[This story contains major spoilers for Scream 7.]
To say that Mckenna Grace is booked and busy would be an understatement.
The Texas native collects coveted roles and franchise parts like Thanos amasses Infinity Stones or Tom Hanks stockpiles vintage typewriters. Depending on your criteria, the 19-year-old actor has starred in or appeared in as many as 14 projects involving established IP. Of course, it’s a sign of the branded entertainment era that Grace grew up in, but that doesn’t change the fact that she betters whatever story she’s telling, whether it’s as the central hero of Jason Reitman’s recent Ghostbusters movies or a supporting role in Kevin Williamson’s Scream 7. (The latter just achieved a franchise-best opening weekend of $64 million domestic and $97 million worldwide.)
Oddly enough, Grace did not know which role she was playing in the seventh installment of the Scream franchise until shortly before filming started. She originally auditioned for another character — one can surmise it was Tatum Evans, Sidney Evans’ (née Prescott) daughter — but being such a fan of the Wes Craven and Williamson-created series, she wanted in no matter what. After all, her fandom once inspired her to photobomb Neve Campbell and the original Scream cast at a convention years ago. Grace would ultimately play Hannah Thurman, Tatum’s (Isabel May) friend and castmate in the Pine Grove High School musical that would lead to the end of her short life.
“I auditioned for another character, and they were like, ‘We think you’d really fit this one.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, great!’ But then I never got to know who that character was,” Grace tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Whenever you’re a part of a film like this, they are so secretive with the script and with sides. Nowadays, it really does suck because there’s leaks of everything, and security is really up now. So I didn’t get the Scream 7 script, and I didn’t know who I was playing [until shortly after my costume fitting].”
For someone who played the primary hero of Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire — and also has a plum role in Francis Lawrence’s next Hunger Games chapter, Sunrise on the Reaping —one would think that Grace would now rule out brief stints in Scream 7 or Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. But she doesn’t see it that way.
“I’m just so grateful for work. Am I going to turn down the chance of being in my favorite franchises? No. If I’m going to be there for five minutes, why not? That’s so fun,” Grace says. “If I ever lose that feeling, then I’m either doing something wrong, or I’m not in the industry for the right reasons. I want to take good care of the characters, and even if I’m there for a second, hopefully the fans of the franchise will feel a little bit more at ease knowing that somebody on the screen is also such a huge fan and is being thoughtful about it.”
As for the state of Ghostbusters on the big screen, Grace hasn’t heard any recent updates about a potential trilogy capper for Phoebe Spengler.
“I think there’s always hope. Personally, I haven’t heard anything lately. I’d be more secretive if I had,” Grace admits. “I would always be honored to play Phoebe again, and whether it would be next year, I feel like I would have heard about it by now if I was. So my fingers are always crossed. As of right now, I have no clue, but I definitely think that it could be a possibility someday in the future.”
Grace has been something of a viral sensation in recent months. First, a red carpet interview for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 blew up because she became charmingly embarrassed in response to Josh Hutcherson learning about the extent of her admiration for his Hunger Games character. Then a red carpet interview for 2016’s Mr. Church resurfaced because the interviewer wrongly assumed a then-nine-year-old Grace was the daughter of one of the movie’s actors, and not an actor herself.
As funny as these moments can be, Grace gets candid about the downside of virality after being a working actor for nearly 15 years.
“I have never gotten nervous on a carpet or in interviews until now. I did one interview at the Scream 7 premiere, and I was a nervous wreck. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I probably said the wrong thing,’” Grace shares. “It’s a really strange thing, truthfully. Every other week, the internet either loves you or hates you. One week, you’re their darling, and they’re obsessed with you. And then the next week, they literally hate you. I never know if something is going to be viral because everybody thinks it’s funny or because everybody hates me this week. So it’s a terrifying thing that can also be cool.”
Grace adds: “Some people are like, ‘Just stay offline’ But the internet nowadays is such a big part of what we do, unfortunately, that I can’t really stay out of what people are saying about me.”
Below, during a conversation with THR, Grace also discusses her chart-topping collaboration with Ice Nine Kills for the Scream 7 soundtrack, as well as her newest role as Daphne Blake in Netflix’s upcoming live-action Scooby-Doo series.
From partially dying in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire to really dying in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and now Scream 7, are you trying to die in every major franchise these days?
(Laughs.) Honestly, with my track record recently, that’d be a really funny bit if I come into every franchise for a second just to die.
Yeah, it’s fifty-fifty. You never know what you’re going to get when you watch a film with me.
Of the Ghostface triumvirate, do you know which one actually killed Hannah?
I remember grilling them on this question. I think it was Ethan Embry’s character. That’s what I heard, and that’s what I’m going to stick with because I’m a fan of his.
When Hannah is disemboweled, did they have a pack of goopy intestines strapped onto you?
Oh my gosh, it was so nasty. I was wearing this fairy princess costume that was a corset, and I was wearing a stunt harness under the corset. Then I had this whole contraption that was strapped to my stomach, and it was basically a fake stomach with all these guts hanging out. It was so nasty but so fun. To carry my guts, they gave me this big orange Home Depot bucket that I had to walk around with on the day.
My sister had the same back surgery as you, so I’m always extra sensitive when I watch you do action on screen. Thus, how much wire work were you allowed to do?
