Melissa Barrera

 ( 1990 Births ) 

In 2010, while still in college (New York University), she participated in the film L for Leisure. In 2012, she participated in two telenovelas, La mujer de Judas and La otra cara del alma. In 2014, she obtained her first starring role in the telenovela Always yours Acapulco/A Love To Remember (Siempre tuya Acapulco). In 2015, she starred in the last telenovela produced by TV Azteca, So Much Love (Tanto amor).

In 2021, In the Heights was released with Barrera co-starring in the Jon M. Chu directed musical film, an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's stage musical. The film earned widespread critical acclaim, with Monica Castillo of The Wrap praising Barrera's performance: "Vanessa's upbeat … anthem, 'It Won't Be Long Now', is perhaps one of the more underrated sequences: It's an impressive showcase for Barrera's talents, giving her a wide range of emotions to move through in one number and one of the few moments in the musical to belt out."

In 2022, Barrera starred as Sam Carpenter on the fifth Scream film, which was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The film was released on January 14, 2022. It was a huge box-office success that reinvigorated the franchise. She then starred in Keep Breathing, a six episode survival drama released on Netflix on June 28, 2022 to negative reviews. That same year, the film musical Carmen, co-starring Paul Mescal, was released. The film directed by Benjamin Millepied and had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. She also starred in Bed Rest, quietly released with limited promotion on Tubi in December 2022.

In early 2023, Barrera reprised her role as Sam Carpenter in Scream VI, which scored the highest opening weekend of the franchise.

In November 2023, it was reported that Barrera had been dropped from her lead role in the upcoming sequel Scream 7. The firing was a result of social media posts she had made which described the Israeli government's actions in the Gaza war as "Gaza genocide and ethnic cleansing". Following her firing, Barrera released a statement which denounced antisemitism and Islamophobia and said criticism of a government should not be conflated with attacks on the people of a country. Barrera described the year following the firing to be a downturn in opportunities to work, and stated that "For the longest time, I gave myself value as a human because of my work. So when I saw it potentially ending, I was like, who even am I? And I realized that I'm so much more than just an actor – I'm a great sister, a great daughter, a great friend. And I'm very capable of finding success in something else if I wanted it."

Barrera starred in the 2024 vampire film Abigail, reuniting with Scream directors Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, as well as the indie film Your Monster; the latter was hailed by some critics as the best performance of her career. She left WME in late 2024.

Barrera will next co-star alongside Simu Liu in the Peacock original series The Copenhagen Test, produced by James Wan.