Actress Melissa Barrera, who made a splash (sometimes literally) in last summer’s “In the Heights,”The star of the latest installment of the “Scream”Franchise (technically, the fifth entry but not with a number). She plays Sam, the younger sister of Jenny Ortega. A new Ghostface-wearing killer attacks Sam. Her involvement in the mystery uncovers some surprising truths about her heritage (spoiler: She may be related with one of the characters in the first movie) as well as a larger agenda. Eventually, several legacy characters from the original franchise (including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette) return, as it’s all hands on deck to unmask the killer and put the mayhem to an end.
Barrera talked to Barrera about the franchise and the secrecy around it. “Scream” movie, sharing scenes with a legacy cast member that has yet to be revealed, and whether or not she’d return for another film.
Obviously I think that I’m legally required to ask, what is your favorite scary movie?
Melissa Barrera:Oh my god. I feel like I’ve been saying the same thing in all my interviews, so I’m going to switch it up. I’m going to say “Cats.”
“Cats”The musical?
It was terrifying.
How was your relationship to the “Scream”Do you want to become a franchisee before signing up?
I have a very interesting relationship with “Scream,” because I didn’t see it when it first came out. I was six years old and thank God my parents… good parenting skills in not letting me see it when it came out. When I was 11, 13, 13 and up to 15, I was obsessed with scary movies. I was obsessed with scary movies and that’s when I discovered “Scream,”The first three movies I saw were the best. It sent me on a wild goose chase of watching every scary movie I could find. My friends would come to my sleepovers and watch them together, which made me hateful. I was shocked to see. “Saw.”
It terrified me to death. It was too graphic. I believe it was the first mind games, graphic movie that I ever saw that really fucked my head. No, I can’t. Can’t do thisAnd I stopped. I stopped watching scary movies. For over a decade I didn’t watch a single scary movie, and then when I heard about this new “Scream”movie, I was like “Ah, I’m going to revisit the movies because I haven’t watched them in a while and I used to love them,”I went back and rewatched them. First of all I was so impressed how they’re so good and they hold up so well. They’re so smart and I was just like, Naturally, this is why fandom is what is it.This movie was revolutionary. It was revolutionary. It changed the game, and so I became re-obsessed and now I’m obsessed again and I’m watching everything that I could get my hands on, all the scary movies that came out in the last few years. I’ve fallen in love again.
Did you feel intimidated about doing this?
Oh, it was a hundred percent. I was nervous. I tried to ignore the fact that Neve, Courtney, and David were going to be my characters. It was just too much. Because she isn’t the typical scary movie woman character, I tried to keep my focus on her character and build her. She has a dark history. She is hiding a dark secret. She’s very complicated and I just wanted to be as truthful to that as I could be.
The character was written so beautifully and it didn’t really dawn on me that I was going to make a “Scream”Movie until David arrived in Wilmington. We were all in our common room, where we used hang out. He walked in, and we were all there. “Aah, aah.” We couldn’t breathe. It was like: Oh my god!. Growing up watching someone and following their careers, and then getting to join that thing that you’ve watched and be with them and act with them, it was just… it’s insane. I still can’t believe it.
It’s also cool to be a Latina lead in one of these films. Not a franchise known for its diversity or it’s inclusivity.
No.
That must have been a lot of fun.
It’s so funny because yes, it was such a white franchise at the beginning, and then you actually forgive it because it would comment on that. The characters would talk about, “Oh, the token black character that’s going to die.”It would be discussed and you could forgive it for lacking diversity. But I’m also very grateful that this fifth movie is the most diverse cast that we’ve ever seen in the saga, and it looks more like the world does today so I think it’s beautiful to be more reflective of that, not just in skin tones and ethnicities and nationalities, but also in, now there’s queer characters and we’ve never seen that, so that’s good.
How much was the script kept secret? They had to reshoot some parts. “Scream 2”The ending was published online.
The full script I received was the one I was looking for. I thought that was the script, and then I found out that they had given me a fake ending, so I actually didn’t know who the killers were going to be and who was going to die or not. I was so freaked out that I thought, “I don’t know if I die or not.”It was crazy. Because of what happened, there were many endings. “Scream 2.”
We read through the entire script until we reached page 80 when we got to Wilmington. They didn’t give us the ending of the script, so a lot of the actors didn’t know who Ghostface was and they kept it… they tried to… Wes Craven used to do that, and so they tried to do that with us as well. Naturally, we would all need to learn more information than the others.
I’m such an awful liar. I am so transparent. I ended up having more information than a lot of them sooner, so they would all come and ask me and I’d be like, “I don’t even want to look at you because I feel like I’m going to give it away.”It made it so much more fun. Because we all suspected each other, and tried to keep everything secret, it made for an interesting dynamic off-screen.
You have scenes with another character from the Dynasty who you can talk to and not get into trouble.
I believe we can be vague.
Okay, good. Are you physically in the same space with this actor?
I shot all my scenes with just a tennisball and Matt reading some of them. But when Matt’s character appeared, since we had already shot all our scenes, we did them together. It was exciting to be there for their scenes. It was breathtaking. I wish we could have done this together. I wish we had done it together for my parts. But that’s the part of being an actor. Your imagination is a must, so I was able to do that.
This movie, in part is about toxic fandom. Do you want to have that discussion about this movie? “Scream” movie?
Yes. I’m so ready. I think it’s necessary. I love it because I feel like… Because of all the metacommentary in the movie, the movie itself protects itself from the criticism. It’s like, “We already told you what you’re going to say. We’re already talking about it, so you’re an idiot.” It’s like, “If you try to bring it back to us, we’ve already covered it. We’ve already done three laps around the rink, so you say whatever you want,” and I just think that that’s why these movies are so loved and so amazing and so smart, because they talk to the audience. The characters are saying the things that the people in the theaters watching the movie are also thinking and it’s great. It’s amazing.
Since you had become a huge fan again, what was it like being in Stu’s house for the climax?
It was unbelievable because it was exactly replicated. I’ve only seen what I saw in the first movie, but to watch Neve, Courtney and David enter the house and their reactions and all the memories that it brought back for them, it was incredible.
“Scream 6” – you ready to come back?
There’s nothing more exciting than to keep going. If there is another one, I feel that whoever gets to be part of it is so lucky. That’s all I’m going to say.
Do you think it would be possible to convince the cast of the legacy to return? The movie has a scene where someone states, ” “is it even ‘Halloween’ without Jamie Lee?”
I agree. I agree. They are. “Scream.”Yes, I would try to convince them.
As a fellow “Scream”What are you most excited about for the fans?
There’re so many things. There’re so many connections and there’re so many Easter eggs and there’re so… This script is so brilliantly written. A line… an offhand comment that is made in the first movie becomes a whole storyline in this one. It’s just… it’s insane. It’s so cool, and I just hope that… I know that the fans that are hardcore fans are going to get every single thing, and that’s what I’m excited about.
“Scream”This film is only currently being shown in theaters