I basically did all of it. They did do some stunt passes, but everything that [my stunt double] did, I think I did as well, except the huge swing up and drop down. That was probably for legal reasons, but I’m always down to do everything, and I did do most everything on wires. I had to come in a month before shooting and do a week or two of rehearsals for all that. Then I was on wires doing the death portion of the scene for maybe three or four days.
My back is not “normal,” but it’s a new normal now. I’m able to do stunts with it, but truthfully, it can be weird, sometimes. I’ll get in a random position, and a sensation will just shoot down my leg. It’s just the strangest thing, and you can never really tell. I’ll be fine getting thrown around and into walls, and getting cut open all day. But then they’ll put me in this one harness where my legs are also strapped up, and all of a sudden, I’m like, I think I’ve got to get out of this little leg cuff. So it’s the most random thing, but my back is strong now. I’ve got the metal rods and screws to back me up, and it’s capable of doing stunts. It’s truly a new normal.
I know the behind-the-scenes mechanics can sometimes ruin the illusion for you, but did you still get a rush seeing Ghostface on set for the first time?
Absolutely. I was so freaked out and so geeked and so excited. I’m obsessed with our stuntman, Jeremy [Conner], who played Ghostface. Our whole stunt team was so great, and I’m obsessed with all of them. I actually brought them cookies every day. I absolutely adore them. But besides being freaked out, my first thought when I saw Ghostface in the flesh was how sparkly his robe is. I was so surprised by that. It’s glittery to make his black robe show up better on camera. So Ghostface is a diva, I suppose, because he’s always covered in glitter.
Did you see the initial fan theory that Hannah was the killer because her plaid skirt was somewhat similar to plaid shirts worn by other killers in the franchise?
I did see that theory! It’s just because I’m blonde, but there was another theory that I could be Stu’s [Matthew Lillard] daughter. I saw so many different theories, and I thought they were all very fun and creative. Whenever you’re doing something new with a franchise that is a large IP or has a large following, it’s always exciting to see what theories the fans come up with. They know their favorite franchises so well that they’ll invent these really cool, smart theories, and you’re like, “Shoot, why didn’t I think that?”
Somebody else compared your first outfit to Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) in Scream, as well as one of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s costumes in Scream 2. Do you think that’s the more likely homage?
Possibly so. I tried on a lot of different outfits. To be honest, I did not know who I was playing prior to arriving on set. When I got to my fitting, everybody was saying, “Oh my gosh, your big scene is so cool.” And I was like, “My big scene? Do I die? What do I do? ” So I had no clue about my death or who I was playing. They had all these itty-bitty mini skirts and crop tops at the fitting, and I was like, “Oh gosh, I’m playing this girl. I’ve got to lock in.” (Laughs.) I definitely think that they wanted her to be reminiscent of Tatum, who had a very similar personality to Hannah. I think that they just wanted to pay homage to the first couple of films and those earlier characters.
Did you not know who you were playing because they were being overly secretive with the script?
Well, I auditioned for another character, and they were like, “We think you’d really fit this one.” And I was like, “Okay, great!” But then I never got to know who that character was. Whenever you’re a part of a film like this, they are so secretive with the script and with sides. When I did Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, I could barely access my sides for my scene in the morning because they were so locked down with the script. Nowadays, it really does suck because there’s leaks of everything, and security is really up now. So I didn’t get the Scream 7 script, and I didn’t know who I was playing. All I knew was that I was getting to do something dramatic. But I was like, “What could that mean? Do I die? Do I have a chase scene? I’m not Ghostface. I feel like I’d know that.”
So I got to the fitting I mentioned, and I picked up crumbs that I possibly have a big death scene. Then I finally sat down with Kevin, and he was like, “I’m so excited that you’re playing Hannah.” And I was like, “Yes, Hannah! So I’m playing a girl named Hannah.” And he was like, “Oh my God, you don’t know what you’re doing?” Then he walked me through everything over lunch. So I was over-the-moon ecstatic that I got to have such a cool, memorable scene.
I think we can all guess who you originally auditioned for.
Neve Campbell, as Sidney, showed up at the tail end of Hannah’s death scene, so did you get to meet her then?
I actually met her a few years ago at a convention. I’m at a convention right now in fact. I work a lot of Comic-Cons because the films that I’ve done have big fan bases, like Scream or Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. So I get to meet the fans, which is always a highlight of my month.
But I met Neve a few years ago because we were working at the same convention, and I snuck into the Scream cast photo op because I’m such a big fan of these movies. So I took a picture with the whole cast, and now I’m like, “Oh God, I hope they don’t recognize me as the fangirl who snuck into their photo op.”
When I got to Atlanta for pre-production and stunt training and whatnot, I got invited to a dinner that she and Kevin and some of the producers had. It was very fun, and they’d do little things like that. So I spent a good time getting to know Neve, and I’m pretty sure that we all went to see Heart Eyes to support Mason [Gooding]. So I got to hang out with her and get to know her a little bit. She’s one of the coolest women I’ve ever met.
When were you allowed to watch the first Scream?
Honestly, I would not be able to tell you. I never really had an age cap on horror movies. My parents were very young whenever they had me. I think my dad was 19 whenever my mom was pregnant. (Laughs.) So my dad was always my best buddy, and he would show me all the scary movies. I watched Alien at six, so he and I would always bond over scary movies and food. My mom would then come in and be like, “What are y’all doing? You can’t watch It Follows!” I remember we got in so much trouble for wanting to watch that. So my mom would always get mad at us, but I’ve still been watching every horror movie I can get my hands on since I was very young.
