The Family Stone 2 adds Jean Smart as the Stone family gets a surprise guest 20 years later

The Family Stone 2 is finally happening, and Jean Smart has joined the cast of the film. The film is a sequel to The Family Stone (2005) which followed the Stone family during a Christmas holiday.

The Family Stone 2 will pick up the story two decades later, and Smart will be playing a new character, someone who will not be liked by everyone.

Jean Smart joins The Family Stone 2

Hacks star Jean Smart has been cast in The Family Stone 2 as Kelly's new partner. The first film followed a Christmas holiday at the Stone family when Everett (played by Dermot Mulroney) brought his girlfriend, Meredith (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) home. While Everett's father, Kelly (played by Craig T. Nelson) was nice to Meredith, his mother, Sybil (played by Diane Keaton), wasn't a fan of her.

Except for Everett's brother Ben (played by Luke Wilson), almost no one liked Meredith despite how much she tried to fit in. To make things a bit bearable, Meredith called her sister, Julie (played by Claire Danes), to come over. While Ben and Meredith found comfort in each other, so did Everett and Julie. Towards the end of the film, everyone did grow to like Meredith, and both her and Everett realized they weren't right for each other.

But by that time, everyone had warmed up to Meredith. Moreover, it was also revealed to the entire family that Sybil had breast cancer. The film ended with an epilogue set a year later. The epilogue revealed that Everett was now with Julie while Ben was with Meredith, and Sybil had unfortunately passed away.

The Family Stone 2 will take place two decades after the first film, and follow the Stone family during yet another Christmas holiday. Except this time, it's Kelly bringing his partner home, something no one had expected. It is unlikely that the family will accept such news easily, more so because they might see Smart's character as a threat to their late mother's memory.

As Variety reports, the logline of The Family Stone 2 is as follows:

“Twenty years after their mother’s passing, the Stone family reunites for Christmas only to face the season’s biggest surprise: their father has unexpectedly invited the woman he’s fallen in love with (Smart) to meet the family.”

Jean Smart is joining the film's cast as the woman Kelly brings home, but the name of her character is yet to be revealed. Besides Hacks, Smart is also known for her roles in Designing Women, Fargo, Mare of Easttown, Legion, Babylon, and Superintelligence, among others. Smart has recently won the 8th Emmy of her career, making her the only individual to win an Emmy for every season of a comedy series (Hacks in her case).

Almost all the cast members from the first film are reprising their roles for The Family Stone 2. The cast includes Sarah Jessica Parker as Meredith Morton, Dermot Mulroney as Everett Stone, and Claire Danes as Julie Morton. Craig T. Nelson is returning as Kelly Stone, Luke Wilson is returning as Ben Stone, and Tyrone Giordano is reprising his role as Thad Stone. Elizabeth Reaser, Paul Schneider, and Brian White are reprising their roles as Susannah Stone, Brad Stevenson and Patrick Thomas, respectively.

Thomas Bezucha, who wrote and directed the first film, is also directing the sequel. The Family Stone 2 is going to begin filming in the fall of 2026, in New York.