With three movies and a bundle of joy on the way, Samara Weaving is primed for what promises to be a life-changing year.
The Australian actor kicks off her eventful 2026 in late March when she returns to her most memorable role in Radio Silence’s Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. Weaving reprises Grace MacCaullay, the blushing bride who was forced to lay waste to her wealthy new in-laws during their sadistic rendition of hide-and-seek. The sequel picks up right where the horror-thriller left off in 2019, as Grace’s (foster?) sister, Faith MacCaullay (Kathryn Newton), is threatened unless a still-recovering Grace plays another dangerous game with four more murderous families. The ensemble also includes Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood and David Cronenberg.
Weaving was overjoyed to reunite with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, especially since their aforementioned filmmaking collective wasn’t always slated to helm the sequel to their breakout film. In an alternate timeline where COVID didn’t upend schedules, Ready or Not 2 would likely mark Weaving and Radio Silence’s fifth collaboration together after a trilogy of Scream films in which Weaving played Sam Carpenter, the main character of Radio Silence’s Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) who was named after Samara’s own nickname of Sam. Instead, Weaving fulfilled the Drew Barrymore role in Scream VI before putting on the blood-stained wedding dress and mustard-colored Converse Chuck Taylors again during Ready or Not 2’s 2025 shoot.
“I’m just so glad that it all worked out how it was meant to work out,” Weaving tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t think anyone will be disappointed by how much pain Grace is put in.”
Ready or Not 2’s world premiere is taking place in the middle of March at 2026’s South by Southwest, and it’ll be joined by another one of Weaving’s films, Over Your Dead Body. Directed by one-third of The Lonely Island comedy trio, Jorma Taccone, the darkly comedic thriller is a reimagining of Tommy Wirkola’s Norwegian film, The Trip. Weaving plays Lisa, an actor who goes on a weekend getaway with her writer-director husband, Dan, played by Jason Segel. The rub is that the highly dysfunctional spouses are plotting to kill one another. Minus the homicidal intentions, the story hit close to home for Weaving as she is also married to a writer-director. Thus, Over Your Dead Body prompted the ultimate gag gift from her to her husband, Jimmy Warden.
“My husband and I never had a wedding. COVID happened, and so we put a pool in instead. We might do it later on,” Weaving shares. “So we don’t have any wedding photos, and growing up, Jimmy always got told that he’s similar to Jason Segel. And he is very Jason Segel-esque. They could be related. So Jason and I did a series of wedding photos for props to put on set, and as a birthday present, I gave Jimmy a framed wedding photo of me and Jason that’s now hanging on our wall. So we technically do have a wedding photo; it’s just not one with Jimmy.”
Weaving’s third film of 2026, Carolina Caroline, premiered at 2025’s TIFF to universal praise, resulting in a theatrical distribution deal from Magnolia Pictures. She plays the title character in Adam Carter Rehmeier’s outlaw road movie, starring opposite Kyle Gallner, who is to Rehmeier what Weaving is to Radio Silence. Caroline is a sheltered West Texas woman who falls for Oliver (Gallner) after witnessing the cool conman swindle her boss at a filling station. The unlikely couple then hits the road for a romantic crime spree, beginning with small-scale con artistry that quickly evolves into armed bank robbery. Weaving and Gallner share a great deal of experiential overlap in that they’re both indie and genre darlings with staunch worth ethics. Gallner was also killed by Radio Silence in the first of their two Scream movies, so they bonded over that distinction when they jokingly threatened the co-directors with payback.
“Caroline is a real two-hander, and it’s just so easy to go to work every day when it’s with someone you love. When it’s a two-hander with someone who’s a bloody ding-a-ling, it makes it feel like work,” Weaving admits while praising Gallner. “We both prepare and work really hard, but we remember that we’re rodeo clowns, not surgeons.”
Below, during a conversation with THR, Weaving also discusses how accidentally punching Andie MacDowell on the first Ready or Not came back to haunt her during the sequel. Then she discusses two particularly teary days during Carolina Caroline.
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Well, you have a mighty big 2026 ahead. Did it just work out this way?
Yeah, if anyone says, “Oh, this is the grand design,” I feel like they’re probably lying. I don’t even know how you would do that, especially in this industry, with release dates and how people see movies now. So, no, this was not planned, but I’m so grateful and excited. I really love all of these flicks that are coming out.
Excluding two industry shutdowns, it seems like you’ve been working non-stop for a while now.
Yeah, I’m lucky. I even got to work during COVID. I did Nine Perfect Strangers, and it was so incredible. We were in Australia where they were really strict about everything, and there was a lot of freedom over there in a sense. So being able to escape to an Australian oasis during that time was really fun.
Are you able to take time off with ease? Or do you get restless?
