Melissa Barrera Reflects on 'Scream 7' Firing After Voicing Palestine Support: 'I Was Gaslit'
Melissa Barrera is speaking out.
The 33-year-old Abigail actress posed for the cover of Polyester Zine, out now.
During the conversation, Melissa got candid about her highly publicized firing from the Scream franchise for her social media posts voicing her support of Palestine, being in Ireland and feeling supported, and much more.
Keep reading to find out more…
On the Scream 7 firing:
“I was gaslit into feeling that I had done or said something wrong. I will never forgive those people who made me feel that way, who made me think I had done something wrong. I knew deep down in my heart that I hadn’t. Still, you feel scared because you’re vulnerable and on the world stage, but I know I’m on the right side of history because I stand with all the world’s Indigenous people.”
On being in Ireland as the news came out, and feeling support:
“I genuinely think that the universe made me be in Ireland when all that happened because I could not have been in a safer, more supportive environment. I felt very loved, and I constantly had the crew members for Abigail come up to me and be like, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ It was the best feeling to be there. In one of the first countries to come out and say, ‘We stand with Palestinians.’”
On her roles:
“I’m always attracted to women who are warriors in film. Who get thrown obstacles and have to find a way to survive, usually on their own. I don’t know what that reveals about me, but if you look at my filmography, most of my characters are like that. It’s not something I was conscious about until very recently when I was interviewed by someone who pointed that out to me. I love the ‘Final Girl’ trope in horror films. it’s always a woman who gets to survive, be triumphant and defeat whatever evil forces are in her way.”
On intentional storytelling:
“I know the damage that has been done to not just Mexicans but all Latinos through storytelling, and so I’ve always been very intentional about saying no to certain things that will be feeding into certain stereotypes and tropes. But after everything that’s happened in the last year, I want to also put the same intentionality towards picking the kind of creatives I want to work with. I think what happened to me was the perfect life filter because the people who don’t want to work with me anymore, I’d never want to work with anyway. The people who do are more like-minded and will probably be telling the kinds of stories that I want to tell.”
For more, head to PolyesterZine.com.
See who is returning for Scream 7.
Find out which other stars have been outspoken about Israel and Palestine.