Anna Faris Admits She’s at Career Point She Never Thought She’d See Again

Anna Faris never thought she’d be where she is today — the star of another Scary Movie, that is.

The 49-year-old actress told Entertainment Weekly that she worried signing on for Scary Movie 20 years after her last appearance as Cindy Campbell in the franchise would be “a concession of my soul.”

“I really did always think that if I were to do another Scary Movie, it would be a concession of my soul,” she confessed. “Because I imagined that I would be a cameo and that I would be getting paid a lot of money, but not enough. Not enough for my pride.”

“It’s a franchise that I’ve had complicated feelings about in the past,” she explained, adding that she felt typecast in her role. “Journalists would ask me, ‘Are you worried about being typecast?’ And I would never know what to say because, yeah! Of course I’m worried! I am not comfortable in comedy.”

But more than a quarter of a century into her Hollywood career — largely dominated by comedies — Faris said she’s “come around” to the idea of being recognized as a comedian.

“I have really come around. I really appreciate that when people do recognize me, they usually just smile. They remember something ridiculous I did, or a joyful memory. That is a huge gift,” she said.

She added the she was “never, ever ungrateful” for Scary Movie, of which she made four movies. “I always knew that I was a long shot, and that my early victory was a huge stroke of luck.”

She said returning to Scary Movie, which opens in theaters this weekend, felt like tying a “beautiful bow on this huge chapter.”

“I mean, being defined as a comedic actor was never, ever something I had identified with. I was trying to tell Marlon [Wayans], like, ‘Imagine if suddenly everybody told you you were short.’ Or in my case, tall.”

But she found a profound experience in returning to Scary Movie.

“I felt valued in a way that I never thought the franchise would give me,” she says. “It felt very, very, very meaningful and powerful to me to be able to look at Marlon in particular and be like, ‘Dude, I love you. Your family gave me something huge. And I’m beloved by association.’ It made me feel like I’m a big part of an even bigger thing, whatever that is. And I really feel — it makes me choked up.”

Scary Movie is expected to contend with another scary movie, horror hit Backrooms, for No. 1 at the domestic box office this weekend. It’s aiming for a $45 million to $50 million weekend from 3,400 North American theaters.

Paramount is projecting $40 million, though studio executives are surely hoping that it will beat the franchise record of $49.7 million from 2006’s Scary Movie 4.

The predictions market also has high hopes for the movie; a scenario on Polymarket currently gives Scary Movie a 45% chance of making more than $52 million, a 42% chance of making between $48 million and 52 million, and an 11% shot at making between $44 million and $48 million.

The most recent Scary Movie was the fifth installment released in 2013, a gap that that might work in the new installment’s favor, as there is so much new material to spoof.

Will Polymarket traders get it right? Fans will just have to wait and see how much money Scary Movie makes at the box office this weekend.

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