[The following interview contains spoilers for Scream (2022).]
There’s a new scream queen in Woodsboro, and her name is Melissa Barrera. Now that Scream (2022) has debuted atop the domestic box office with $30-plus million, Barrera is opening up about playing Sam Carpenter and taking the reins from Neve Campbell as the franchise’s new leading lady. One of the biggest reveals of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s film is when Sam confides in her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) that she’s Billy Loomis’ (Skeet Ulrich) daughter. And after 25-plus years, Ulrich finally reprises the role of Loomis in select moments to show that Sam is struggling with the same dark thoughts that once plagued him. However, shooting those father-daughter scenes didn’t come easy due to the pandemic.
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“It’s always through a mirror when Sam sees Billy, and I shot all of those scenes by myself,” Barrera tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Sometimes, I would shoot those scenes with a tennis ball on a stand, and someone would also read his lines. And because of COVID, Skeet [Ulrich] didn’t come until the very end of the shoot. He was there for a couple days, and we shot all of his stuff. So I was there for him, doing my performance for him, so that he knew what to give me. Because I had already shot all of my stuff. I wish that he had been there for all of my stuff when I shot it, but sadly, COVID …”
Scream’s box office success is a big win for Barrera in particular as she took the underperformance of In the Heights to heart. Jon M. Chu’s musical drama was part of WarnerMedia’s day-and-date release strategy in 2021, but Barrera felt that the industry’s reaction to the film’s box office gross was rather severe.
“I never feel good about a movie not doing well at the box office because, for some reason, that becomes the defining factor of whether a movie is good or not. I just thought that it was so unfair what happened with In the Heights,” admits Barrera, who starred as Vanessa. “All the headlines that started coming out after we premiered were so brutal and horrible, and they felt very personal to me. It just felt like the industry was blaming us for not doing well and was blaming the fact that we were all Latinos and was blaming the fact that it was a musical that not a lot of people knew. So it just felt very personal, and I remember feeling very shitty afterwards. I was in quarantine in Vancouver because I was about to shoot another show, so I was literally sitting on a couch and reading everything. So it was awful, and it was probably one of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt. I don’t wish that on anyone.”
In a recent conversation with THR, Barrera also discusses the dangerous moment she shared with Ghostface on the Scream set. Then she explains the lengths that Scream filmmakers Radio Silence [Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett, Chad Villella] went to in order to protect the ending.
Well, first things first, do you remember the first time you saw a Scream movie?
I was probably 11 or 12, and I saw the first three movies because they were already out. And then I became obsessed with scary movies because of them. After the Scream movies, I started watching all of the Final Destination movies and then the I Know What You Did Last Summer movies. I watched everything I could get my hands on. So I grew up with those movies, and it’s kind of crazy that I got to be in one. I still can’t believe it. (Laughs.)
So I didn’t know going into Scream (2022) that you’d be the central figure in this story. Do you remember the circumstances in which you found out that you’d basically play the new protagonist?
I read the script before I got the part so I knew that the part was big. But I didn’t know if it was a one-off thing or not. In a lot of the other movies, there are characters who come in and have really big roles, but then in the next one, they go back to the originals. So it wasn’t until I rewatched the first three movies that I recognized the formula. There’s a formula to the movies where there’s a first kill, they cut to black and then it opens on Sidney. And then you follow Sidney through the entire movie. And now, they open on Sam. So I was like, “Oh, OK. This is big!” So I tried not to think about it too much and I tried not to harp on it, because I was already so nervous. I knew that I was going to have to act opposite [original stars] Neve, Courteney [Cox] and David [Arquette]. So I was trying to keep it together, not lose my cool and do the best job that I could. I didn’t want to let anybody down. There was a lot of pressure in that sense. [Original director] Wes [Craven] was no longer with us and we tried to honor him in every way possible. We also wanted to give the fans a worthy fifth installment. So there were a lot of emotions.
I loved all your scenes with Jenna [Ortega] as I was quite invested in that relationship. Did the two of you read together over Zoom during the casting process?
