You’d expect a lot of moments on the set of a slasher to leave you “completely defeated,” both physically and mentally. Acting isn’t easy work. But Jenna Ortega, the star of Scream (2022) and one of the recurring main characters in the franchise, returns for Scream VI alongside Hayden Panettiere, Melissa Barrera, Samara Weaving, and Courteney Cox. But you’d be surprised to learn that the hardest part of bringing Scream VI to life wasn’t even related to the experience itself, but rather the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the entire cast.
Whilst taking a break from filming, David Arquette supposedly gave the Scream VI cast “Bob Ross” lessons on set, which Ortega unfortunately missed out on. She was left “completely defeated” by being unable to attend, going on to describe Arquette as “a little angel of a person.” She gave an interview to YouTube channel First We Feast during their “Hot Ones” segment, which invites celebrities to answer questions while simultaneously eating hot wings doused in increasingly-fiery sauces.
“I think I was actually working when people took that class, which is one of my greatest… there’s very few times where I felt completed defeated and that is one of them. He is like a little angel of a person, I can’t believe he’s real. He gave the entire cast Bob Ross lessons, so we would walk into our collective green room and there would just be beautiful paintings everywhere.”
In Scream VI, Ortega will be reprising her role as Tara Carpenter, the sister of Barrera’s Sam Carpenter, and one of the newcomers to the franchise. In the opening of Scream (2022), Tara becomes the first target of the Legacy Killings (the relatives or acquaintances of the original Woodsboro survivors). Despite this, she survives and becomes the deuteragonist, aka second fiddle to the protagonist, of the newer installments, an occurrence which inverts the traditional intro sequences from the previous four films.
As half the world likely knows, Jenna Ortega recently starred in Netflix’s Addams Family spin-off series Wednesday, which was renewed for another season a few months ago. The 20-year-old actress certainly has a busy schedule, what with also enjoying bountiful praise and success for her role as Lorraine in Ti West’s slasher X. Ortega is definitely putting one foot in the horror world and establishing herself as a scream queen worthy of comparison to the great Jamie Lee Curtis.