Melissa Barrera Teases Big Plans After Scream Firing

Former Scream series star Melissa Barrera is re-teaming with her former Scream V and VI directors Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) for the new horror film Abigail this month. That’s a big deal for Barrera, who has had a turbulent year in the industry. The War in Gaza sparked many reactions from Hollywood celebrities, but Barrera’s outspoken pro-Gaza stance got her fired from the Scream franchise, just when she was gearing up for production on Scream VII, which would have presumably been a climax to her trilogy arc as Sam Carpenter, the troubled daughter of original Scream movie killer, Billy Loomis. 

When Melissa Barrera was fired from Scream 7, many wondered if she would also be blackballed from Hollywood altogether. In a new interview with Collider’s Ladies’ Night, Barrera let host Perri Nemiroff know that her career as an actress is still very much alive and thriving.  

When asked how things are going for her since being fired from Scream, Barrera said: “Just continuing to put myself out there. Unafraid. Because I’m here to stay. [Laughs] So just continuing to audition — I still have a lot of things that I wanna do. I have a lot of dreams that I want to accomplish — a lot of different movies that I want to do.” 

With Abigail, Barrera has a prime opportunity to once again prove that she’s a standout in the ‘Scream Queen’ lane of horror. With two horror franchises (Scream and Abigail) on her resume, there’s even an opportunity for Barrera to do more than horror – career growth she’s definitely interested in pursuing: 

“I wanna produce, I wanna direct so there’s so much that I can busy myself with,” she said later in the interview. “Focusing on something that happened and that already happened and it’s not … It’s nothing … There are more important things that are happening in the world and that’s, you know, that was just a little hiccup. I’m good.”

Melissa Barrera doesn’t just credit herself with finding the peace of mind to move forward after Scream – she credits her team, which has been on the frontlines of confronting the controversy over her firing: 

“Actors aren’t the person you talk to, ever. You always talk to their representatives and that includes publicists, so they are my face , basically. They are an extension of me. So it’s really important, to me, that they are nice people, that they are respectful and polite…  We are on the same page in a lot of things , and so I feel very, very lucky and fortunate that I have a great team all around. My publicists have been incredible in the last six months of my life , and it’s just been amazing to have that support, because it’s important. It can be make-or-break for your mental health to feel that your team has your back, or that you’re alone, [it] can be terrible.”

Abigail will be in theaters on Friday.