Abigail
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Summary
Melissa Barrera ’s horror motion picture success bar continue withAbigail . Since make the leap to Hollywood with the Starz dramaVida , Barrera has enjoyed a steady emanation through the diligence thanks in expectant part to her role as Sam Carpenter in 2022’sScreamand its continuation , Scream VI . She has also lend her talent to other genre territory , including the moving-picture show adaptation ofLin - Manuel Miranda’sIn the Heightsand Netflix ’s endurance dramaKeep Breathing .
InAbigail , Barrera superstar as Joey , one of a group of six mercenaries hired to nobble the 12 - year - old daughter of a flush crime lord and tasked with watch her for 24 hours in an old mansion until the $ 50 million ransom money comes in . As the night progresses , though , the radical arrive to realize that the titular girl with an affinity for concert dance is actually a centuries - old lamia , with the table turned on them as she begins hunting them down one by one in a bloody violent disorder .
The vehement and blinking close of Abigail left the immediate destiny of Melissa Barrera ’s character Joey ambiguous , along with what her hereafter might hold .
Alongside Barrera , the ensembleAbigailcastincludes Dan Stevens , Alisha Weir , Will Catlett , Kathryn Newton , Kevin Durand , Angus Cloud and Giancarlo Esposito . The horror motion picture reteams Barrera with Radio Silence duo Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli - Olpin after their work on theScreamsequels , with the script also being penned by frequent henchman Guy Busick andThe Hole in the Ground ’s Stephen Shields .
In honor of the picture ’s digital release , Screen Rantinterviewed Melissa Barrera forAbigail , how her experience with the revulsion movie compare to theScreamsequels , the designed ambiguity of its ending and scrapped alternate ending , a potential sequel , and her ongoing friendly relationship with star Jenna Ortega .
AbigailInvited More Creative Freedom From Barrera & The Team
With the picture taking its own original itinerary thanthe rules - drivenScreamfranchise , Barrera find her experience inAbigailto be " a lot more fun " with its originative freedom . In wait at its unique blend of repulsion and comedy , she not only praise her carbon monoxide gas - stars for leaning into the wilder side of its concept but even recalled feeling lost initially about whether it would be a serious movie or a humourous one :
Melissa Barrera : It was , candidly , a lot more fun , because we felt like we had more exemption . And when you have more creative exemption , you just go all out . Matt and Tyler were really excited about getting to do something on their own , and I was mad to do this next chapter with them . And we had a net ton of fun making this picture show . I mean , the movie is a lot of fun to watch over , so you’re able to imagine how fun it was to make . I was so in awe of all of my castmates , and what they brought to their characters .
The script was written with some comedy , but I think the movie terminate up being a lot funny , because of all the improv , and what everybody brought to their graphic symbol . Joey is n’t really odd , she ’s the least funny character out of everyone . [ Chuckles ] She ’s the emotional column , but I was likely the actor that broke the most while we were shooting , because everyone just made me laugh so much . And it was just so beautiful to see these unbelievable thespian bring it , like , that ’s why they ’re all so good .
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I could n’t believe that I aim to be in a movie with all of them , because I was already a lover of all of them from their former works , but just seeing them in action , and all the petty quirks and little approximation that they had for their part that were so surprising . I think that ’s what differentiates a good actor from a outstanding one , where sometimes when you interpret a hand , you’re able to kind of tell what it ’s go to be like on Seth . I sense like there ’s a set of actors out there who are — I mean , it sounds direful — passably lazy , they just kind of are like , " Yeah , I ’ll just register these line and do it course and whatever . "
But it ’s the actors that come in with a unique take on it that is surprising to everyone that really elevates the script and produce the movie well . And that ’s what they all did , and I think that ’s why the proportionality between the gore and the funniness is so great . plain , we have Matt and Tyler , who are geniuses at navigating that fine note , and finding the right balance , so it was just amazing . It was very confusing for me at the beginning , because I was like , " I do n’t have intercourse what movie I ’m making . I did n’t know that it was going to be that funny . "
So , I was genuinely passing confused , because I was like , " I thought this was serious . " And possibly that ’s because , for Joey , it is exceedingly serious . She ’s the one that has a existent of import cause , it ’s life or last for her , it ’s either acquire her nipper back or not . It ’s either getting her spirit back , and her family , or not . So , to me , I came in super serious like , " This is a braggy deal . This is her last chore . " So , I was very much in that zone , and then all of a sudden , they ’d be doing all these crazy thing , and I was like , " What is going on ? "
Image via Universal Pictures
And I ’d go to Matt and be like , " Matt , what ’s encounter ? What film is this ? " And he ’d be like , " You ’re unadulterated . Keep doing what you ’re doing . If you ’re keep us grounded , everyone else can get balmy and crazy . " And I was like , " Okay , outstanding . " So that was my part was to keep everybody ground in realism so that they could get as silly and as unhinged as possible .
The activity sequences in the movie were one of the biggest differences Barrera realize between her experience with theScreamfranchise , citing her work with the stunt team onAbigailas another reason why she hop to asterisk in an action - focused movie in the future tense :
Melissa Barrera : It was awful , it was a really long sequence . We rehearse it for a long time , for like two weeks , and they terminate up cutting it . It ’s still long in the picture show , but there ’s so much more footage of the combat that they cut , because it just was too long , I venture . But it was exciting , I ’d never done that extensive of fight stage dancing before . I ’d done some , but not this level , and it was awful just to ferment with the stunts , and to learn the biff .
