Sumith Prasad
Disney+’s musical film ‘Zombies 3’ centers around the students of Seabrook High School, located in the namesake town. While getting prepared for a consequential football match, the students, including the protagonists Addison and Zed, encounter an alien spaceship landing in their town. While the students deal with the aftermath of the arrival of the three aliens, named A-Lan, A-Spen, and A-Li, there is a notable absence among them. Kylee Russell’s Eliza is present among Addison, Zed, and others at Seabrook High to tackle the conflicts that arise due to the aliens’ secret mission. If you are eager to know more about the same, let us be your ally! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Why is Eliza Not in Zombies 3? Is Kylee Russell in the Movie?
First of all, let us clear the confusion. Eliza is part of ‘Zombies 3’ and Kylee Russell portrays the character for the third time in the film after the first two installments of the ‘Zombies’ film series. However, in almost all of the scenes that feature Eliza, her friends and schoolmates see her virtually on tablet screens since she is interning at Z-Corp, the company that produces Z-Band. Since she is away from Seabrook, she can only interact with her best friend Zed and others through a screen. Finally, Eliza’s “hacktivism” gets appreciated by one of the best companies in the region.
Since Eliza is one of the prominent characters in the ‘Zombies’ franchise, the fans must be wondering why the character is away from Seabrook with minimal screentime. The change in Eliza’s screentime in comparison with the first two films of the film series was because actress Kylee Russell was pregnant and had her daughter Greyson Blue Schmidt around the time ‘Zombies 3’ was getting filmed. The actress might not have been able to commit to a full-fledged Eliza storyline as she had to take care of her baby as well.
“It was so different ’cause I’m used to being with everyone and feeding off of everyone else’s energy, but this time, I just had their voice recordings and I’m talking to a screen. And there was no one even on the screen,” Kylee told Laughing Place about her filming experience of ‘Zombies 3.’ “It was still really fun, and it was a challenge, and I like challenging myself. It was overall an amazing experience,” the actress added. Kylee even brought her newborn daughter Greyson on the sets.
“I filmed that [‘Zombies 3’] shortly after having my daughter Greyson. I brought her on set with me, and honestly, having her on set makes it so much better. I don’t know how I would’ve done it if she was at home,” Kylee told Girls United. “I would’ve just been like, “I need to go see my baby.” Being able to bring her to work with me puts me at ease because it’s like, I can do my thing, go to my trailer, see my kid. Everything’s good and then I feel recharged to go back,” the actress further added about the experience.
Even though Kylee’s character Eliza’s screen time is minimal, it is indeed better than not having the actress and the character in the film at all. In addition, Eliza plays a pivotal part in the narrative of the film since she is the one who guides Addison and others to charge the mothership using the moonstone.
Read More: Where Was Zombies 3 Filmed?
