[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.
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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.
And yet you survived Annabelle.
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.
Mckenna Grace as Hannah Thurman in Kevin Williamson’s Scream 7.
Paramount Pictures
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?”
Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor and Isabel May star in Scream 7.
Paramount Pictures
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.
(Laughs.)
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.
They’re finally shooting the sequel to It Follows this summer. It’s been 84 years.
I heard!
I believe “Twisting the Knife” is the heaviest song you’ve worked on so far. When you got cast, did you throw it out there that you’d love to do something for the soundtrack? Or did that conversation happen later? (“Twisting the Knife” has now topped Billboard’s hard rock chart.)
I always tend to throw that option out there a little bit. I’ll sneak by the video village, and I’ll be like, “Hey, by the way, at some point during production, I will probably try and pitch you guys a song.” It’s hard for me, truthfully, to release music with my work schedule right now because it’s been so wild this year. I’m so, so thankful and I feel so blessed for that, but it’s hard to get new music out there in the midst of everything. So making music for films that I’m in gives me a great chance to be able to release something.
“Twisting the Knife” was such an insanely cool opportunity. Ice Nine Kills reached out to me, and I’m a big fan of their music. Another thing my dad and I bond over is metal music, and that’s my favorite genre. So the opportunity to get to work on a heavier song with this band I’m such a fan of for Scream 7, it was just such a perfect storm of things that I never thought I’d get the chance to do. It was a dream song come true, and I’m very thankful that Kevin liked it.
Celeste O’Connor and Mckenna Grace star in Scream 7.
Paramount Pictures
It’s so funny how you and Celeste O’Connor play the same age in Scream 7 when Celeste played your character’s older brother’s friend in two Ghostbusters movies. You met when you were 12 or 13. Did the two of you have a laugh about this?
Yeah, I was like, “I can’t believe that we’re playing high school best friends. This is the funniest thing.” I met Celeste when I was 12 or 13, so it was really fun getting to catch up and work together again. It’s always cool getting to work with people that you know, especially at such wildly different points in time. You then have endless things to talk about whenever you’re waiting around to shoot.
It’d really be nice to have Phoebe Spengler’s Ghostbusters trilogy completed. Is there still hope as far as you know?
I think there’s always hope. Personally, I haven’t heard anything lately. I’d be more secretive if I had, but I would love to play Phoebe again. She was such a huge part of my career and also my childhood and teenage years. I grew up playing her. It was such an honor for me to get to be a part of Ghostbusters and help bring it to a younger generation. So 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.
Nowadays, any franchise or any film has the opportunity to come back at any time, so I wonder when that would be. I just really hope I get to, and I know that there’s always talks of doing more films whenever something has had some success or a big following. 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.
Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
You just shot a Hunger Games movie called Sunrise on the Reaping. Did the younger version of you who made Peeta fan edits have a rewarding experience?
Yes. (Laughs.) For the rest of my life, I’m never going to hear the end of these fan edits. It’s the funniest thing. I was this awkward little teenager hiding out in the corners of sets, making fan edits of movies, specifically The Hunger Games. And so to get to be a part of that was very mind-blowing. It’s been a really, really crazy year of my life. It’s always hard because I never want to come off as disingenuous whenever I say, “This is my dream job,” but I’ve now said it about seven different things. I have truly gotten to be a part of things that I’ve been a fan of for years and years and years.
But Hunger Games was never my dream job because I didn’t even think that it was in the cards for me. I didn’t even think that there would be another Hunger Games movie that I could be a part of, but it has still been an obsession of mine for years. So to get to be a part of it in such a big way was so exciting and so cool and also so nerve-wracking.
It’s been scary being a part of these franchises with big followings for such a long time. I always try to do my research because I am a part of these fan bases, and I know they are very intense. They want it to be done right, and I completely understand that. So I always get very nervous and try to do my research so I can perform to the best of my abilities without getting in my head about it.
It was such an honor and such an insane experience doing Hunger Games. I’ve never done anything like it, and I highly doubt I will have an experience this crazy again. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life, and I definitely made lifelong friends on it. All year, my coworkers and I have been texting, “I cannot wait for press to start.” We can’t wait to all be together again and get to actually tell our stupid stories from running around Spain or Germany. We did so many stupid things on that set and so many wild stunts. So we’re all very excited to finally get to talk about it.
The cool news doesn’t stop there. You’re about to go from voicing young Daphne in Scoob! to playing live-action Daphne in a new Scooby-Doo Netflix series. Are you on cloud nine about this?
