Goosebumps: The Vanishing's Jayden Bartels & Sam McCarthy On Quickly Finding Sibling Rapport & Devin's Transformation

Sam McCarthy and Jayden Bartels are twin siblings whose summer with their dad turns into a nightmare in Goosebumps: The Vanishing. After having supporting roles in everything from the acclaimed coming-of-age drama All These Small Moments to Audience/Epix's adaptation of Condor, McCarthy properly broke out with Netflix's Dead to Me, playing the older son of Christina Applegate's Jen. Bartels, on the other hand, first rose to stardom with her work as a TikTok and YouTube influencer, while subsequently finding acting success with Disney Channel's Coop & Cami Ask the World and Nickelodeon's Side Hustle.

McCarthy and Bartels star in Goosebumps: The Vanishing's story as Devin and Cece, twin siblings who head to New York to spend the summer with their father, Anthony, from whom they've become somewhat estranged following his divorce from their mom. Having been warned to stay out of the basement by their dad, the duo find themselves meeting a group of local teenage friends, who inform them that their uncle went missing nearby some 30 years ago. When they begin investigating the mystery themselves, they end up facing off against a mysterious and powerful evil force.

Alongside McCarthy and Bartels, the ensemble Goosebumps: The Vanishing cast includes David Schwimmer as Anthony, Elijah M. Cooper, Galilea La Salvia, Francesca Noel, Stony Blyden and Ana Ortiz. Shifting the focus to a new setting with a host of relatable characters and more unique adaptations of the iconic R.L. Stine book series, the show proves to be an exciting expansion of the world set up in the first season.

In anticipation of the show's return, ScreenRant interviewed Sam McCarthy and Jayden Bartels to discuss Goosebumps: The Vanishing, how they quickly found their sibling rapport with one another, McCarthy's surprising familial connection to the franchise before having joined the Disney+ adaptation, and what to expect from Devin's transformation as the season progresses.

Bartels & McCarthy "Hit It Off" Quite Quickly

"...I think when you're working with good people, you kind of come together."

Cece, Devin and Frankie looking suspiciously out of a bedroom window in Goosebumps The Vanishing

ScreenRant: I'm loving what I've seen just from the pilot of Goosebumps: The Vanishing, and I particularly love the sibling dynamic that you both have in this show. It feels so authentic. I'd love to hear from you both what it was like really finding that rapport with one another.

Jayden Bartels: I had so much fun, we did hit it off. I think that we have a lot of similarities to Devin and Cece, so it was easy to have that same kind of bond that they have, where they're very different. We have a lot of differences, but we can have a serious conversation and really understand each other.

Sam McCarthy: Yeah, luckily enough, it kind of just happened a little. It was interesting, we auditioned together. It's hard to say, you know, I think when you're working with good people, you kind of come together. And if the chemistry is right, or something in the universe is right, that just happens.

Jayden Bartels: It aligns.

Sam McCarthy: Yeah, there's no logistical answer for you, it just kind of happened.

Breaking Into The Horror Genre Was A Fun Experience For The Two

"...horror is a huge part of my life."

Jayden Bartels as Cece looking confused as she has a weird-looking nosebleed in Goosebumps The Vanishing

Now, when it comes to this show, obviously there are just as many horror elements as there are teen drama and comedy, but the horror sphere is sort of new for you both. What was it like stepping into that side of the genre, especially since season 1 of Goosebumps did not hold back when it came to what we saw?

Jayden Bartels: I mean, horror is a huge part of my life. I've loved it for as long as I can remember, and it's my favorite genre. So, being able to step into something horror and then, again, something as iconic and as legendary as Goosebumps was insane and definitely took a couple of weeks to fully set in and comprehend. But I think I was really so excited to do the scary scenes, because it's just something I've been dreaming of for a long time. So, it was amazing acting like I'm being chased around by monsters. I had the best time. [Laughs]

Sam McCarthy: It's cool, yeah. I personally did a lot of my stuff with, like, a pink piece of tape. That, on one hand, is kind of like, "Oh, how do you do that?" But little kids kind of do it all the time, playing pretend of like, "Oh, my God, the floor is lava!" You know what I mean? You can really decide the floor is lava. Your behavior starts really acting like avoiding the floor. So, it's fun, it's weird, but you just have to decide, "Okay, that is going to kill me." [Chuckles] And then you just decide that, and you just kind of jump off that cliff.

Bartels & McCarthy Have Unique Choices For Their Favorite Goosebumps Books

McCarthy's Mom Was Even The Audiobook Narrator For One Of The Most Iconic

Sam McCarthy as Devin looking upset at something in Goosebumps The Vanishing

Since you mentioned getting chased around by monsters, I have a little two-part question here. One is, were you given any Goosebumps books to research for this season? And also, do you have a favorite Goosebumps book in general?

Jayden Bartels: So we weren't given any. I think that the episodes all reference old Goosebumps books, so we definitely learned a lot about it. Also, they're coming straight from the book into real life. I think for me, my favorite one, just because it's one of the few ones that I remember I read as a child, was Say Cheese And Die!. I just have a vivid memory of that cover in my head as a kid, but I think that's just nostalgic to me. The episodes and the books that we reference in this season are pretty cool and pretty scary, and it's really cool to see them jump off the page into real life.

Sam McCarthy: Yeah, my mother is an audiobook narrator, and she narrated the audiobook for Night of the Living Dummy. Isn't that kind of interesting? So, when I was young, I remembered her recording that, and hearing part of that book as a little kid, and so that's probably my strongest connection to the series beforehand.

Devin's Encounters With The Supernatural Come At A Difficult Time In His Life

"...I don't know how much I can give away..."

Sam McCarthy as Devin looking suspiciously at David Schwimmer's Anthony in Goosebumps The Vanishing

Sam, I'll turn to you next. We see Devin's afflicted by something this season, and we obviously, after the first episode, don't quite know what. What can you tease about what we can expect as the season goes on, especially since it's not like season 1, where it was just the adult that was sort of the overarching villain of the season?

Sam McCarthy: Oh, I don't know how much I can give away about the supernatural elements with Devin this season. I can say you find Devin in a place where he is, I think, a bit unsure of himself, and a bit overly comfortable, or at the very least, had taken a position of being comfortable with taking a back seat to his sister, and didn't really know where he was or who he was. I think there's something about challenges and pressure, sometimes, when it's the right kind, that really help us find our place and find ourselves and find our strength. So, hopefully that is here with Devin.

About Goosebumps: The Vanishing

Goosebumps: The Vanishing begins when twins Cece and Devin Brewer are sent to spend a summer in Gravesend, Brooklyn, with their divorced dad. A threat is stirring, and they quickly realize that dark secrets are among them, triggering a chain of events that unravel a profound mystery. As they delve into the unknown, Cece, Devin and their friends — Alex, CJ and Frankie — find themselves entangled in the chilling tale of four teenagers who mysteriously vanished in 1994.

Emmy Award nominee David Schwimmer leads a brand-new cast as Anthony Brewer, a former botany professor who has immersed himself in science and mystery, alongside Ana Ortiz as police detective Jen, Jayden Bartels as Cece, Sam McCarthy as Devin, Elijah M. Cooper as CJ, Galilea La Salvia as Frankie, Francesca Noel as Alex, and Stony Blyden as Trey.

Nicholas Stoller and Rob Letterman developed Goosebumps: The Vanishing, along with showrunner Hilary Winston. All three serve as executive producers alongside Neal H. Moritz, Scholastic Entertainment’s Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman, Pavun Shetty, Conor Welch, Erin O’Malley, Karl Frankenfield and James Eagan.

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