Chris Perfetti is living the dream! Known to many as sweet, quirky teacher Jacob Hill on ABC’s Emmy-winning comedy Abbott Elementary, the actor hit the Los Angeles premiere of Twinless to celebrate a very different kind of story.
The film, starring Dylan O’Brien in a double role, follows twin brothers whose lives are thrown into chaos after tragedy forces one to live without the other. The psychological drama from James Sweeney explores identity, grief, and the bond between siblings — and Perfetti says it had him hooked from page one.
“When I read it, I thought I knew what was going to happen—and at every turn I was wrong,” he told Gayety on the red carpet. “The punches it lands at the end of the script just knocked me out. There’s nothing like being a part of a project from its inception and being part of a young writer’s career. It’s so exciting.”
Watching O’Brien embody two distinct personalities was also a highlight. “He’s so excellent,” Perfetti said. “In addition to being a gorgeous, generous human being, he brought so much ownership to both of those characters and to this project as a whole that I felt very safe with him. He’s an incredibly down-to-earth person and my favorite kind of actor. So it was a blast. Don’t tell him I said that.”
Even with the excitement of Twinless, Perfetti hasn’t lost sight of his hit TV “day job.” Abbott Elementary is currently filming its fifth season, and he teased that Quinta Brunson and the writers are keeping the comedy sharp. “We’ve read about seven scripts this season, and I think they’re the seven best scripts we’ve ever had,” he revealed. “We’re leaving the school quite a bit this year and introducing new characters right from the jump. Quinta is certainly going to keep people guessing.”
Perfetti added that the bond he’s built with his Abbott castmates is unmatched: “Every year we level up. I feel so fulfilled and excited to keep playing this character, and I just love them so much. I never could have imagined I’d feel so close and lucky with the people at my job.”
Abbott Elementary Season 5 returns Wednesday, October 1, 2025, on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
