Dawn of the Dead 2004’s Odd Casting Connection to Wrong Turn

In an odd casting coincidence, actors Kevin Zegers and Lindy Booth ended up appearing together in both 2003’s Wrong Turn and 2004’s Dawn of the Dead. On the surface, director Rob Schmidt’s Wrong Turn and director Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake have very little in common, outside of both being horror films. Wrong Turn sees a group of stranded friends fall prey to a family of backwoods cannibal killers, while Dawn of the Dead watches humanity fall to a fast-acting zombie plague.

As different as they are though, Wrong Turn and Dawn of the Dead do have some similarities. For one, both films are rated R, and contain lots of graphic violence and gore. Both films also have casts full of recognizable faces, although Dawn of the Dead has the edge in that department thanks to Hollywood stalwarts like Ving Rhames and future stars like Modern Family‘s Ty Burrell and House of Cards’ Michael Kelly.

Aside from those things, Wrong Turn and Dawn of the Dead have a much more direct connection, albeit one that appears to be mostly coincidental. Both films feature the same pair of actors playing love interests, almost exactly one year apart.

Dawn of the Dead 2004’s Odd Casting Connection to Wrong Turn

In Wrong Turn, released on May 30, 2003, actress Lindy Booth plays Francine, and actor Kevin Zegers plays her boyfriend Evan. The two characters stay behind with the disabled car while their other friends go to look for help, and end up being the first victims of Three Finger and clan. In Dawn of the Dead, released on March 19, 2004, Lindy Booth plays Nicole, who ends up joining other survivors of the ongoing zombie outbreak at the local mall. While there, romance blossoms between her and rookie security guard Terry, played by Kevin Zegers. In a reverse of Wrong Turn, both Booth and Zegers survive Dawn of the Dead, at least until the credits scenes kill everyone off.

While it’s unknown if there was anything beyond coincidence behind Booth and Zegers being cast as love interests in back to back horror films, one can make an educated guess as to why it might’ve occurred. Both Booth and Zegers are Canadian actors, and both Wrong Turn and Dawn of the Dead were filmed in Canada. Most movies filmed in Canada are required to cast a certain amount of Canadian performers in order to receive the country’s lucrative tax credits, making it likely that both films were casting from the same local talent pools. In addition to that, both Booth and Zegers had appeared in more than one horror film before Wrong Turn,and their experience within the genre probably made an impression with casting directors.

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