Nick Pugliese and Sarah Yarkin on the Darker Mystery of School Spirits Season 3

When School Spirits returns for its third season, the mystery surrounding Split River High grows darker and more unsettling. Longtime afterlife residents Charley and Rhonda remain at the emotional core of the group as the world around them expands and long-held assumptions begin to unravel. We sit down with Nick Pugliese and Sarah Yarkin to talk about how the tone shifts in Season 3, how their characters continue to evolve, and why the series still makes room for intimate, human moments amid the chaos.

TEM (The Extra Mile): I mean, you have both been a part of the emotional backbone of kind of the Afterlife group since season one. How would you say that dynamic shifts in season three, kind of as the mystery gets darker?

Sarah:   I kind of miss it. No, I think, I think it’s funny the dynamic shifts so much with these new characters and these new mysteries. And even the vibe of season three is so much spookier. And I feel like this whole world sort of explodes. And there’s so much more that we have to learn and figure out and understand. But I sort of I either I feel nostalgic about our season one days of being in the gym and just sitting in a circle, you know? 

Nick: Yeah, they do a good job though on the show of although there’s so much happening, there still is individual storylines. And emotional moments between all of us. Which is true to life, I think of like, so much could be happening. And you still are, you have your everyday thing that you need to. 

Sarah: You’re like, I still worry about my boyfriend.

Nick:  I still have to go get groceries.

Sarah: Oh, so true. Charlie’s always getting groceries. Yeah.

TEM: I feel like, especially like season three, we’re gonna, you know, the raises the question of why Split River High has seen so many deaths. Like, why have so many people died? Like, how do you think that realization will affect Charlie and Rhonda in the new season? 

Sarah: I think it kind of changes everything. I remember season one, and the show came out. And I remember people being like, why are there so many dead kids there? And I obviously didn’t know the show was going towards a place of answering that question. So I was sort of like, people die. Like, guys, it’s normal. And I was like, defending the show.Do you remember that? And we were like, no, it’s normal. Like, this is a normal thing. Because it’s actually, this is normal.

Nick:  No, I remember making it like, I was like, did people not die at your school? No, it’s like a terrible thing we were defending. 

Sarah: But now we understand that there is a bigger thing. It’s a bigger answer here.

TEM: So what can you share that’s like one new layer of your character that you discovered this season?

Nick:  Well, I mean, it’s funny. I feel like every season, Charlie is having to deal with his insecurities. And by the end of season two, I sort of was like, okay, he’s got it. He’s good. And he didn’t get his door. And I was like, okay, maybe he’s not good. But then this season, seeing how we those insecurities interact within a relationship was really fascinating. And seeing Charlie being always not super nice or not being able to care about somebody else when that sort of was his whole thing before.That was a new layer.

Sarah:  I think Rhonda, she’s got so many layers. What is it like an onion? Yeah. And I think, I think on the surface, you see so much, you know, her guard up and sarcasm and beneath that. And I think these things that continue to surprise me about her in season three, that she’s, um, I think she like is sort of secretly a softie and has these insecurities. And she hides them so well. I’m better than Charlie. 

TEM: What’s one thing that season three kind of reveals about your character that fans cannot expect? Like that you’re able to share?

Sarah: I can’t say anything. What is something about season three? I think, I, well, you go for it.

Nick: I already said this today, but I think that like, I think we do pay attention to what fans ask for and want. We’re aware of that. And I think that we maybe do.

Sarah: We, yeah. I love checking the Reddit page. I love checking the Reddit page. The Reddit page is insane. I’ve never been on Reddit before. This genuinely, I don’t know how to use this site. And I was like, we have a page of this and people are, people are smart.

Nick:  I think people will be happy. Yeah. People. I think so. I don’t know.

Sarah: I’ve never did this the season before people asked me about theories. I said, oh, there are theories out there. And then I really took a look at this Reddit page and people, there’s like a gorgeous community.  People were like, I started season one. So everyone’s like cheering them on and like welcoming them.

TEM: Was there ever a moment in your career that you had to go the extra mile? What does that mean to you?

Nick:  I mean, I think we’re always kind of feeling that I, there was a moment before I got School Spirits where I was, didn’t have representatives. I wasn’t auditioning. I couldn’t, even there was a moment where I did have reps, I couldn’t get, get an audition. Um, and so then I wrote a short film with one of my friends, we shot it. And then that ended up being the final decision that got me School Spirits like a year later or so. And that felt like I was having to do the extra step of like, I’m doing the extra work. And then it did pay off. Yeah.

Sarah: But I feel like in college, everyone was like, make your own work, make your own work. And I didn’t really care. I was like, I don’t, I’m going to get a role. I was like, I got enough, I got enough. Um, and I just shot a short film and we’re premiering at South by Southwest this year. We just got in and we produced it and started it. And it was this thing of like, oh, I really want to make great work.  And sometimes it’s hard just waiting for auditions and you’re hoping and you get your hopes up. But to be in control of a project, I feel like was the best feeling ever.

School Spirits Season 3 premieres January 28 exclusively on Paramount+.