I’m so good at doing absolutely nothing. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I don’t get to do nothing that much, but when I do, I really do it well.
Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton in Radio Silence’s Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Pief Weyman/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
In March, you return as Grace in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. The last time I spoke to Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence, I asked them about a report of another director being tied to the sequel, and they said that they knew what I knew. Was there a period of time where you were going to make the sequel without them?
Yeah, there was talk of that for a minute, but I’m just so glad that it all worked out how it was meant to work out. We didn’t plan it. After the first one, we thought that there was no way we were going to do another one. That was just not even in the realm of probabilities. So to be able to do it again with the same people seven years later is really special.
From the trailer, it looks like the sequel picks up seven minutes after the end of the first one.
Or seconds. (Laughs.)
Did they put you through the wringer even more on this one?
Yeah, I don’t think anyone will be disappointed by how much pain Grace is put in.
You’re paired with Kathryn Newton on this go-round. She’s referred to as Grace’s “sister” in the trailer, but is she really Grace’s foster sister since Grace grew up in the foster system?
Wow, you’re really good, but I can neither confirm nor deny.
Kathryn Newton and Samara Weaving in Radio Silence’s Ready of Not 2: Here I Come.
Pief Weyman/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Did you land any accidental punches like last time with Andie MacDowell?
(Laughs.) No, but Kathryn hit me in the face by accident. It wasn’t that painful, but it clocked me. I then went really Australian and said the C-word. (Laughs.) The whole crew was like, “Uh, are you alright?” I forgot where I was; they don’t hear that a lot in North America.
I still marvel at the prolonged guttural scream you executed at the end of the first movie. Are you able to replicate that scream when asked?
Yeah, I can. That’s just how it comes out. Every time they go, “Sam, do the scream,” I’ll go, “Alright, I’ll do it. ” I don’t know where it comes from. I don’t do any warmups or anything like that.
Do you like the term “scream queen”?
Sure! It’s got queen in it, which is pretty cool.
You played one of the opening victims in Radio Silence’s Scream VI, but the main character of their two Scream movies was named Sam Carpenter. Did you know she was named Sam after you?
Yeah, I was meant to do it, and then I couldn’t. They even named her Sam, and it was so nice. I think about that a lot. I have no regrets, but that could have been cool. Whatever, it’s fine.
Kyle Gallner was also killed by Radio Silence in the Scream movie that preceded yours. Was that one of the first points the two of you bonded over during Adam Carter Rehmeier’s Carolina Caroline?
Yeah, we plotted our revenge the whole time, but it would take a lot to get Matt and Tyler back. We’d have to write a movie, and then get them to do it. We’re still on a text thread about it. But we definitely sent them a pic and said, “We’re going to get you.”
Kyle Gallner and Samara Weaving in Adam Carter Rehmeier’s Carolina Caroline.
Courtesy of TIFF
The two of you make so much sense on paper and on screen. You’ve both done plenty of studio work, but you’re also these highly respected figures in the indie and genre space. And just like you, he doesn’t seem to stop working. Did you also notice a lot of the similarities between yourselves?
Yeah, we have a really similar work ethic. I just adore him. We got along really well, and I could do a million movies with him. Caroline is a real two-hander, and it’s just so easy to go to work every day when it’s with someone you love. When it’s a two-hander with someone who’s a bloody ding-a-ling, it makes it feel like work.
We work very similarly. We both prepare and work really hard, but we also don’t take it so seriously, to the point where everyone’s just rolling their eyes at these wanker actors. There’s no sense of self-importance. We’re just having fun, and we remember that we’re rodeo clowns, not surgeons. So he has that same perspective, which is really nice and refreshing.
I’m stealing “bloody ding-a-ling” from you.
(Laughs.) Please do. Anytime.
I thought I was decent at math, but Carolina Caroline has this recurring cash register con that I had to calculate in my head multiple times until I had a firm handle on it.
I still don’t know it.
That’s why it’s a good con because it’s confusing enough to dupe the cashier.
I had six months to figure it out, and I still have no idea. Kyle and I would be in our green room, going, “What is happening?” [Director] Adam [Carter Rehmeier] would come in and be like, “Guys, it’s easy. Listen.” We’d then be all confused again. So I just went, “You know what? That’s why we call it acting. I don’t need to know; I just need to pretend that I know.”
Apparently, you made a young girl genuinely cry during one of the intense bank robbery scenes.
Oh God, yeah. That little girl, man, I felt so bad. And by the time I cheered up the young lass and was like, “Hey, look, it’s just pretend!” she could no longer cry when they did her closeup hours later. We should have been rolling that first take on her, not me. I don’t think she’d ever been on a movie set before, and it was rough to watch her go through that.
