Scream VI star Melissa Barrera shares how she went from telanovelas to starring in a smash hit

Scream VI actress Melissa Barrera may seem like an overnight star but she actually has been working on her acting career for a long time.

The 32-year-old native of Mexico shared with People’s digital issue on Thursday that she first got the acting bug at age 17 while in high school.

Next came NYU and a passion for theater, but her student visa ran out and she had to go home.

But when life gave Barrera lemons, she made lemonade by launching her career in Mexico, first with a reality TV show then telenovelas.

Later she got cast in In The Heights which led to her star-making turn in the smash hit horror film Scream VI opposite Courteney Cox and Hayden Panetierre.

Cover girl: The 32-year-old native of Mexico shared with People’s digital issue on Thursday how she made it

‘I am a firm believer in manifesting things into existence,’ said the beauty.

In Scream VI she plays Sam Carpenter, the daughter of original Ghostface serial killer Billy Loomis. 

It all started in school. 

‘I grew up going to see my classmates in theater perform, always wanting to be a part of that because it felt so cool,’ she said.

‘I would be a little fan in the hallways, watching middle schoolers and high schoolers that were in the show.

‘I just fell in love with the whole process of auditioning and bonding with theater people,’ she says. ‘They became my friends.’

Barrera got accepted into the musical theater program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. 

‘I went to NYU thinking, “I’m going to graduate, and then I’m going to book something on Broadway and live in New York for the rest of my life.” That was my life plan.’

New role: In Scream VI she plays Sam Carpenter, the daughter of original Ghostface serial killer Billy Loomis

With the top draw: Here she is seen holding Jenna Ortega from Wednesday

But her student visa expired shortly after graduation.

‘I was like, “How am I ever going to get a job? They’re never going to cast me in anything because I can’t work,”‘ she recalls.

Back home she landed the Mexican reality musical talent show La Academia.

Then came telenovelas Siempre Tuya Acapulco and Tanto Amor. 

Next she felt confident enough to move to Los Angeles.

‘I set my mind to it. I was like, “I’m going to book something really quickly,”‘ she told herself. 

She got the lead role in the Starz drama series Vida in 2017.

Her true love: She has been wed to Paco Zazueta since 2019

Then she got the role of Vanessa in In the Heights, but it was a dude.

Next came Scream 5: ‘It’s nice when something that you make with so much love gets received with love,’ she said.

‘We were nervous. There hadn’t been a Scream film in 11 years. What are the fans going to think? This job requires so much of us… You need to feel like it’s worth it.’

‘In the fifth [movie], they were thrown into the ring, and it’s chaos,’ she says of her character’s introduction to the series.

And now she is in Scream VI. 

‘I’m very happy that we get to know Sam a little bit more in the sixth movie. 

‘I was like, “She’s such an interesting character because she has so many demons that can be—if the writers and directors want—explored and lead to a very interesting challenge for me.” In the sixth one, [they] take her in that direction. I feel very happy about that.’

Next is Carmen with Oscar nominee Paul Mescal, which comes out in April. 

The beauty has been wed to Paco Zazueta since 2019.