DUBAI: Mexican actress Melissa Barrera took to social media this week to promote her work on Broadway, and highlight her efforts to set up a new production company aimed at amplifying Palestinian voices.
The actress revealed the plans in a recent interview with Variety, saying she is currently “building a slate” of projects following her high-profile firing from the “Scream” franchise in 2023 after she criticized Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
According to reports, the actress said the new venture is focused on building a network of “like-minded” creatives and providing opportunities for artists who have publicly supported Palestinian causes.
“I kept track of the people who vocally came out and said something to defend me at the time: Susan Sarandon, Tatiana Maslany, Hannah Einbinder, Poppy Liu. Obviously, Javier Bardem would be a dream to work with.
“He doesn’t need me to give him any opportunities. But yes, I have lists. I do believe in building a network of people who are like-minded. For me, this is chapter two,” she told Variety.
The announcement comes as Barrera continues a career resurgence on stage and screen.
The actress is currently starring in the Broadway musical “Titanique,” a comedic reimagining of the blockbuster film “Titanic,” in which she plays Rose. The production recently earned several Tony Award nominations and marks Barrera’s Broadway debut
In 2024, she opened up about how she felt after facing backlash in Hollywood over her comments on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Speaking to The Independent, Barrera said “it was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything. There were times when I felt like my life was over.”
The actress was fired from “Scream VII” after she took to social media to call for a ceasefire and criticized Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
“Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” she wrote in an Instagram story in October 2023. “This is genocide and ethnic cleansing.”
In another post, she complained about the supposed bias in Western media reporting. “Western media only shows the other side … why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself. We don’t need more hate. No Islamophobia. No antisemitism.”
Spyglass, the studio behind the latest “Scream” films, dropped Barrera from the franchise in response. “We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech,” the company said in a statement.
Now Barrera is getting back into the horror game as well. According to Variety, she is set to take the lead in the upcoming feature “Inhabit.”
