“Graceland” Stars Aaron Tveit and Brandon Jay McLaren Drop Short Film That Sheds Light on Cliffhanger Finale 9 Years Later
The 10-minute short film 'Nextland' picks up 21 months after the USA Network crime drama ended on a cliffhanger after being canceled in 2015
After nine years off the air, USA's drama series Graceland is back for more!
On Monday, Oct. 28, actors Aaron Tveit and Brandon Jay McLaren announced on social media that a short film the continues the story of the FBI drama show after it was cancelled — on a cliffhanger, no less — following its third season in 2015.
In two Instagram posts, the pair revealed that a 10-minute short film was dropping that day titled simply Nextland — and longtime fans of the series get a chance to see what happens next.
"What comes next?" Tveit captioned his post, while McLaren simply wrote: "we back back."
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
Brandon Jay McLaren and Aaron Tveit in 2013.Each of the actors linked to a website: watchnextland.com, where the 10-minute short can be viewed in addition to YouTube.
The original series, which first premiered in 2013, followed Tveit as rookie FBI agent Mike Warren is assigned to work undercover in a Southern California beach house known as "Graceland," where undercover federal agents from the FBI, CIA, ICE and more all live together as they solve their cases. McLaren plays U.S. Customs Agent Dale "DJ" Jakes, one of his companions and roommate. The show concluded with DJ cutting off his dreadlocks and running off with $9 million.
In the short film, Mike comes to find his old pal — but DJ tries to escape once again.
The pair finally sit down together and Mike says, “Everyone has been looking for you and it’s not like you’re on some remote island. You’re in f---ing Upland, for f--- sake. Not a trace except I found a trace.”
He then asks how he could get away with being hiding because “I f---ed up, like bad and I got a couple days to figure it out…I might have to disappear.”
DJ refuses to offer him a helping hand and tells him, “The s--- I got here. You can’t build in a day. He adds, “You know what, I don’t really give a f--- about you. Matter of fact, f--- you.”
With that, Mike threatens, “I’m the only person that knows I found you for now.” Before leaving, he adds, “All the time we were roommates, I never knew you were a smoker. Think about it.”
The short has been in the works for a while. In 2021, Tveit told PopSugar that he and McLaren were both in Vancouver as he was filming AppleTV+'s Schmigadoon! and his co-star was filming Turner & Hooch when they concocted the idea to write "a little short that people who liked Graceland may appreciate."
Speaking with TVLine about the short, Graceland creator Jeff Eastin revealed that the cast and crew had high hopes for a fourth season.
“We were all really confident in getting a Season 4,” McLaren told the outlet. “I mean, that’s why I shaved my head in the finale! We kind of got the rug pulled out from under us.”
“It was close, too,” Tveit added to TVLine. “We shot in Florida, and they had lost their tax incentives. But we had been told it looked like we were going to go ahead in Atlanta. It was a late thing when it didn’t go forward, and we were all super bummed.”
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
McLaren and Tveit in 'Graceland.'According to Broadway star Tveit, the cast only has fond memories of their time on the Graceland set, so getting the chance to revisit it was an occasion to celebrate.
"We all got along and had so much fun, and thought it was such a cool show that was ahead of its time. To get the chance in any way to revisit it, it’s just been so awesome," he said.
Tveit added to the outlet that he and McLaren hope that the short film will be enough to spark talks of a revival or reboot of the crime drama — but Nextland still serves as a gift to Graceland fans.
"This truly is a love letter, so we thought, why not put it out there and see what happens?" Tveit added. "If nothing happens, nothing happens. At least we showed that we did it."
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Nextland is available to watch for free on watchnextland.com, and Graceland seasons 1-3 are currently streaming on Hulu.
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