It made me want to be a stuntperson , you live ? I was like , " This is first-rate playfulness . " I ’ve always wanted to do a heavy activeness motion-picture show , but it made me need to do it even more . Getting that last little preference of being immersed in a conflict sequence and doing that and pip it . It take on us , also , like two weeks to shoot that final sequence . So it was pretty exciting .
Joey Nearly Had A DifferentAbigailEnding (But Barrera Feels They “Didn’t Need It”)
In the pic ’s terminal moments , Joey fix in the van the group drove to the mansion in , look at her sound and smiling as she puts it to her capitulum , apparently show that she received a voicemail from her son after leaving him an worked up subject matter before the combat , only to then put the phone down and start the new wave . When asked about this import , Barrera affirm it was go away intentionally dim , though also reveals there was an alternate ending in which she did call him , and he serve , though she felt it was unneeded :
Melissa Barrera : Yes , it was . We did put down a call with my son in the van , so there was that option of him actually answering and Joey say , " I ’m make out home . " But I remember the guys adjudicate that we did n’t need it , because we had that big aroused call before , and because of the nature of the ending with Abigail and her dad coming in , it would have find like a two-fold beat . I think we did n’t need it , and it ’s just a bada– [ fight ] then leave like that . Just be like , " We do n’t know what ’s gon na bump . Is she gon na go home ? Did Abigail severalise the Sojourner Truth that she ’s run to ferment into a lamia ? " Who knows ?
Barrera Is More Cautious About AnAbigail 2(But Wants To Team Up With Another Radio Silence Vet)
Prior to the movie ’s release , Barrera had express her involvement in making anAbigail 2 , even flip her own idea in which Joey becomes a lamia and attempt to hunt down the titular character , only for them to again join up to face a young clan of vampires . Though still very groovy on reteaming with Radio Silence and open to a potential continuation , she ’s a little more suspicious to jump right on board for a follow - up :
Melissa Barrera : No , the idea of a sequel for me was always exciting , because I want to be a vampire . [ Laughs ] That ’s all I need in life , that ’s all I want . So that was , for me , it was the affair , but I do n’t know that we require one . And it will be actually really hard to do with Alisha , because technically , she ca n’t get any older , and she ’s at that age where she is bring forth senior . Not that you ca n’t do it with deaging and CGI and all that poppycock , but who knows ? I ’d definitely be undetermined to come back . I will knead with Matt and Tyler whenever , wherever , for whatever project . So , if they were like , " Let ’s make another , " I ’d be like , " Yeah , when ? lease ’s go back to Ireland . "
She does , however , have one hopeful cerebration about reteaming with Radio Silence in the future , as she expresses her desire to work withReady or Notstar Samara Weavingin a right capacity after not divvy up any screen time inScream VI :
Image via Universal Pictures
Melissa Barrera : Yeah , we ’ve got ta get a movie with the both of us . I would fuck that . I met her while she was there , but I was n’t even on set when she was shooting , because that whole showtime was shot one by one . And that was a week off that I get , so I went back to Mexico . But yeah , she ’s unbelievable , she ’s an amazing actor and a really estimable friend of mine . And Matt and Tyler ’s , too , so it would be awesome .
Jenna Ortega Offered Barrera “Super Sweet” Support After HerScream 7Firing
Prior to the movie ’s release , Barrera was infamously fired fromScream 7due to societal medium posts regarding the Israel - Hamas War . The month since have go through the majority of the dealership ’s cast voice their support for Barrera and expressing letdown in the studio for her conclusion . On - screen sister Jenna Ortega later on pass on the sequel over a report earnings dispute , pose plan into a complete turnaround time . Reflecting on the experience , Barrera expresses her gratitude to Ortega for her " super sweet " livelihood during the situation , while also humorously acknowledging one protuberance in their friendly relationship :
Melissa Barrera : We blab a lot when it go down . She was checking in on me , and was super sweet . We have n’t spoken in a while , but she ’s busy . She ’s crazy busy . And she ’s also not a slap-up texter backer . [ Chuckles ] So , every time that I text her , I know , finally , she ’ll get back to me . And she ’s just not glue to her phone like some of us are , I am glue to my phone . Which , bless her , undecomposed for her . But yeah , with her , it ’s one of those thing where no matter if you do n’t talk for month , when we do call each other , or when we do get in touch or see each other somewhere , it ’s like no clip has go by . We go decent back to where we give off , so I am always jolly up her on , and I ’m rooting for her , and I will protect her forever with my life .
AboutAbigail
After a mathematical group of would - be criminals snatch the 12 - yr - old ballerina daughter of a powerful infernal region name , all they have to do to collect a $ 50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight . In an isolated planetary house , the captors start to dwindle away , one by one , and they discover , to their mounting horror , that they ’re lock inside with no normal little girl .
Check out our previousAbigailinterviews below :
Abigailis now available to rent or purchase on digital program and is in theaters .
Image via Universal Pictures
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Cast
Abigail is a 2024 repugnance thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli - Olpin and Tyler Gillett . The plot follows a group of people who kidnap the girl of a dangerous criminal offense lord only to discover that the niggling missy is in reality a reprehensible lamia out for blood . Alisha Weir superstar as the titulary character alongside Kathryn Newton , Melissa Barrera , and Dan Stevens .