Did Kyra Sedgwick avenge her and get you to cry in your scene together?
Yeah, definitely. She freaking destroyed me ten times over. There’s been a few times where I knew how lucky I was in the moment to have a front row seat to an incredible performance. On Nine Perfect Strangers, Michael Shannon had this huge monologue at a table, and it was the same experience. I didn’t have to do my job that day with Kyra; I just had to witness it. All they had to do was roll the camera on me watching this performance, and I was done. So she made my job so easy because she really brought it [during her day of coverage]. She just mic-dropped and left. It was rad.
Do you think Caroline is a good person pretending to be bad? Or is she a bad person pretending to be good?
I think she’s good. Maybe that’s just me, but I think the audience will think that too. It’s really heartbreaking when you know that someone has a really good heart, and they either don’t think so or they’re questioning it. So that’s what I think Caroline is going through, but the beauty of this art is that it’s up for interpretation.
Over Your Dead Body is a remake of Tommy Wirkola’s The Trip. Were you attached when he was going to remake his own movie?
No, I came on quite late. It was a surprise. It was like, “Hey, you free?” And I was like, “For this? Hell yeah! This is awesome. These are my heroes. [Director] Jorma Taccone, Jason Segel, Juliette Lewis and Timothy Olyphant? Are you kidding me?” So it was all ready to go, and it was one of those weird, unplanned opportunities that comes along every now and again where you just go, “Yep, I’m all-in.”
You play an actor named Lisa who’s married to Jason Segel’s writer-director character, Dan, and they’re both trying to kill each other during a weekend getaway at his family’s remote cabin. Given that you’re an actor who’s also married to a writer-director (Jimmy Warden), has the plot of Over Your Dead Body inspired a lot of jokes at home?
(Laughs.) No, not at all, but we really should take advantage of it.
I definitely thought one of you would’ve joked about going to a cabin in Finland by now.
Yeah, what have I been doing? I need to take advantage of all the jokes that are available. Actually, there is a really funny tidbit. My husband and I never had a wedding. COVID happened, and so we put a pool in instead. We were like, “Whatever.” We might do it later on. So we don’t have any wedding photos, and growing up, Jimmy always got told that he’s similar to Jason Segel. And he is very Jason Segel-esque. They could be related. So Jason and I did a series of wedding photos for props to put on set, and as a birthday present, I gave Jimmy a framed wedding photo of me and Jason that’s now hanging on our wall. So we technically do have a wedding photo; it’s just not one with Jimmy.
That’s an amazing gag gift.
(Laughs.) Yeah, it really was.
Over Your Dead Body is a gory and darkly comedic film that mostly takes place in one location. You’ve really mastered contained thrillers like this, but was this still a difficult tone to get right?
Comedy is always the hardest thing. It’s easy to make people cry, but it’s really hard to make them laugh. Luckily, the writers [Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney] are geniuses and so funny. Besides all my heroes being involved, the script was really the biggest reason why I came on. It made me laugh so much, especially all of the scenes with Jason and I bantering and bickering before it gets insane.
I particularly enjoyed Jason’s character saying your character’s accent is “British crossed with the devil.”
(Laughs.) That was a Jason burn. That was an ad lib insulting my Australian accent, and I loved it so much. But when something is so well-written, all I have to do is play against the comedy, and it’ll be hilarious. I also just trusted that I was working with Jason Segel, who’s the funniest man alive. He and I also work the same. We come to work knowing every single line backwards and forwards so we can play. So I just followed Jason and Jorma’s lead, because they know what they’re doing with comedy. I fully trusted whatever they suggested, and it was so great. I learned so much from everyone. I was intimidated, but I wasn’t afraid because I knew that I had such great support from some of the funniest people on the planet.
David Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87North is behind the movie, but the action is not highly stylized like most of their films. It’s messy by design. Is purposefully messy just as difficult to pull off as highly stylized?
Yeah, I think so. It really depends on the stunt crew, and these stunt guys were so great. I love messy fights. My favorite ever is at the end of Bridget Jones’s Diary when Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fight. I think they told the stunt guys to sit down because these two gentlemen shouldn’t know how to fight. At one point, Hugh Grant has Colin’s leg, and they’re hopping around. So I reference that a lot when I’m playing someone who doesn’t know how to fight because it shouldn’t seem choreographed at all. And the stunt crew were so great at figuring that out and making it funny and weird and scattered and sporadic and messy.
South by Southwest is going to be a raucous venue for the world premieres of Ready or Not 2 and Over Your Dead Body.
Yeah, I love South by. I’ve only been once, but it was so fun. I love Austin and how everyone gets all riled up. The streets are all full and everyone’s open. It’s going to be a really good time.
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