Yes, we did! That’s actually how I met her. I knew of her because I’d watched her work, and I thought she was brilliant. They told me I was going to read with a few actresses for Tara, and I saw that Jenna was one of them. I was like, “Oh my god, I hope she gets it.” And it’s not because the other actresses weren’t great; I just was a fan of Jenna’s. So maybe it was that kind of admiration that I had for her, but there was an immediate connection between us. It just felt different with her. Even on Zoom! Going into a Zoom chemistry read, what even is that? Zoom and chemistry, how do you even measure that? But it was so easy with her. And when we met, I just fell more in love with her. I’m the oldest sister of four; I have three younger sisters, so I immediately just adopted her. I was like, “You’re my sister for life!” She’s also familiar with the sister dynamic. She is one of six or seven kids in her family, I think. She’s one of the middle ones. So she has older sisters, and we just fell into it. It felt so easy with her. Actually, the first day of shooting for us was the scene where Sam confesses everything to Tara about who her dad is.
Did you perform that confession scene for your Zoom chemistry read as well?
Yes, we did. During that Zoom, I just felt like I sucked. I was like, “They’re going to fire me after this chemistry read,” even though it wasn’t my audition. I already had the part, and they were just auditioning for Tara. But after that Zoom, I was like, “Oh my God, I bombed. I sucked. They’re probably going to recast me.” And then I got a call from Matt and Tyler right after the Zoom meeting, and they were like, “We have a very clear choice, but we want to know how you felt.” And I was like, “Jenna Ortega. And I’m sorry that I sucked, guys.” And they were like, “No, the chemistry between you guys was there, even on Zoom.” It’s hard to say it when it’s you, but they said that they felt an instant connection between us, even on the computer. So I’m just glad that they didn’t fire me and that I got to do this with her.
When you’re on the phone with Ghostface, who’s actually performing his line readings out of frame?
(Laughs.) Oh my God, it was a whole thing. My first scene with Ghostface was the attack in the hospital break room where the vending machines are. So there was a PA reading the lines with me, and it was so bad. I felt so bad for him because it literally was not his job. He wasn’t an actor, and he wasn’t giving me anything. It just wasn’t scary. So I just felt off. Acting scared is one of the hardest things because you feel so stupid and you have to get out of that mind-set of feeling like an idiot. You have to try to just go for it, but I was in my head. So I went to Matt and said, “Matt, we need to do something about Ghostface. I know that Roger [L. Jackson] is not available …” Roger actually read with Jenna when they shot the initial scene. He was actually on the phone with her live, but he couldn’t do that every day, all day. So I told Matt that I needed someone with a little more emotion and sounds a little more menacing. So Matt, our co-director, was the one reading the Ghostface lines with me.
So what’s it like to have a showdown with Ghostface? Is it a violent dance sequence in a lot of ways?
It is, yeah! There’s choreography that we’ve rehearsed, and we’ve been taught how to sell certain falls. We’ve also been taught how to do certain moves or pushes with props, like the chair that I grab in that hospital attack. There’s a stunt double obviously, and it depends on your comfort level. I did almost all of my sequences in the movie — except for falling down the stairs. I’m just very intense that way. I was like, “Let me do it!” And they were like, “No, Melissa. You can’t do it.” And I was like, “Yes, I can!” So they finally gave in and let me do the entire [hospital] sequence by myself. And I ended up hurting my wrist from falling on the ground repeatedly. It wasn’t because I fell in the wrong way; it was because I did it 40 or 50 times. So there was a lot of landing on my wrist when Ghostface came from behind the door and hit me.
Funny story about that scene … There are rubber knives and real knives that we would switch in and out. And we did most of it with a rubber knife, but when they would get closer and you could see the glint, the shimmer, of the knife, they would switch it out for the real knife. They would tell me, obviously, when we were using the real knife. But apparently, the gloves that Ghostface wears are super slippery and it’s really hard to hold on to anything. So we were doing a part of that sequence where I was on one side of a round table and he was on the other, doing stabs across the table to try and reach me. Well, during one of those stabs, the knife flew out of his hand and hit the window right behind me. And it was a real knife! (Laughs.) And everyone got so freaked out. Luckily, it went a little off to the side, away from me. But from then on, they had to glue the knife to the glove so that it didn’t happen anymore. But poor Keith [Ward], our stunt guy, was mortified. I felt so bad for him. I was like, “I’m fine!” And they were like, “Yeah, but it could’ve gone really, really wrong. Imagine if you would’ve gotten stabbed with a flying knife!” So that was my first experience with Ghostface.
That reminds me of the umbrella story from the original movie.
Oh no! I don’t know that story!
At the end of the first movie, Sidney, dressed as Ghostface, attacked Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) with an umbrella. Perhaps you’ve heard of him …
(Laughs.)
Anyway, when she stabbed him with the umbrella for a second time, Billy screamed in agony and fell to the ground. But apparently, Neve missed the vest under his shirt and actually stabbed him in the chest, which aggravated an open-heart surgery wound that Skeet endured as a kid. So Billy’s scream in the movie was the real deal.
