Jenna Ortega has opened up about what happened with Scream 7.
During an interview with Vanity Fair, Ortega was asked about her support of Palestine amid the Gaza conflict. Her Scream co-star Melissa Barrera was fired for sharing comments on the subject, and Ortega later exited the film, citing production conflicts with Season 2 of Netflix series Wednesday.
“The business that we work in is so touchy-feely,” Ortega said. “Everybody wants to be politically correct, but I feel like, in doing that, we lose a lot of our humanity and integrity, because it lacks honesty.”
She continued, “I wish that we had a better sense of conversation. Imagine if everyone could say what they felt and not be judged for it and, if anything, it sparked some sort of debate, not an argument. Am I describing world peace?”
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After Ortega and Barrera left, Scream 7 was reworked to center on Neve Campbell’s character, Sidney Prescott.
Ortega’s non-PC stance also extended to TV. She recalled being given some arguably non-PC advice from a Wednesday cello instructor.
“The show that I do right now I have to play the cello, and I don’t play the cello,” Ortega said. “I want it to look real so that cellists don’t look at it and call me mean names. My teacher told me that as long as I look confident in my movements and I was strong and stoic and, you know, fully embodied the character that it would be fine. She told me that I just needed to approach everything I do in life with the confidence of the average white man. That changed my life. That made me feel better.”
She added, “I was nervous even to do this [interview] because I ramble like crazy. Like what am I going to talk about this whole time? Then I just remembered: How would an average white man do this? And he probably would’ve shown up with mismatched socks.”