As a result of their significant impact on the success of a horror piece, the actors that do a good job tend to continually get cast in other horror films or series because it’s a guarantee that they’ll be able to capture those necessary emotions. This is how we get multiple impressive, spine-tingling performances from notable greats like the Farmiga sisters, Sarah Paulson, Samara Weaving, Jamie Lee Curtis, and many more.
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Since the 1950s, when horror films really began to gain popularity among audiences, this trend of women capturing these ranging emotions, and terrifying viewers in the process, has helped the disturbing tales stand out. Though women’s roles in horror may have transitioned quite notably– from always playing the victim, to being the last (wo)man standing, or even the killer– women in horror have always helped to carry the genre. As horror continues to be popular among audiences young and old, the recognition of rising scream queens remains a prime point of focus for horror fans.
Of course, it only makes sense that regular viewers of movies and shows in the horror genre would come to be familiar with the actors that successfully evoke these feelings of terror and urgency that are essential to scary storylines. As these actors continue to take roles within the genre, fans begin to associate their names with a quality horror experience, and will seek them out. Here are a few up-and-coming female actors to keep an eye out for in the genre of horror, whose performances are sure to leave your hairs standing:
Jenna Ortega
First on the list of rising scream queens that horror fans should take note of, is Jenna Ortega. Though the early part of her career was mixed between comedies and darker storylines, her loyalty to the horror genre over the years is evident. With some of her recent works in the genre of horror gaining popularity, many fans are predicting that she will become a regular face of the genre– and one that brings representation for the Latino community with her. Between the brilliant way she perfectly captures Wednesday Addams in the new Wednesday series, and the upcoming and anticipated Scream 6 film, Jenna Ortega’s name continues to appear in the horror genre, and it’s likely that her career will continue on this path.
Billie Lourd
Daughter of the notable, late Carrie Fisher, Billie Lourd has taken on her mother’s craft in acting, but rather than assume her role as one of the queens of science fiction, Billie Lourd seems to have veered toward the horror route, seeking her own voice and title. Though she hasn’t been in a particularly large number of horror series yet, her ability to capture broody horror characters gives her all the tools she needs to look and act the part. Her most notable highlights in the genre are Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s creations, which alone speaks to her consistency in the genre, considering these two often do justice to dark storylines, and often reuse their actors for new characters to maintain consistency and weave together plot lines. She had recognizable roles in Scream Queens, American Horror Story, and American Horror Stories.
3). Victoria Pedretti
Victoria Pedretti is another scream queen that’s on the rise, though she hasn’t done much work yet. A lot of the series that she’s been in have been streaming horror series, like The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, or dark dramas like You. In these series she plays the whole span of female horror archetypes, from the seemingly meek and vulnerable female that turns out to be more in-tune with the otherworldly than those around her, to the unexpected killer hiding behind a sweet facade. Even in the small number of works that she’s been featured in, she has more than proven her ability to represent all the faces of the genre, and hopefully, she’ll get more opportunities to prove it.
4). Mckenna Grace
Mckenna Grace has a lot of experience as an actor, in general, since she’s been at it for much of her young life. Even having done so many roles in a short time, many of the parts she played were considerably dark or were deliberately part of the creepy genre. Though she is most recognized as playing the younger version of many primary characters, she has a few stand-out roles of her own, like her part in Annabelle Comes Home, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and The Bad Seed Returns. As a sequel to the Ghostbusters: Afterlife is already in the works, it’s likely that Mckenna’s name will only grow more familiar to fans of all things spooky-themed.
Maika Monroe
Though Maika Monroe’s career really began in the second decade of the 21st century, her name rose to the surface of attention among horror fans with her role in It Follows. From there, she began to accumulate more parts of a similar tone, admitting that her number of horror roles is due to her love for the genre. Watcher and Significant Other are some other note-worthy horror works that she’s done. The one thing that all of these roles have in common is that she plays a complex female victim, which is a staple character archetype for scary storylines today. Her ability to capture these characters without them simply looking like weak victims, as horror films have often presented female characters before, makes her a prime horror actor for the times.
Though these actors may not all have quite enough films or series in their portfolios, the roles that they have had in the genre are plenty to prove their potential. As the demand for more horror storylines grows, so too does the likelihood of seeing these familiar faces in new spooky roles. Just as the terrifying concepts that horror films focus on shift with the times, so do the actors that bring those concepts to life, and a new generation of scream queens is born.
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