(Barrera gasps.) Oh my gosh! I have to go back and rewatch that now.
Since we’re on the subject of Billy Loomis, was Skeet actually on set with you during those reflective moments? Or was VFX wizardry added to a double?
It was both! Sam always saw him reflected in a mirror because it’s a part of herself. So it’s always through a mirror when Sam sees Billy, and I shot all of those scenes by myself. Sometimes, I would shoot those scenes with a tennis ball on a stand, and someone would also read his lines. And because of COVID, Skeet didn’t come until the very end of the shoot. He was there for a couple days, and we shot all of his stuff. So I was there for him, doing my performance for him, so that he knew what to give me. Because I had already shot all of my stuff. I wish that he had been for there all of my stuff when I shot it, but sadly, COVID … So we couldn’t do it.
Did you go back and watch the original movie just to see if you could adopt a tic or mannerism of Billy’s?
A hundred percent! And I did sneak some in there. So I hope that the hard-core fans catch them.
I can’t wait to watch the side-by-side comparison videos.
Yeah!
After the second hospital attack involving Dewey, Sidney tried to give Sam advice on how to handle the situation, but Sam resisted as she chose flight over fight. What made her say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” to Sidney?
Staying in Woodsboro is just too painful for her. She was using drugs and alcohol and acting out as a way to escape a reality she could not handle. So the idea of having to deal with something that she’s been running away from would be taking steps back. At this point in her life, she has a job, she has a boyfriend and she feels like she’s finally made it out of the dark cloud. But then all of this starts to happen. She knows that it’s related to her and that she’s the reason it’s happening to Tara. So it’s scary, but she just wants out. She doesn’t have the fighting instinct in that way. She has a different fighter instinct because she’s tough, but she doesn’t have any inclination to stay around a figure that has haunted her for so long. There’s just no interest. She’s run away; that’s her MO. She’s a runner. If it weren’t for Ghostface who lured her back to the Macher house, she would’ve just gone away and put that in the past. But then there would be no amazing act three that we have in the movie, so they had to bring her back.
Yeah, I love when you unleash the beast in act three. You’ve even got that great action movie moment, “Never fuck with the daughter of a serial killer.”
Yeah!
When you first saw that powerful image of Sam standing triumphant next to Sidney and Gale, what went through your mind?
Oh my gosh, I couldn’t believe it. It was a pinch-me moment that literally brought tears to my eyes because I was standing beside Courteney and Neve. And that’s also why this franchise is so good, because it’s always been focused on badass women. So the fact that I got to be a part of that trio is so surreal. It’s still incredible to me that I got to be a part of it and that I got to work alongside them and learn so much from them. And now I have that image immortalized forever. I get to have that image and those memories from that day, and I’ll remember how much fun we had.
When you read the script for the first time, were you relieved that Tara wasn’t the co-killer? It really would’ve stung if Sam and Tara didn’t get a second chance to be sisters.
I’m trying to remember because the first script that I read had different killers. They gave us different versions of the ending, and they had produced different versions of the ending as a precaution in case someone leaked the ending. They could cover themselves this way. But in my script, I remember the killers were both female. I don’t think it was Tara; I think it was Amber [Mikey Madison] and Mindy [Jasmin Savoy Brown] or Amber and Liv [Sonia Ben Ammar]. And when I talked to the directors, I was like, “Oh my God, it’s so amazing that it’s all women at the end. The killers are women and the survivors are women. It’s so epic!” And they were like, “Yeah, that’s not the real ending.” So I was like, “OK! I’m still going to be excited.” So they didn’t give me the right ending, and I actually didn’t know who the killers were going to end up being until later.
Did you shoot any fake endings or takes just to keep people guessing?
No, we didn’t shoot any fake scenes or anything like that. We were pretty protected in Wilmington, and during COVID and with the budget that we had, we didn’t have the luxury of just spending more time shooting other scenes that we weren’t going to use. It sounds like fun doing that, but we didn’t do any of that.
Would you jump at the chance to play Sam again?
A hundred percent. There’s nothing I would rather do, especially if I get to go back with Jenna, Mason [Gooding] and Jasmin, who are the other survivors. I would also work for Matt and Tyler until the end of time. I would do anything with them. They did such a good job with this and they created such an incredible environment to shoot this movie. So I just want to repeat it again and again. The environment that Wes created kept Courteney, David and Neve coming back, and I think Matt and Tyler have done their best to try and replicate that experience for everyone. They’ve done a really good job.
