‘Scream’ Actors Support Fired Co-Star Melissa Barrera at ‘Abigail’ Premiere: ‘It Says a Lot About How True the Love Is’
Melissa Barrera may have been fired from the “Scream” series, but she’s still very much a part of the franchise’s “family.”
Several “Scream” actors, including Mason Gooding, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich, attended the Los Angeles premiere of Barrera’s new horror movie, “Abigail” Wednesday night. “Abigail” is helmed by “Scream” (2022) and “Scream 6” co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, known collectively as Radio Silence.
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“Even after the project is over, we still have our chat,” Barrera told me. “They were all invited here and a lot of them from ‘Scream’ came and I think it says a lot. It says a lot about how true the love is. No one can ever take that away from us.”
Her “Scream 7” role fell apart in November when star Barrera was fired by Spyglass, the film’s producer, because they deemed her social media messages about the Israel-Hamas war as Antisemitic. Then came news that co-star Jenna Ortega wouldn’t return due to a scheduling conflict with the second season of her Netflix series “Wednesday.” About a month later, director Christopher Landon announced he had already exited the film “weeks ago.” Now, franchise creator Kevin Williamson will step behind the camera.
At the “Abigail” premiere, Barrera declined to comment on fans calling for a “Scream” boycott in the wake of her firing. “That’s a very multilayered, very complicated thing to respond to,” she said. “But I’ve been very, very grateful for the support of the fans. That was something that was very unexpected and I love them for it.”
“Scream 7” is back in development with franchise star Neve Campbell returning after she dropped out of the sixth installment due to a pay dispute. Variety also exclusively reported that Courteney Cox is in talks for the seventh movie.
Gooding, who played Chad Meeks-Martin in the last two “Scream” movies, told me last month that he refused to let the controversies spoil his experience with the franchise because of the friends he made while making the movies: “The fact that we got to stay a family beyond the work is the most important thing to me. It never felt like we lost that.”
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