Ariel Donoghuehad a recent starring role in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller,Trap, but you may have actually noticed her in an earlier role. Born in March 2010 in Australia, Ariel Donoghue got her start in short films in 2014. She later moved into television with small roles in the series,High Life. Then, in 2022, she appeared in the Australian dramaBluebackas a young version of a character played by Mia Wasikowska. In 2024, she starredin Shyamalan’s 16th feature film,Trap, exposing herself to the horror legend’s large and faithful audience.
Trapiseither a horror comedy, a tense thriller, an unintentionally hilarious story with some excellent performances, or a complete flop andan indication Shyamalan is better at conjuring story ideas than actually writing them, depending on who you talk to. It’s hard to spoilTrapconsidering the trailers had no qualms revealing that the movie’s star, Josh Hartnett, plays the serial killer for whom an entire concert trap is set. Ariel Donoghue appears as Cooper’s daughter in the film. It’s a big part, but she had another significant role before that one.
Ariel Donoghue Plays Riley In Trap
Riley Is Cooper’s Daughter And A Fan Of Lady Raven
Ariel Donoghue co-stars inTrapas Riley, Cooper’s daughter and the reason he is attending the Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan) concert in the first place. Riley is a huge Lady Raven fan, and crucially, completely unaware of her father’s double life as a serial killer. She seems to have a great relationship with her father, andthe pair are cute together, clearly comfortable and loving, making Cooper’s dark secret even more unsettling. Riley becomes increasingly confused by Cooper’s behavior as he tries to avoid the police.
Why Cooper Lied About Riley Having Leukemia In Trap
Cooper improvises many methods and tactics while trying to find his way out of Lady Raven’s concert in Trap, even by using his teen daughter, Riley.
Cooper even brings his daughter into his deception, convincing organizers that Riley recently recovered from Leukemia, which gives him the opportunity to escape with Riley in tow and Lady Raven as a hostage. Lady Raven returns to Cooper’s home, where the young singer explains everything that’s happening to Cooper’s family, shocking Riley, her mother, and her brother.When Cooper is being taken into custody, Cooper shares a tender hug with his daughter, tearfully saying goodbye. Though he escapes, Riley and his family are left heartbroken.
Some sources claim Cooper and Riley’s last name is “Adams,” but a mid-credits sequence reveals their last name is “Abbott”.
Donoghue plays the pop-star-loving young girl perfectly, affecting the right excited emotion. As Cooper acts stranger and stranger, Riley progresses through her confusion appropriately and realistically. She doesn’t play her character too big, and any issues with her actions come from her script direction rather than her acting. It’s a critically important part of the film, and Donoghue bridges the human connection between Lady Raven and Cooper.
Wolf Like Me Introduced Ariel Donoghue To A Wide Audience
The Australian Horror Comedy-Drama Series Is An Underrated Show
Fans of werewolf TV shows, Australian series, or just great comedy dramas, knew Ariel Donoghue before she was screaming for Lady Raven inTrap.That’s because she stars in the main cast of the Australian werewolf comedy-drama series,Wolf Like Me, a show that premiered in January 2022 and lasted for two seasons. Donoghue plays Emma in the series, the daughter of single father, Gary (Josh Gad), who moves to Australia after the tragic death of his wife. There, he begins dating Mary (Isla Fisher), a newspaper columnist with a secret: she’s a werewolf.
A delightful and smart series that sounds likeWhat We Do in the Shadowson the outside, but is its own thing,Wolf Like Meis an unusual blend of genres that makes for something very fresh.
A delightful and intelligent series that sounds likeWhat We Do in the Shadowson the outside, but is its own thing,Wolf Like Meis an unusual blend of genres that makes for something very fresh. With a 58% onRotten Tomatoesfor season 1 and a 100% for season 2,Wolf Likes Metakes some time to gain its footing, but even when it’s not firing on all cylinders, the chemistry between the cast makes up for any shortcomings. The shift from comedy-driven to drama-driven in the second season is a smart move that works for the show.
Emma In Wolf Like Me Is An Impressive Performance From Ariel Donoghue
Donoghue Plays A Young Girl Experiencing A Series Of Complex Emotions
Emma is an anxiety-riddencharacter inWolf Like Me, and she experiences frequent panic attacks, a result of her mother’s death when Emma was only a child. Therapists have prescribed a variety of medications, but it’s only Emma’s father’s singing that seems to settle her. Having lost her mother at such a young age, Emma has had to grow up quickly and is an extremely precocious child who is a little too smart for her own good. As the series progresses,her forced maturity comes to be a strength as she and her father deal with an increasingly dangerous world.
The part requires a complex mosaic of emotions, including anger, bitterness, sadness, and sly intelligence.
It’s a difficult and varied role for the young actress, who was only around 12 when she first appeared on the show. Playing alongside excellent comedy stars in Gad and Fischer, Ariel Donoghue has her work cut out for her trying to keep up. The part requires a complex mosaic of emotions, including anger, bitterness, sadness, and sly intelligence. It would be very easy for Donoghue to become too annoying one way or the other, either as much too smart to be believed, or too passive to root for, but Donoghue strikes an impressive balance.
Ariel Donoghue Should Be In Trap 2
M. Night Shyamalan Says He Would Be Interested In A Sequel
At the moment, Ariel Donoghue has no upcoming projects, though that’s likely to change soon.At only 15 in 2025, Donoghue is probably not looking to completely fill her schedulewith TV and movie parts. Child actors still have a lot of life to live in order to make room for school and everything else that maturing teens require to feel secure with themselves. She’ll almost certainly be in something again, but it may not be for a year or two. It’s possible that her next role could even be inTrap 2, that is, if it ever gets made.
M. Night Shyamalan and Josh Hartnett have both suggested they would be open to returningto the story, with Shyamalan saying,
“I loved this movie and I wanted to be with this music and these characters and Cooper and Riley and Lady Raven, all of them. And so that was a strange feeling. They become a part of you when you’re making these characters. And, and it was such a joyful experience; we were laughing through it and, playing, and the audience can feel that. So, yeah…”
A sequel would almost necessarily require Donoghue to return as Riley. Besides Cooper and Lady Raven, Riley has the most screentime in the film, and her relationship with her father is clearly based on real feelings of love. A sequel could easily explore that relationship, withRiley trying to contend with the idea that she had a legitimate, loving relationship with her father, and that he was a deeply evil human being. We definitely know thatAriel Donoghuehas the talent and emotional capacity to carry such a film.
