Melissa Barrera doesn't want to be restricted to horror parts
Melissa Barrera is keen to "stretch" herself as an actress despite earning a reputation as a scream queen for her recent roles.
Melissa Barrera wants to "stretch" herself as an actress.
The 34-year-old star has established herself as a scream queen with roles in movies such as Scream, Abigail and Your Monster but is determined to take parts in a range of genres on the big screen.
Melissa told The Seeds podcast: "I love horror. It's super fun. And there's so many great horror scripts.
"I also have never liked putting myself in a box of any kind, and I know that I have a lot other skills that... I want to showcase, and I want to like play with. So, I feel like I would get bored – I do get bored easily if I'm doing the same thing or the same genre."
The Mexican actress believes that her background has meant that she had to work harder to be cast in certain roles during her career.
Melissa – who was dropped from her role as Sam Carpenter in the Scream franchise in 2023 after making controversial comments about the war in Gaza – said: "You kind of have to fight for more room.
"People (are) not necessarily looking for people that look like you for a role, but you got to kind of try and... knock on the door and be like, 'Hey, I know you're not looking for me. But like, maybe, would you mind? I'll just do it, and if you like it, maybe.'"
Barrera revealed that she was desperate to land a role in the 2022 picture Scream as she knew that it would provide other Latino stars with opportunities as her character in the flick had a family.
The In the Heights star said: "The big reason that I wanted to get that role so badly was because I knew that this character was going to have the family, and that if I got a role, then that meant more opportunities for other Latinos in the other roles. So that's the kind of thing that you think about."
Melissa previously revealed that she felt as if her life "was over" after she was axed from Scream after work offers dried up for "around 10 months" afterwards.
She told The Independent: "It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to re-evaluate everything.
"There were times where I felt like my life was over."
Barrera continued: "It was quiet for, like, 10 months. I was still getting offers for small things here and there – I’m not going to lie and say there was nothing – but [the message] was, like, 'Oh, she probably doesn’t have work, she’ll say yes to anything.'
"I would get [roles] that I wasn’t excited about, and I’ve never been a person that just wants to work for work’s sake. I give so much of myself to acting that if a part of me feels like it’s not worth it, I’m gonna be miserable.
"Inside I’m constantly freaking out."
