13 Little Known Facts About Melissa Barrera
Melissa Barrera has established a name for herself early in her career as both a musical star and a "scream queen," with roles in films ranging from Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In the Heights" and the opera update "Carmen" to the "Scream" franchise. The musical and horror genres might not seem to have a ton of overlap between them, but Barrera was, until recently, well on her way to conquering them both, earning her a wide-ranging and diverse fanbase in the process.
Whether you know her primarily for her musical roles or her horror ones (or you're one of the special few who enjoys both), there are a few aspects of Barrera's life and work up to this point that you might not be familiar with unless you've done a deep dive into her history and her various interviews over the years. Here are a few of the most interesting — and controversial — pieces of information from the still ongoing saga of Melissa Barrera.
Melissa Barrera got her show business start, and met her husband, on a reality show
Melissa Barrera's big break for English-language television audiences was in the show "Vida" on Starz, but years before that she made her actual television debut on the Spanish-language reality TV series "La Academia."
"Reality TV is a snake pit," Barrera once told Variety. "You think the entertainment industry can be hard, but reality TV? That's the epitome of whether you're ready for this or not. If I could survive that show, it meant I could do anything. I wouldn't change anything, but it was people constantly criticizing you for you ... That can be hard for a 21-year-old."
Fortunately for Barrera, she made at least one lasting relationship during her time on the show. She ended up marrying her fellow "La Academie" alum Paco Zazueta, and according to her they kept each other sane during production of the show: "We would take turns telling each other we had what it takes to stick it out," she recalled. "When I left that show I didn't want to sing ever again. They made me believe I was no good at it. It was a weird technique they used." Thankfully for both Barrera and her fans, the technique didn't stick.
Her role on Vida had significant off-screen ramifications for Melissa Barrera
Melissa Barrera was already a "vet" of Spanish-language telenovelas when she landed one of the lead roles on the Starz series "Vida," about two Mexican-American sisters in Los Angeles. In an interview with The Cut, Barrera spoke about her role on the show as Lynda Hernandez, one of the two sisters and the only one of the main characters who doesn't speak Spanish. For Barrera, this was a plus, and an opportunity to shine a light on what she saw as an important issue.
"I think it's important to expose the fact that the language is being lost in second-, third-, fourth-generation Latinx-Americans," she explained. "There was an inherent shame that came with whoever, your grandparents, that came over. They wanted the best life for their kids and that meant being fully American. That meant speaking English perfectly so that they weren't ostracized or they didn't feel like an outsider ... So, they lost it."
"Vida" ran for three seasons and served as a vital step in Barrera's show business career, but you can see from the quote above that it was also important in at least one other way for the actress herself.
Her first musical theater experience was a Wizard of Oz audition
Melissa Barrera's bona fides as a musical fan have been well established at this point. In an interview with The Last, she briefly revealed what the first step on that journey was, and it involved one of the most beloved American movie musicals of all time.
Barrera said she first became smitten with the musical genre as a young student, and auditioned for a role in a production of "The Wizard of Oz" when she was in middle school. She didn't specify whether she got the part, but the experience did seem to have a lasting effect on her life, setting her on the track that would eventually lead to a starring role in the "In the Heights" feature film. "There's something magical about musical theater troupes that is very alluring; it seduces me," she said. "So when I was in the gang, I was like, 'This is what I want to do for my life. I don't want to get off the stage, I don't want to lose the warmth of these people and the passion we all have for signing and acting and dancing.'"
Fortunately for Barrera (and the musical-loving public at large), she hasn't gotten off that stage yet, even as she's achieved fame in non-musical entertainments as well.
Melissa Barrera was a huge In the Heights fan before she got to star in it
It almost seems like the plot of some musical fantasy about making it big in Hollywood, but Melissa Barrera was actually a devoted fan of "In the Heights" on Broadway before she ended up getting cast in the eventual movie version.
Barrera told Cosmopolitan that way back in 2007, when she was a high school junior, she got to see the show on Broadway during a class trip. She told the magazine that the show moved her to pursue musical theater academically, which was something she had already been considering but wasn't sure about until she saw "In the Heights." "I was scared that it wasn't a viable career. I was scared that there was no place for me in the industry — that I was gonna go to school for four years and then not be cast in anything because I hadn't seen a lot of Mexicans on Broadway," she said.
