Did you know that there’s a real-life couple behind the chills and thrills of Netflix’s biggest horror hits? Writer-director Mike Flanagan – who created “The Haunting of Hill House,” “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” “Midnight Mass,” “The Midnight Club,” and 2023’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” – is married to actor Kate Siegel, who’s appeared in almost all of his Netflix series. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Siegel plays Camille, a public-relations maven and one of the many children of Roderick Usher.
It turns out, horror is pretty intrinsic to Flanagan and Siegel’s bond. They met on the set of a horror movie and have been working together on a bunch of scary thriller projects ever since. Back in 2021, Siegel opened up about why she thinks Flanagan’s projects end up being so special and beloved. “I think most of the people who get hired on a Flanagan project love their jobs. . . . What Mike gives everybody is permission to be as obsessed with what you love as you are,” she told Slash Film when discussing “Midnight Mass” in 2021.
Ahead, here’s everything to know about Flanagan and Siegel’s relationship and their many horror collaborations.
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How Did Kate Siegel and Mike Flanagan Meet?
Siegel and Flanagan first crossed paths while working on the 2013 horror movie “Oculus.” The movie, which Mike both wrote and directed, was his first theatrical release (a previous movie had been released direct-to-video). Siegel starred as Marisol, a ghostly woman who haunts the protagonists.
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How Many Kids Do Kate Siegel and Mike Flanagan Have?
Siegal and Flanagan have two children together. Their son, Cody, was born in 2016, and their daughter, Theodora, was born in 2018. And, yes, Theodora shares a name with a character from “The Haunting of Hill House,” which the couple were shooting at the time. Flanagan also shares a son, Rigby Flanagan-Bell, with his first wife, actor Courtney Bell.
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When Did Kate Siegel and Mike Flanagan Get Married?
The couple dated for a few years before marrying in early 2016. Although they kept things pretty low-key, they were described as “newlyweds” in a joint interview with Dread Central at SXSW in March 2016.
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What Projects Have Kate Siegel and Mike Flanagan Worked on Together?
Considering that Siegel and Flanagan met working on a horror movie, it should come as no surprise that they’ve continued to collaborate on several other projects, mostly in that same genre. The duo cowrote the 2016 film “Hush,” which Siegel starred in and Flanagan directed. Siegel also starred in “Ouija: Origin of Evil” later in 2016 and “Gerald’s Game” in 2017.
Moreover, Siegel is an important part of the ensemble of actors that have appeared in almost all of Flanagan’s Netflix projects. Siegel starred as the middle Crain sibling, Theodora (aka Theo), in “The Haunting of Hill House” in 2018, then returned for a role as the haunting Viola Willoughby in the anthology’s next entry, 2020’s “The Haunting of Bly Manor.” In 2021, she starred in “Midnight Mass,” and in 2023, she’s one of the many siblings in “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
