The first season of The Hunting Wives ended with a shocking — and brutal — death, but is Kyle actually dead?
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Michael Aaron Milligan, who played Margo’s brother on the hit Netflix show, weighed in on the possibilities ahead of a second season.
“I’m so grateful to have worked on this project. Everyone was so amazing, lovely and wonderful to work with on a daily basis and whatever. So [I would love] to get a call [about season 2] — or maybe some spooky adventures with the ghost of Kyle,” Milligan, 45, quipped. “I’m sure they can get very, very creative. I am very much looking forward to hearing from the team and seeing what they [could] have in store ideas wise for Kyle.”
Milligan revealed he didn’t know when he joined The Hunting Wives that Kyle wouldn’t make it.
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“I did buy the book. I did reach out to [author] May Cobb. I skimmed through the book but I ended up finishing after I filmed,” he noted. “I didn’t really want to spoil anything. Sometimes when you’re offered a part, they will send you all of the future episodes. In this case, they didn’t. I read episode by episode as we shot, which was cool too. I kind of liked not knowing.”
Milligan continued: “I had a lot of questions. I was like, ‘Oh, wow. This is overkill [with how Sophie killed Kyle].’ I was like, ‘The show is called The Hunting Wives and he doesn’t die by a bullet?’ But he’s dead.”
The show, which premiered in July, follows Sophie (Brittany Snow), who moves from Boston to an East Texas town where she finds herself drawn to prominent socialite Margo (Malin Åkerman). But while the larger story lines were similar to the book — such as the death of Abby (Madison Wolfe) and Sophie’s affair with Margo — many of the remaining events were not.
The eight-part series made some surprising changes while setting up for a possible second season. That included Margo being the one to kill Abby, which Sophie figured out in the season 1 finale. Sophie was about to give Margo up before Margo’s brother got involved, and Sophie ended up killing Kyle.
“I think [Kyle’s actions] were a little more innocent [than Sophie saw them]. He didn’t have a gun. I think he truly did want to talk because there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his sister. He would die for her — literally,” Milligan told Us. “What I love about that is that Kyle just wants to explain himself the best way he can. I think that’s truly what Kyle wanted to in that moment. He truly does mean well. He’s got some redeeming qualities, and there’s a lot of love in that man’s heart.”
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Milligan was thrilled by the opportunity to play a character that was so layered.
“I dove in during the audition. For the audition, I had my shirt off,” the actor recalled of his approach. “I just wanted to throw that in there. But the audition, I just felt so dialed in immediately when I read Kyle and I read the two scenes that were required. I felt it in my bones. I was like, ‘This is good. I need this part.’ I would have done anything for it. I just felt like I was able to just hit the ground running.”
He added: “I didn’t have any really big challenges. I knew that I should keep my wits about me because he’s a drug addict. What worked for me was louder, faster and funnier. One of my [acting] coaches used to say that all the time. I think it’ll always serve you well if you just are louder, faster and funnier.”
The Hunting Wives is currently streaming on Netflix.
