Jean Smart is heading to New York this fall to join“The Families Stone,”the long-awaited sequel to the 2005 holiday favorite“The Family Stone.”Searchlight Pictures announced Wednesday that Smart will play Craig T. Nelson’s love interest, a role connected to Diane Keaton’s family matriarch Sybil Stone, who died of cancer in the original film. Keaton passed away in October 2025 at 79 from pneumonia.
The sequel’s logline sets up a Christmas reunion 20 years after the family matriarch’s death, with the Stone siblings gathering to meet their father’s new girlfriend. Rachel McAdams, Luke Wilson and Sarah Jessica Parker are all returning, which means the original ensemble is largely intact for the first time in two decades.
Smart arrives at this role during one of the strongest stretches of her career, with multiple Emmy wins for“Hacks”and“Mare of Easttown”cementing her as one of TV’s most beloved veterans. Fans of the original are split between excitement over the casting and lingering emotion about Keaton’s legacy. Either way, this is one holiday release worth circling on the calendar. Which returning cast member are you most excited to see?
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Local Lawton
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