'I've tasted blood, I've worn it' — how The Pitt season 2 prepped Shawn Hatosy for the guts and gore of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

"Shawn Hatosy is saving lives then taking them in 2026" is one of the most-liked comments under the official trailer for Ready or Not 2: Here I Come on YouTube. I read this back to him as I started our interview last month, and he immediately laughed.

I'm not surprised. Even as a viewer, it's incredibly jarring to see Hatosy's switch to uber villain Titus in the new horror movie, after solely knowing him on screen as Dr. Jack Abbot on HBO Max monster hit, The Pitt.

In fact, he's just made his return to The Pitt season 2, having swapped his season 1 day shift for the armed forces, returning to the ER when a potential cyber attack locks down everybody inside the building. Abbot is left with no choice but to muck in, and he's like a duck to water.

I couldn't be more glad that Abbot is back on our screens, but we're getting the full range of Hatosy's acting now that Ready or Not 2 is hitting cinemas on March 20. I knew that the former would prep him for the latter, but just how graphically is something I still can't scrape from my brain.

'It starts to get boring if you're only playing the same thing'

READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures - YouTube

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"That's a really good comment," Hatosy laughs at the opening remark. "Finding characters that are so different as an actor is what you want, because it starts to get boring if you only play the same thing. So being challenged in the way that Titus challenged me is what I was looking forward to."

Don't worry... I don't think that's a takedown of Abbot. As season 1 drew to a close, it wasn't even on my radar that Hatosy might not return for season 2, even with the reveal that he had a prosthetic leg from a prior army casualty.

Thankfully, he wasn't gone forever, and it's clear that Hatosy loves being on that set.

"Titus, at a certain point, wears a lot of blood, and I would much rather be fixing it," he adds. "Wearing it is not the best feeling. But there are all these different kinds of blood. Thanks to The Pitt, I've tasted it, I've worn it... so I'm well versed in the stylings of blood."

Ew. Ready or Not 2 takes the guts and gore of a typical emergency room to new unhinged heights — so much so that it would almost be a holiday for Hatosy to return to a 15-hour shift.

Whether he indeed comes back for the already confirmed The Pitt season 3 remains to be seen... but if he really wants to save more lives than he takes, the answer is obvious.

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