Aubrey Plaza reflects on bombing an audition for the role of Ghostface in the Scream franchise. Plaza is an actor known for her dry wit, sarcastic line delivery, and bringing a darkness to the characters she embodies. She is best known for her role as April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation, a young, cynical member of the parks department and the love interest of Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt). Plaza has also starred in several cult classic films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Ingrid Goes West, and The Little Hours.
Scream is a slasher film directed by the late horror icon Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. The original 1996 film stars Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, a teenage girl who, just a year after the tragic murder of her mother, is tormented by an anonymous caller. The caller takes on the persona of Ghostface, an iconic masked figure wearing a long black robe and armed with a blade. Throughout the movie, Ghostface picks off Sidney's friends one by one until their true identity is revealed. Scream's self-awareness and meta commentary on horror tropes continue to resonate with fans eager to identify the masked murderer in each installment. Scream has received four sequels so far, most recently with 2022's soft reboot, as well as an MTV television series that ran for 3 seasons.
While speaking with Liv Marks, Plaza gets candid about her disastrous Scream audition that lost her the role of Ghostface. When asked if she ever had an audition go horribly wrong, Plaza recounts being rejected many times in while working in New York. The actor then recalls auditioning for a Scream film. Plaza says:
One of the earlier auditions - this is like, not even that bad, but I just remember one of the earlier auditions I had was for Wes Craven for the Scream remake, or something? And they had told me, like, "You're going in to audition to play - You're gonna play a character that eventually you find out is the killer." So I took that really literally, and I kind of was thinking, "Alright, I'm gonna dress like the killer," you know? And I went in and I looked terrible, I was like really frumpy, 'cause I thought like, "I'm a murderer." And then everybody else was glamorous and they all looked great. I just looked insane. And they were like, "The whole point is that we're not supposed to know that you're the killer, and you pretty much just look like a murderer right away." Anyway, I blew that one. Didn't make it very far... I went full method, and it was bad, really bad idea.
Which Scream Film Could Aubrey Plaza Have Auditioned For?
While Plaza does not outright mention which installment in the Scream franchise she auditioned for, it's easy to put the pieces together. Prior to the most recent film in the franchise, the last attempt to reboot the series was with 2011's Scream 4. The movie follows Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) who, jealous of her cousin Sidney Prescott's fame, masterminds a plan to recreate the Ghostface killings. Since Plaza hadn't begun appearing in onscreen roles when the original Scream movies were made, it is likely that Scream 4 is the movie she auditioned for. Despite her failed audition, Plaza fits this version of Ghostface and would have brought her uniquely dark sense of humor to the character.
Although the film featured returning cast members and was well received by fans, Scream 4 failed to have the same larger cultural impact that the original trilogy had over a decade earlier. Due to this mixed reception, the franchise did not return to the big screen until this year's Scream, featuring a new cast of characters in addition to returning actors Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox. Scream 6 is set to release in March 2023, with additional sequels likely to follow. There may be an opportunity for Plaza to adorn a Ghostface mask yet in a future Scream movie.
Source: Liv Marks/Twitter