Melissa Barrera found comfort in her upcoming horror film, Abigail.
The 33-year-old actress opened up about the film’s personal significance to her while speaking to ET’s Ash Crossan on Tuesday, where she also expressed being pleasantly surprised about the outpouring of support from her fans in the wake of her controversial firing from the Scream franchise.
Barrera — who played Samantha Carpenter in 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream 6 — was dropped from Scream 7 last November after advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and calling out the Israeli government for what she and others have labeled a “genocide” of Palestinian people.
She reflected about her abrupt firing in January, saying the ordeal allowed her to finally become “who I’m supposed to be in life,” while adding that it was “a big awakening.” Baarrera said she’s grateful for everything that’s happened since, but she told ET that nothing could have prepared her for the wave of support while promoting Abigail across the country.
“It’s been incredible. It was so unexpected,” said Barrera when asked what the support has meant to her. “For some reason, I did not expect to get so much support and to feel like an army behind [me]. And it was so beautiful. I’ve gotten the chance to go to conventions since and actually meet the fans and continue to hear from them, the support and that they’re with me and that they have my back. It’s just so special.”
Following her Scream 7 ouster, Barrera starred in the rom-com, You Monster, which hit theaters in January. But it’s the vampire horror film Abigail — directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett — that has afforded her another perspective when it comes to filmmaking.
“It gives me so much strength to move forward and keep doing great stuff for them and keep making movies and shows for them and giving them more characters to connect with,” Barrera continued. “I’m very excited about it, and Abigail is the beginning of that. I’m excited to share this with the world. I’m so proud of what we did and I think Matt [and] Tyler are so good at what they do … I think people want to go to the movies and have fun. Sometimes movies are so serious and depressing because the world can be, but sometimes we just want to escape and have fun and leave the theater smiling from ear to ear, and I think that’s what Abigail is.”
Abigail follows a group of kidnappers who find out that they’re in way over their heads when their target, a girl named Abigail, turns out to be a vampire. The blood-filled vampire flick is written by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick, with Matilda the Musical star Alisha Weir playing the titular terror. Abigail is a young ballerina who arabesques and pirouettes right into the hands of her kidnappers-turned-babysitters, played by Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, and the late Angus Cloud.
And when it comes to the amount of blood in this film, Scream can’t even begin to compare.
“Nothing,” Barrera said. “Like, literally nothing.”
And there was lots of it.
“We didn’t know how much blood was going to come out and get on us,” Barrera said. “And I, literally, it went inside my mouth, my nostrils. I couldn’t even open my eyes.”
Abigail hits theaters on Friday.
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