One of the defining images of 2021 cinema is you, as Vanessa, floating in the pool. Has anyone framed that shot from In the Heights for you?
(Laughs.) No, actually! I got some posters sent to me, and that was one of the posters. But it got lost in the move; I just recently moved. They got “lost.” I feel like someone probably stole them, but I’ll have to get a hold of some more copies of that. I just bought a house and I have this awesome room with a projector, so I want to start putting posters up. I’ll start with a Scream one and then I’ll have to get my hands on the In the Heights ones that I lost.
In the Heights was incredible, and it deserved to make all the money in the world. Unfortunately, it’s a strange time in the world and only a certain type of franchise movie or genre is able to thrive at the box office, which bodes well for Scream. [Writer’s Note: This interview was conducted prior to Scream’s $30 million opening weekend.] So when you saw other non-franchise films — or even other musicals — not connecting at the box office, was it relieving, in a way, to know that In the Heights wasn’t alone and that it’s more about what people are willing to see in theaters during a pandemic?
Honestly, there are no rules. I wouldn’t know what people want to see anymore. Besides the superhero movies, it’s such a coin toss for what movies people are going to show up to see now, especially during COVID. It’s such a weird time that we’re living in, and what happened with In the Heights wasn’t our fault. I’ve just learned to not have any expectations. All I can control is my experience while making a film and feeling proud of the work that I’ve done. So I’ve stopped thinking about anything else after that. I hope to God that we can continue going to the movies. I have another theatrical release coming up in July; it’s a movie that I just finished shooting called Bed Rest. STX is distributing and they’ve already set the July 15 date for theaters. So I really hope that people keep showing up to theaters for all kinds of movies.
I never feel good about a movie not doing well at the box office because, for some reason, that becomes the defining factor of whether a movie is good or not. I just thought that it was so unfair what happened with In the Heights. All the headlines that started coming out after we premiered were so brutal and horrible, and they felt very personal to me. It just felt like the industry was blaming us for not doing well and was blaming the fact that we were all Latinos and was blaming the fact that it was a musical that not a lot of people knew. So it just felt very personal, and I remember feeling very shitty afterwards. I was in quarantine in Vancouver because I was about to shoot another show, so I was literally sitting on a couch and reading everything. So it was awful, and it was probably one of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt. I don’t wish that on anyone.
Gosh, I feel bad for asking you to go there.
No, no, no! It’s good to talk about it because it happened. It’s true. But yeah, it’s such a weird time that we’re living in.
Decades from now, when you’re reminiscing to your family about In the Heights, what day will you likely tell them about first?
My family was actually there for a lot of the cool days. It was pre-COVID and we were allowed to have visitors on set. So my family was there and they got to see me shoot “Champagne.” So I will always cherish that. It was a number that I was very nervous for but very excited about because we were going to sing it live and it was going to be a oner. So it took a lot of rehearsing, but it was a spectacle. Everyone was behind the monitor making bets as to which take they were going to end up using, and it was just beautiful. It was also very emotional. I remember Jon [M. Chu] yelling cut and then coming to give Anthony [Ramos] and I notes. And he was crying, and then Lin [Manuel Miranda] and my family were crying. And after we finished that day, Lin came with a bottle of champagne from 2008, which was the year that the Broadway show won the Tony. So we popped the champagne afterwards to celebrate and it felt like such a monumental day in a lot of ways. It was so satisfying and I will always cherish that.
And what was that day on Scream?
Oh my gosh, it was probably the first day I shot with Neve and Courteney. It was pretty spectacular. I was just trying to not fan-girl the entire time and keep my cool. I had already shot with Courteney before, but it was the first time I was going to shoot with Neve. I was so nervous and intimidated because this is her franchise. She’s Sidney Prescott, and I wanted her to like me. I wanted her to feel like I was worthy of this new role in the franchise and that I was worthy of taking up the baton. There were so many feelings, and I was just so nervous in front of her. So I thought that I was sucking at acting all the time because I was so nervous. But she was so nice. Both Courteney and Neve were so sweet to me, and they were just so generous. I couldn’t have asked for better co-stars to work with and to admire. It was just amazing in every way. I’m so grateful for that day, and I will always remember that. I told Matt and Tyler to sneak pictures behind the camera so that I had proof that I was acting with Neve and Courteney.
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Scream is now playing in movie theaters. Interview edited for length and clarity.
