Adam Scott Tried to Sneak Back Into Hellraiser After Being Killed Off: "Maybe They Won't Notice"

Adam Scott once tried to sneak back into the Hellraiser franchise after his character was killed off — hiding his face behind audition papers in the waiting room, hoping a producer from the previous film wouldn’t recognize him. The story, which Scott told during a Late Night with Seth Meyers appearance this week, offers a candid look at the financial precariousness that drives even talented actors early in their careers.

Scott made his film debut in 1996’s Hellraiser: Bloodline as Jacques, a young man who helps his aristocrat boss summon a demon named Angelique. His introduction to the franchise was characteristically unglamorous. On his first day on set, he walked over to find his chair labeled “Adam Craig” rather than his own name. The film itself was a troubled production — ultimately released under the Alan Smithee pseudonym, the Hollywood shorthand for a director who has disowned their own work.

Years later, desperate for work, Scott’s agent sent him an audition for Hellraiser: Hellseeker, the franchise’s sixth installment. “My agent sends an audition for Hellraiser 6, and I’m like, ‘Now, wait a second… I was in Hellraiser 4,'” he recalled. “But I need a job, so I’m like, ‘Screw it.'” The plan unraveled almost immediately. Sitting in the waiting room, he spotted a producer from Bloodline through a partially open office door and tried to conceal himself behind his audition papers, reasoning that if he stayed hidden long enough to impress in the room, he might land the part anyway. He did not.

Scott told the story while promoting Hokum, his new Irish folk horror film directed by Damian McCarthy, which opened May 1 via Neon. The film follows Scott as a struggling author who visits a remote hotel in rural Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes, only to find the property haunted by a witch. It holds an 87% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its atmospheric folklore and McCarthy’s direction.

Scott, a self-described lifelong horror fan, described the genre pull as instinctive, praising McCarthy as a filmmaker who builds character first and scares second — a quality that, he argued, makes the terror land harder. The Severance star also confirmed that production on the hit Apple series’ third season will begin this summer.