Seeing the show was like a breath of fresh air that calmed her anxiety: "I was like, 'Oh, there's a place for me. I can be in this show. This is a story that's like mine. There are people that look like me,'" she recalled. That's a nice anecdote about the power of theater on its own, but the fact that she ended up getting cast in "In the Heights" more than a decade later makes it a pretty special Hollywood story.
Her favorite In the Heights song is It Won't Be Long Now
Given her well-established love for "In the Heights" that goes back years before she was ever cast in the movie (or had even become a professional entertainer), it probably isn't easy for Melissa Barrera to pick a favorite song from the musical. But, when asked by Cosmopolitan which song from the musical resonated the most with her personally, her answer was emphatic. "'It Won't Be Long Now,' is literally, I feel like, the anthem of my life," she answered.
She went on to explain in detail just why the song has so much significance for her: "[T]he thing that has kept me going in the difficult times, in the down times of not knowing when I'm gonna work again or getting rejected from roles that I really want and being in such low, dark places that you want to give up and throw the towel in, is thinking that, 'it won't be long now.' That I'm getting closer. That I'm getting closer to my dream."
That behind-the-scenes inspirational drama might make you want to rewatch "In the Heights" and appreciate its story on a whole other level.
She learned to play the guitar during COVID lockdowns
Those who recall the widespread COVID lockdowns of 2020, when so many of us were stuck at home with relatively little to do, probably also remember the hobbies and pastimes that proliferated during that strange, surreal period. Some people got really into baking breads. Others took up podcasting or various forms of livestreams. For Melissa Barrera's part, she learned how to play the guitar.
In an interview from the spring of 2020 with Hola!, when Barrera had spent 46 days in self-isolation, she described her favorite room of her house, which by that time she was well acquainted with. "TV Room. That's where I've been spending most of my time, either watching movies with my husband, learning to play guitar, eating or doing Zoom calls with friends," she said.
It's not known whether Barrera has kept up with her guitar playing into the present, but if you happen to see her playing in some future upcoming project, you'll know just when she managed to acquire that musical skill.
She claimed she was a 'horror fanatic' before getting cast in Scream
Given that the "Scream" films and "In the Heights" are the two most high-profile roles of Melissa Barrera's career so far, it would be kind of cool if she had a similar bit of serendipitous fate before she ended up in 2022's "requel," "Scream."
Unfortunately, that's not the case, but an Elle profile from 2023 does describe her as a child "horror fanatic" who got a charge out of watching scary movies with an audience. But her enthusiasm for her "Scream" role of Sam Carpenter went beyond just the horror genre. "I wanted to see Sam having fun and smiling," she said. "What's her relationship like with her newfound family? Can she be more than this hard shell of a person we saw last time? I just wanted to give her more color. She's such an unpredictable character and that's always fun to play."
From having the trajectory of her life changed by a viewing of "In the Heights" on Broadway to getting cast in the "Scream" franchise after a childhood spent loving the horror genre, Barrera seems to have been uniquely successful in making her childhood dreams come true. But as you'll see next, she might not have been that much of a horror fanatic after all, at least not for the kind of horror that included the "Scream" movies.
Her childhood taste in horror ran closer to Casper than Ghostface
Melissa Barrera's embrace of the horror genre may have only gone so far, since the so-called "horror fanatic" also told Remezcla that the "Scream" franchise was not part of her childhood entertainment diet. When it came to watching spooky movies or TV shows, Barrera was more interested in Casper the Friendly Ghost than Ghostface, telling the outlet that she had a crush on everyone's favorite dead child spirit. "That movie was scary, but I was also in love with Casper," she remembered. "As a little girl, I remember thinking, 'That's a hot ghost!'"
Press tours are not easy, so perhaps we shouldn't blame Barrera too much for giving two outlets two different impressions of her level of horror fanaticism. And perhaps she'll end up in a future "Casper" feature film someday, closing this particular circle and fulfilling yet another childhood dream.
