored stash of $300 million, the Paragon is catnip to the Creepers, a surefire way to increase their fanbase. <\/p>\n
Fear has other plans. Daring to enter the Paragon, not heeding the warnings, the Creepers fend off deadly rivals while supernatural creatures stalk them from the shadows, testing their endurance, sanity, and willingness to pay fame\u2019s heavy price.<\/p>\n
On being a part of \u201cDo Not Enter,\u201d the actors concurred, \u201cIt was great! We had a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing Cora and Rick in the film<\/p>\n
On playing her character, Cora, Francesca said, \u201cI liked that my character could do some parkour.I also liked that she got to be extremely dry, witty and sarcastic, which is obviously always so fun to do in any film.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Rick,\u201d Jake exclaimed about his character. \u201cRick was just so serious about what they were doing and his ethics about the urban exploring.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it was a fun departure. I love the group aspect and the story. It had some good adventure. So, I enjoyed a bunch of things about Rick,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Lessons learned from the screenplay<\/p>\n
On the lessons learned from the screenplay, Jake responded, \u201cI don\u2019t know if I would be going in to explore one of those abandoned hotels to try and get some videos. That\u2019s what Rick and the group want to do. So, it definitely exposed my fears in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it taught me that I\u2019m a collaborator,\u201d Francesca admitted. \u201cI think I really need to be\u2026 I like really thrive in group dynamics where there\u2019s a lot of collaboration happening amongst a lot of people.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019m necessarily like a lone island. I think I need community,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
Francesca on her experience in \u2018Stranger Things\u2019<\/p>\n
On being a part of the global Netflix juggernaut \u201cStranger Things,\u201d she said, \u201cThat was a huge community here. That was one of the best collaborative processes ever!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a joy to be in \u2018Stranger Things,\u2019 and to say that I\u2019ve been on that,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n
Transition from \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 to \u2018Do Not Enter\u2019<\/p>\n
Francesca discussed her transition from \u201cStranger Things\u201d to \u201cDo Not Enter.\u201d \u201cThey were just two completely different beasts,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Stranger Things\u2019 is a global phenomenon and I stepped into it in Season 3. So there was obviously a bit of pressure. You want to make that yo make the fans happy and deliver a performance that feels within the realm of what the show has already created,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was fortunate enough to work with Dacre Montgomery, who is an incredible actor, and I got to work with Millie and Sadie in a few scenes. Also, the Duffers and Shawn Levy were incredible collaborators as well,\u201d she elaborated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was also in villain in that technically. I was the bimbo gone villain turned monster. So that was a different tone altogether. In \u2018Do Not Enter,\u2019 I am playing the victim, so it\u2019s a completely different situation, but similar in a sense because I learned how to collaborate in that field,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to bring a lot of that collaboration here and I got to work with actors such as Jake Manley, Adeline Rudolph, Shane Paul McGhie, Nicholas Hamilton, and Laurence O\u2019Fuarain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were so blessed to work with the most incredible cast, consisting of a wonderful group of actors,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The digital age<\/p>\n
On being an actor in the digital age, Francesca said, \u201cI\u2019m not a fan of social media at all\u2026 obviously there are pros and cons of every type of social media platform.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s very important that while we use those platforms for positive, we continue to try to remain as present as possible and engaging with people in real life and build a community outside of those platforms as well,\u201d she elaborated.<\/p>\n
Francesca\u2019s superpower of choice<\/p>\n
If Francesca were to have a superpower, it would be to \u201cread people\u2019s minds. \u201cI think that would get me out of a lot of situations,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n
Stage of their lives<\/p>\n
On the title of the current chapter of their lives, both actors said with a sweet laugh, \u201cDo Not Enter.\u201d \u201cDo Not Enter\/Allergy Season,\u201d Francesca expanded.<\/p>\n
Message for the fans<\/p>\n
For the fans, Jake said, \u201cI hope they go and watch \u2018Do Not Enter.\u2019 It\u2019s fun and I hope they tell me what they think about it, what they love about it, what they don\u2019t love about it and to just keep watching things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want people to keep watching TV and film and not be on their phones or on TikTok all day, and to support filmmakers instead. So, I just want them to keep watching,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want the fans to have fun,\u201d Francesca said. \u201cWe just want them to have an enjoyable time. I don\u2019t know if that means they\u2019re screaming at the screen or they\u2019re laughing hysterically or they\u2019re scared.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI would just love it if it could be a community experience where people are gathering with their friends. I hope they go to the theater, see it, and watch the movie with friends. I just want people to have an enjoyable time watching and have fun,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jake Manley. Photo Credit: Alex Evans. Actors Francesca Reale of \u201cStranger Things\u201d and Jake Manley discuss their new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[162636,162107,18,117,597,175477,19,17,175478,1382,327,27613,23604],"class_list":{"0":"post-382486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-digital-age","9":"tag-do-not-enter","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-film","13":"tag-francesca-reale","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-jake-manley","17":"tag-movie","18":"tag-movies","19":"tag-stranger-things","20":"tag-thriller"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116219825523637198","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}