Melissa Barrera discussed the aftermath of her firing from the Scream franchise in 2023 during an interview with The Independent. She shared her experience following her dismissal, which was due to social media posts about Palestine that Spyglass, the studio behind the horror franchise, deemed antisemitic.
“It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything,” she told the publication. “There were times where I felt like my life was over.”
She then revealed that after the firing, she experienced a drought in job offers: “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’.”
Of the smaller roles she was offered, she recounted. “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,” she added. “I rethink my career at least twice a year. Like, should I even be doing this? Am I even good? Am I ever gonna work again? Acting is my passion – I didn’t want it to just end.”
However, the aftermath made her introspective now realizing, “For the longest time, I gave myself value as a human because of my work. So when I saw it potentially ending, I was like, who even am I? And I realized that I’m so much more than just an actor – I’m a great sister, a great daughter, a great friend. And I’m very capable of finding success in something else if I wanted it.”
Barrera portrayed Sam Carpenter, daughter of Billy Loomis, in 2022’s "Scream" and 2023’s "Scream 6," which set a franchise record with $108 million at the domestic box office. Although she was set to return for "Scream 7," she was unexpectedly fired. Still, Barrera is determined not to let this decision overshadow her memories of the "Scream" franchise.
“They gave me a lot in my career,” Barrera said. “I made really good friends. I have such loyal fans from those movies that are now watching the rest of the stuff that I do.”
While offers stopped coming in for the most part after the “Scream” firing, Barrera is now finally getting back to work. She’s currently filming a new espionage thriller series for Peacock alongside Simu Liu that she calls “exactly what I needed to ease myself back into the industry and do something fun that’s not going to destroy me emotionally.”
“It felt like I had been invisible, and then all of a sudden, there was a switch that made me visible again,” she added. “I feel better. I was stuck in the sand dunes for a while, and now I feel like my feet are moving, I have an oxygen tank, and I’m, like… going up.”