Like I said earlier, everything gets leaked nowadays. It’s really, really crazy. I’m sure you’ve seen this as well, but having been in the industry for a long while now, I’ve never seen things get leaked as much as this day and age. It’s like nobody wants anything to be a surprise anymore. It’s hilarious. With Hunger Games, I auditioned for so long, and then the minute I got it, the press release dropped the next day. I was like, “Oh my God, I guess I got it. They really are tied to hiring me. It’s out there now.”
With Scooby, oh my God, I am so excited to talk about it finally. I have been after this project for so, so long. I am such a huge Scooby-Doo fan. I dressed up as Daphne multiple times for Halloween, and anybody who knows me knows that “jeepers” has been my expletive of choice since I played Young Daphne [in Scoob!]. It’s such a fun thing to say, especially if you don’t want to actually curse.
So to get to be playing the character who originated a saying that is a huge part of my vocabulary — and that I’ve been so obsessed with for so long — is crazy. I did not think I was going to get it, and I still cannot believe that I get to play this character. This week alone, I’ve watched, like, 15 Scooby-Doo movies. My brain is going to melt from watching so much Scooby-Doo, and I love it.
You’ve been a viral machine lately, one of which was you being flustered that Josh Hutcherson found out about your Peeta fan edits. Red carpet footage of you as a little girl also went viral because the interviewer couldn’t comprehend that you were an actor in Mr. Church. How do you process these occurrences?
It’s wild that I’m coming up on 15 years of being an actor. In that time, I have never gotten nervous on a carpet or in interviews until now. I did one interview at the Scream 7 premiere, and when I walked off of that carpet, I was a nervous wreck. I was like, “Oh my God, I probably said the wrong thing.”
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. You’ll be like, “Oh my God, this is such a funny interview I did.” Then you open the comments, and you’re like, “Oh my God, I wish I never read any of this. Some people are like, “Just stay offline and don’t read it.” 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. Everybody has so many opinions on me and who I am.
But it’s very funny and fun whenever it’s things like [that old red carpet interview for Mr. Church]. I’ll open my phone and see a new clip of me that’s like circulating the internet, and I’m like, “Why do people even care about this or care about who I am?” So it’s really funny having 15 years of me growing up in the form of random clips and hundreds of hours of footage on the internet. Some random video of me at nine years old goes viral, and I’m like, “What!?” So it’s funny, but terrifying at the same time.
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. I’m honored and grateful to be at the point in my career where people are even aware of who I am, and it’s still hard for me to comprehend. I have such conflicting feelings about it. But I do always laugh whenever my friend’s parents send me videos of nine-year-old me saying some stupid stuff on the carpet. I’ll be like, “Oh God, why is this making the rounds?”
When I see your name on a movie, I don’t expect you to be gone in five minutes like you were in Freddy’s 2. You’re a lead actor, and you could hold out for lead roles if you really wanted to. Are you not precious about the size of a role as long as it sounds fun and cool?
Not really. I mean, I don’t even see myself that way. I don’t even think that I could. I’m just so grateful for work. Am I going to turn down Five Nights at Freddy’s 2? 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. I shot like five or six films last year, and while it was honestly the most insane year of my life, it was so fun. All I’ve ever wanted is to work. I’ve been doing it since I was five. Working and being an actor is my favorite thing in the world, and it’s what I’ve dedicated my life to. All I’ve ever wanted is to get to the point in my career where I can work all the time, and I’m so happy with that.
Hopping from project to project — and getting to do things that I’m a fan of, whether I’m there for five minutes or the whole movie — I’m just so excited to be there. 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 just want to do work that I can be proud of. And at the end of the day, I know that I put my all into it. I want to be a fan of the things that I’m in, otherwise, what’s the point? 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.
So, no, I really don’t think about the size of the role whenever I’m signing onto these films. It’s more, Oh my God, I can’t believe that I get to be a part of this in any capacity. I have been wanting to be in Five Nights at Freddy’s since I was a little girl. Over the years, every single time I’d take a meeting at Blumhouse or I’d go to Blumhouse to say hi to people, I’d ask about Five Nights at Freddy’s. I even sent in a video to Scott Cawthon, the creator of Five Nights at Freddy’s, and Emma Tammi, our director. I was just like, “Hey, you probably don’t know who I am, but I’m Mckenna Grace. I just wanted to send you guys a video. If y’all have a character you want me to audition for, I will literally play a pair of shoes in the background of a scene. I would be so honored to be a part of this in any way. I would even be your shadow on set.” So I’m just a fan.
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Scream 7 is now playing in movie theaters.