Scream VI Stars Explain Why They’ve Become The Chosen Family

In an exclusive issue of PinkNews, rising stars Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding talk about queerness, sibling energy and their New York nightmare scream VI.

Please note that minor spoilers for Scream VI follow.

Tip to the Wise: Don’t get on public transport after watching scream VI. The latest installment in the beloved slasher franchise is gorier, grittier, and more violent than any of its predecessors – not that you’d know it from the beaming smiles of Jasmine Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding living their dreams, giving viewers all their nightmares.

The sequel to last year Scream Legacy Sequel, the sixth chapter of the franchise, sees the couple as adorable twin siblings Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin along with fellow Woodsboro survivors and spiky sisters Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) trying to move on from the horror of their last encounter with Ghostface in the Big Apple. In other words, a double dose of sibling energy — and judging by the way Brown and Gooding hold hands and finish each other’s sentences, it’s a bond that’s just as strong off-screen.

“If you can’t tell, I’m incredibly uncomfortable with Jasmine,” Gooding jokes as the pair chat with PinkNews ahead of the film’s release. “When it comes to scene work, [she] allows him to embrace a new form of comfort and playfulness that makes something like sibling dynamics seem so natural.” Although both he and Brown arrived as newcomers scream vthe siblings’ quirks, he explains, are now fully “rooted in ourselves as humans,” which adds a heartwarming dimension considering how much evisceration is happening around them.

While Scream Fans will no doubt be delighted with the return of old characters like Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). SCRE4M Fan favorite Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), the latest entry in the genre-defining franchise, firmly passes the torch to the next generation and invests equally in its new protagonists. While Chad gets a second chance at love after Ghostface brutally sent his hapless girlfriend Liv McKenzie (Sonia Ammar) in scream vMindy tries to use her encyclopedic knowledge of horror movies to solve the latest series of murders on the streets of Manhattan.

It was a big moment last year as Brown, who also stars in the lively Showtime series Yellow jacketsbecame the first openly queer character played by a queer person in the United States Scream Universe (it’s also worth noting that Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega also became the first Latinas). Although Scream was steeped in queerness from day one, until then it was lacking in representation scream v, which began by giving care and attention to centering queer and people of color. However, even as the franchise evolves to reflect the world around us, its portrayal has not become a substitute for tokenism; and Brown, for her part, is encouraged by Mindy’s nonchalant, uncompromising oddity.

“Mindy is not defined by her queerness; She’s just an odd character in this world.”

“I think it went wonderfully,” she says thoughtfully. “Because it’s being approached in such a way that Mindy isn’t defined by her queerness; She’s just an odd character in this world. And the trauma she is experiencing has nothing to do with her queerness. It’s just the trauma of being attacked and tempted to be murdered like everyone else.”

Sharp-eyed LGBTQ+ Scream Fans will also notice Mindy proudly wears her weirdness on her sleeve. Literally with the colorful addition of a rainbow needle. “I love how we were able to represent Mandy’s queerness through her wardrobe,” says Brown. “That was something that the wardrobe team brought to me and said, ‘Here’s what we think: we think she’s in college and so she’s learning about Stonewall and she’s learning about all these different things, and her will buy a lot of these pins and she will be in clubs”.

As the comeback line-up becomes more diverse, Scream has lost none of its masterful ability to balance chilling moments of terror, hilarious subversion, and genuinely moving camaraderie. While the film doesn’t discredit any of the characters’ traumas, it does show that the way past events have shaped the identities of the “Core Four” has actually brought them closer together.

“I consider them family members. And hopefully they stay in my life for the rest of my life“

According to Gooding, the concept of family of choice isn’t just something that connects the survivors in the film. “There’s no better indication of the support system in the film than when it was made,” he explains. “I probably wouldn’t have been so positive about my outlook on life if I had that scream VI Experience without the cast as it was. I consider them family members. And hopefully they stay in my life for the rest of my life. And we made this blood pact, so it’s kind of up to God now.” The feelings are obviously mutual for Brown. “I love these people more than I can say and I would do anything for all of them,” she agrees.

It’s a fitting note to end with, especially considering everyone’s in on it scream VI – both characterful and atypical – learns that you can’t fight all of his battles alone, especially those that involve a knife-wielding, masked serial killer. “I think the importance of the support I discovered while filming the movie really speaks to allowing the people you love and trust to be there for you in the way that you find most comfortable.” , adds Gooding. “And I’m still learning that to this day.”

scream VI is now in UK cinemas