Sidelined 2: Intercepted's Siena Agudong Talks Returning For Tubi Sequel, Finding Chemistry with Noah Beck (Exclusive)

In an interview with TooFab's Paige Catton, Agudong and her co-star Drew Ray Tanner opened up about coming back to film the sequel, while newcomer Charlie Gillespie shared his thoughts on joining the franchise.

Sidelined 2: Intercepted -- which is the follow-up to 2024's Sidelined: The QB Bad Boy and Me -- follows Drayton (Beck), now a freshman star quarterback in college, "as he struggles with the weight of expectations after a devastating setback, while dancer Dallas (Agudong) begins to question the future she thought she wanted," per Tubi. "As their high school relationship begins to unravel under the pressures of distance and self-discovery, they'll learn that the bravest versions of themselves emerge when they let life redirect them," the logline adds.

While speaking with TooFab, Agudong, 21, and Tanner, 33, reflected on their experience reuniting with their cast members following the success of the first film.

"It's so nice, in terms of just returning to the same movie. It was so fun to film. But also just coming back to the same people. In the first movie, you start, you get close to everyone," Agudong said. "You figure out the grounds, you figure out what works and what the heck we're doing and making. And then in the second, you already know you're coming back to people that you have solid relationships with, Drew being one of them. It's nice because you grow together and you bring that growth into your characters, which is really special."

Tanner -- who plays Nathan, the brother of Agudong's character Dallas -- chimed in, adding, "There's something really exciting about ... like in TV, every week there's a new script, and you're kind of doing that. With this, you sort of finish the first one, and then you pick it up like a year later, and they've created all this other stuff for you to sink your teeth into. And it's just really exciting to think like, 'Oh yeah, a lot can happen in a year, not just for yourself, but for your characters.' And that's what I really look forward to when I came back, was that our dynamic as brother and sister had changed, and there was something new to discover there. So it was fun."

Meanwhile, Gillespie -- who joins the cast as Skyler, Dallas' boss and friend (or something more?) -- opened up about shooting the film, and praised his co-stars, who were sitting beside him during the virtual junket.

"Joining a project … there's already a family that's established, but then when you get to come in and play with people that are so inviting, and getting to play with Sienna, right?" he said. "[She's] the most inviting person around, the most kindest. And every scene she gives so much, and it was warm instantly. And we got to film in Vancouver, which I've gotten to film [in] a few times. And so there's already people, honestly, on set that I've gotten to work with. You just get to reestablish. And Vancouver Island on top of that, too? Such a place to shoot in."

"Thank you, guys, for being so nice and for playing with me, you being there and bringing me into the group. It could have been the opposite, you know what I mean?" he told Tanner and Agudong, who replied to Gillespie's kind words with some of her own, "Day one, Charlie brought beautiful energy. It was so easy."

In response, Gillespie continued to gush over working with Agudong and Tanner.

"These two, getting to have a scene with both of them as well. Getting to watch you, break down your scripts, and do that extra stuff that you do. I mean, not every actor goes in and puts in that extra length," he said to Tanner, before adding of Agudong, "And Sienna was out on her free time, was helping me out … because we're still auditioning and doing things outside of [this film], thank you so much. You helped me go for such a long way in my personal life. Even though we are all on these different paths, we are doing this together in so many instances. So having people warm and welcoming is where you hope to keep going and on different projects, and Intercepted was that."

Meanwhile, like the first film, Sidelined 2: Intercepted centers on the sizzling romance between Dallas and Drayton, with the scenes showcasing Agudong and Beck's palpable on-screen chemistry.

When asked what she believes is the "secret" to her and Beck's chemistry, especially during intimate scenes, Agudong said, "I don't know [about] secret. I think, kind of the same way we all connect... I'm just saying, you go into it as actors, you already know the kind of bond that you're looking to create."

"I just lucked out. Noah is genuinely a really good guy, and he's easy to connect to," she continued. "And I think that was the secret is just really enjoying the people you're working with. But it's not like I had to fight for that in every relationship I built."

"I knew we were gonna have this brother-sister relationship," she then said to Tanner, before turning to Gillepsie, whose character is teased as a possible future love interest for Dallas. "Well, we'll see what this is."

"You go into it with an open heart, and you really luck out when you also meet someone who approaches it that way. And like, luckily, absolutely everyone on this project like has just heart to give," Agudong concluded.

In the film, Drayton (Neck) suffers an injury that sadly puts him out for months. When TooFab asked director Justin Wu and star Roan Curtis if they had ever had a setback in their career or personal life, Curtis -- who plays physical therapist student Charlotte -- revealed she was in a tragic car accident, and recalled how she was able to ultimately able to recover.

"I feel like this has come up a lot, but I got in a really bad car accident about two years ago, and I suffered a really bad concussion," Curtis told TooFab. "And I was out of commission for about eight months. It was really crazy 'cause it impacted my memory. I've been acting my entire life, so it kind of feels like one of the only things I'm good at, and all of a sudden, I didn't have access to that anymore. So it was a lot of hard work to get back to a place where I could go back to work and get to do what I love."

"It was wild, and I really had not been aware of the impacts of that beforehand, but I'm really grateful for it now because I think it just makes me all the more grateful for my brain, and my ability to go do my job and do it well too. That was the big one, is was like, 'I don't just wanna do my job. I wanna go back and do it well.'"

Similarly, Wu -- who also directed the first film -- opened up about a scary medical emergency that he experienced.

"For me, [the setback] was a spontaneous internal bleed that actually occurred that required immediate surgery, and this [was] actually one month prior to going to university," he recalled. "And it got to a point where we talked to the dean and everything, and we actually had to ask, 'Should we defer a year?' And I can just only imagine that ... think of your high school friends, you kind of grew up with, everyone's all going to the same college or different colleges. And for you to be one step back and facing that reality, it was tough. It was very, very tough. And I think, thanks to the amazing doctors, my parents, and my friends who were so supportive, I was set back by a month or two, but I still made it into the year, and I still succeeded."

"The lesson learned is to just be, and just to live with every moment that's given to you," he added. "And just be grateful for the people around you who just lift you up and for the opportunities that come. And so in that time, it really helped me pivot in that period while I was recovering to move from the sciences to the arts. It was because of that moment when I realized, you know what, I could pursue this, which is what I was destined to do, or I could pursue the arts, which was my heart and passion. And that accident helped me make that realization."

While Sidelined: The QB and Me was based on Tay Marley's Wattpad sensation-turned-novel of the same name, Sidelined 2: Intercepted is being adapted into a novel by Rachel Espy, and will be released next month.

During TooFab’s interview with Wu and Curtis, the pair shared which movie or television series they’d love to see get the same treatment and be turned into a book. Meanwhile, Wu also shared his thoughts on directing Intercepted, and Curtis opened up about joining the cast. See what they said in the full interview, above!

Sidelined 2: Intercepted premieres on Tubi on November 27.