She's friends with Courteney Cox
Melissa Barrera also made friends — this time with a famous "Friend," Courteney Cox — on the set of "Scream VI." Their friendship has extended to her being interviewed by the older star for Interview magazine, in which the good feeling between the two was more than apparent. "You are the most infectious, warm person," Cox told Barrera. "I met you and immediately I knew that you were someone I'd be close with forever. I know on the set of 'Scream' you guys all became really good friends ... I think you're going to be friends with them forever."
According to Barrera, she makes it a habit of forming lasting bonds on the sets of TV shows and movies: "Every project is different, but some of my best friends are my 'Vida' castmates," she explained. "They're the first people I met when I came to L.A., they became my best friends, they were at my wedding. Every time I'm in L.A., I have to have a night out with them ... People that aren't in the industry don't understand the type of bonding that happens while you're on a set."
Hopefully, the friendship between Cox and Barrera can withstand the latter's exit from the franchise (more on that later).
Salma Hayek is Melissa Barrera's idol
Practically everybody idolizes Salma Hayek, so it would almost be more notable if Melissa Barrera did not. But she did in fact cite Hayek as an idol in an interview with Glamour: "I always admired Salma Hayek because she was the one Mexican woman who had made it in Hollywood and was known worldwide for being a Mexican woman. I thought that was such an important accomplishment," she said. "Having someone you recognize that has a similar upbringing, or grew up in your same country, and achieves something automatically creates a line of light. If that person did it, that means I can do it."
In that same interview, Barrera's "In the Heights" co-star Leslie Grace also shouted out acclaimed "Rent" star (and her fellow "In the Heights" co-star) Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Barrera emphatically agreed, telling Glamour: "Oh my God, an icon ... She inspired me and basically single-handedly pushed me to pursue a career in musical theater because I was like, 'I can play Mimi in "Rent" — she's Latina!'"
She's been outspoken politically, and it cost her Scream VII
Melissa Barrera has never been shy about voicing her political opinions, having taken to her Instagram account to celebrate the electoral victory of President Joe Biden in 2020, or to proclaim her pro-choice beliefs in another Instagram post that same year.
But several such posts, showing solidarity with Palestinians in the Hamas-Israel conflict and flirting with antisemitic tropes, cost Barrera her role in the upcoming "Scream VII." Barrera responded unapologetically to her firing (via The Los Angeles Times): "I will continue to speak out for those that need it most and continue to advocate for peace and safety, for human rights and freedom. Silence is not an option for me," she posted on Instagram.
It was initially rumored that the controversy might have contributed to co-star Jenna Ortega also stepping down from the project — although she had apparently exited earlier over salary disputes — and might have even caused the film itself to be jeopardized. And there could be further consequences for her career down the road. But Barrera has consistently spoken her mind on what she deems important issues and it doesn't seem likely that she will stop now.
More than a thousand fellow actors came forward to support her
Equating Melissa Barrera's solidarity with Palestinian civilians with antisemitism, as the producers of "Scream VII" reportedly did in their justification for firing her from the project — even though Barrera arguably did touch on popular antisemitic ideas in some of her posts — was seen by many as a big and potentially dangerous stretch. That included around 1,300 of her fellow actors, artists, and entertainers, like Olivia Coleman and "Succession" actor Harriet Walter, who signed an open letter condemning what they called censorship on the part of Hollywood and other Western institutions.
The letter reportedly listed several of these incidents, including Barrera's firing from "Scream VII." "This includes targeting and threatening the livelihoods of artists and arts workers who express solidarity with Palestinians, as well as cancelling performances, screenings, talks, exhibitions and book launches," the letter stated (via The Independent).
An upcoming movie will solidify her scream queen credentials
Main roles in two "Scream" installments are probably enough to earn Melissa Barrera "scream queen" status, but such a title has to be continually refreshed. She apparently plans to continue her relationship with the horror genre into the future, with a new take on an undisclosed old favorite. It's said to be an untitled Universal Monster thriller from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the same duo who helmed the "Scream" movies she appears in (and who were not involved in the decision to fire her from that franchise).
It's not known which Universal Monster movie the project will be based on, but "The Wolf Man" and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" are both due for updates, and it's also possible that it's some sort of crossover project with more than one monster. Fans — of both Universal monsters and Melissa Barrera — will just have to wait and see.