Jenna Ortega opens up about her departure from the ‘Scream’ franchise
After reports her exit was down to a work scheduling conflict, actress Jenna Ortega has opened up about her departure from the ‘Scream’ franchise.
Jenna Ortega has opened up about her departure from the ‘Scream’ franchise.
The 21-year-old actress, who portrayed Tara Carpenter in 2022’s ‘Scream’ and 2023’s ‘Scream VI’, confirmed her decision was far more complex than just a clash of calendars, revealing her exit from the seventh installment was not due to a scheduling conflict, as previously reported.
Jenna explained her exit stemmed from a deeper issue involving her co-star, Melissa Barrera, who was fired from ‘Scream VII’ following controversial social media posts about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
She said in an interview with The Cut: “It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling.
“The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart. If ‘Scream VII’ wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.”
Jenna’s decision to leave the franchise came one day after Melissa’s firing, leading to speculation her departure was a show of solidarity with her co-star.
Melissa, 33, was dismissed from ‘Scream VII’ after posting on social media in support of Palestine and criticising Israel for its actions, including accusations of “genocide and ethnic cleansing”.
The producer of the ‘Scream’ franchise, Spyglass Media Group, responded by issuing a statement to Variety, condemning any form of hate speech and expressing their “zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form”.
Following Melissa’s departure, ‘Scream VII’ also saw the exit of director Christopher Landon, who shared his frustrations on social media, saying: “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
He later confirmed he was leaving the project, calling it “a dream job that turned into a nightmare”.
The film is now set to be directed by Kevin Williamson, the original screenwriter of the franchise, and will feature the return of Neve Campbell.
Jenna, meanwhile, has continued her career with roles in the second season of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ and the box office hit ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.
She also expressed her desire to prioritise original stories over established franchises, saying: “I’m really trying to prioritise new directors and original stories.”
Jenna’s latest project, ‘Death of a Unicorn’, an A24 film, marks her commitment to taking risks on unique, original scripts.
She said: “If I can help get it made, I love to do that.”
