We did it. We hosted our very firstCollider Ladies Nightlive panel atSan Diego Comic-Con 2024, and it went swimmingly in large part thanks to panelistsMelissa Barrera,Erika Henningsen, andKaty O’Brian. Not only did the trio come to play when it came to using our comically large die for Dicey Questions, but they also didn’t hold back when dishing out real talk about the reality of being a working actor in film, television and theater.
All three have seen their stars soar especially high in recent years. Barrera has become a certified beloved scream queen via her work in theScreamfranchise andAbigail, but she’s also an artist of great range, a skill she shows off big time in the stellar upcoming genre mash-up,Your Monster, which arrives in theaters just in time for Halloween on October 25th. Henningsen is a musical theater powerhouse. After originating the role of Cady Heron inMean Girlsthe musical on Broadway, she scored a one-in-a-million opportunity. She voices the lead character inHazbin Hotel, a series that posted the largest global debut for a new animated series on Prime Video and has amassed a wonderfully rabid fanbase since. Then there’s O’Brian who’s racked up a number of huge credits in a very short period of time. (And there’s no doubt there will be many more to come.) After appearing in the MCU and in theStar Warsseries,The Mandalorian, she stars in what’s now one of thebiggest box office hits of the year,Twisters.
Clearly there’s a whole lot to celebrate here, but just as important as honoring all of the highs is acknowledging the journey one experienced to get them. During our hour-long Collider Ladies Night panel at San Diego Comic-Con in front of a 4,900-seat crowd, Barrera, Henningsen, and O’Brian took the time to peel back the curtain and offer unparalleled insight into what it takes to build a career as an actor.
What Does ItReallyMean to Have a “Meaningful Voice” in Hollywood?
At this point, we have a small handful of staple questions on Collider Ladies Night, questions well worth repeating in an effort to emphasize how many different paths there are to take in this industry and the variety of goals an artist can pursue. We’ve added a new question to that rotation recently courtesy of the movieMaXXXine. In the film,Elizabeth Debickiplays a director making a new movie. If that movie is a hit, she thinks it’ll help her have a more “meaningful voice” in Hollywood. But what exactly does having a meaningful voice mean? It can mean countless things, and that’s why I’ve asked about it often ever since the film hit theaters, including to my Collider Ladies Night live panelists.
Barrera began:
“I thought having a meaningful voice in Hollywood meant that you had to be an ‘A-lister,’you know? That you had to be one of those names that everybody in the world recognizes and knows. You know, these people that are in every other movie that’s out there. I thought that you had to get to that level to have any kind of impact, and I realizedveryquickly how wrong I was because even when I was doingVida, which was a show on Starz that not a lot of people watched — it’s a show that I’m very proud of, but we just didn’t have the reach that we wanted it to — but still to this day, wherever I go, I will have people come up to me and tell me how much that show means to them.That, to me, is why I do what I do.Period. It really changed my perspective on what success meant, too, because I’m like, ‘Why am I even in this? Am I in this for the fame and for the recognition, or am I in this because I love the work and because I want to make people feel the way that I felt watching theater and movies and TV when I was younger, and that made me feel less alone, and that made me feel less crazy in the things that I was feeling?’”
Henningsen continued by further emphasizing the great value in making arealimpression on viewers with your work:
“There’s that saying,‘I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing than 100 people’s ninth favorite thing.’I do feel that way. Especially as you keep going, you realize, if you’re an actor or an artist, it never ends and so if you are in this mindset of, ‘I just have to accumulate more and more,’ you end up feeling totally depleted and unfulfilled. If you keep trying to be, ‘I just want to be in front of everybody. I want all of that,’ you end up losing track of why you’re even doing it in the first place.”
She also took a moment to address how, at one point, she essentially changed who she was to better suit what she thought was the type of person more likely to find success as an actor. Turns out, embracing her truth was the far better path. She recalled:
“A thing for me that changed was I’m averyoptimistic person, and I used to think that in order to be effective or to be a voice, I had to sort of diminish that and be like, ‘I’m serious and artsy, and I feel this deeply.’ Sort of how Elizabeth Debicki is in that movie. An incredible performance, but that’s what I thought I had to be. And I realized, ‘There’s a way to not take myself too seriously and to just enjoy the art that I’m getting to make and to enjoy sharing comedy and sharing optimism and things that are lively and upbeat, and that has value as well,’ … That’s a thing that when I was starting out, I thought, ‘I’m gonna do Chekhov and I will be deep, and people will know me for that.’Usually, your superpower is the thing that you take for granted, and I just took for granted that I tend to live on the optimistic side.Once I figured that out and decided to share that with the world, that’s when things started to happen.”
During her answer, O’Brian referenced a recent project she had the opportunity to work on — a project that wasn’t fueled by fame or money, but rather, a communal enthusiasm to support a filmmaker trying to honor someone very dear to her.
“I just had this really cool opportunity to work with George Romero’s daughter, [Tina Romero], who has a very limited body of work, but she wanted to do something to pay homage to her dad’s legacy, but also to do her own thing as well and use her voice. It was zombies, but queer. We’re talking, like, glitter zombies. It’s fun. But because she had this project and she had this idea and this thought of respecting somebody who means something very dear to her, and in a genre that really is important to her, but making her own thing out of it, that’s how we create a legacy, and that’s how we can create meaningful work. So all of these really incredible artists that I was dying to work with were on this project, andall of these amazing cast and crew and producers, for like no money, were willing to do this project because it was something that we were all really excited about, andwe all think is going to push our limits, push creativity, push her legacy and all that forward. I think that that’s a huge part of it, of why we do what we do.”
Katy O’Brian Reveals the Secret Sauce Behind the Top-Tier Cast Chemistry in ‘Twisters’
Glen Powell’s Tornado Wrangler Arrives in ‘Twisters’ Sneak Peek [Exclusive]
IF YOU FEEL IT, CHASE IT!
Whether it’s a low-budget production or a massive studio film, O’Brian has a tendency to surround herself with the absolute best, people who are gems both on and off set.
As a die-hardTwisterfan, I had mighty high expectations for the new film - admittedly, perhaps a little too high - but directorLee Isaac Chungand co. met every single one of them. One particular aspect of the 1996 original that I love is the storm chasing team’s group dynamic. It doesn’t matter how much screen time a character gets. Everyone makes an impression and everyone is very clearly a major asset to that camaraderie. Now I’m thrilled to say, the exact same thing is true ofTwisters. How exactly did the cast go about creating that next-level chemistry that leaps off the screen? O’Brian explained:
“What I absolutely loved about this was we were all away from home. We shot it in Oklahoma, and we were there for months. We were in places that just had coordinates, not actual cities. [Laughs] We were all over the place. Our transpo vans were getting lost when we were going to set. There’s a way to feel really isolated that way, if you’re on set. I feel like a lot of times now, people are on their phones, or when you’re off the clock, you’re done. ButGlen [Powell], Daisy [Edgar-Jones], and Anthony [Ramos] set a precedent right off the bat, we’re gonna have dinner together, we’re gonna hang out together, we’re gonna go to events together, we’re gonna find stuff to do to not only bond but to kind of keep each other feeling safe, feeling happy, feeling like we’re part of a group.”
Another thing that helps? Knowing that your co-stars are wildly talented individuals. O’Brian continued:
“When you become friends with people on set, you’re like, ‘Oh, they’re the most talented people in the entire world,’ but I genuinely felt that on this.Brandon Perea can do everything.Like, everything. You’re like, ‘Oh, can you do a backflip?’ He’s doing backflips. He’s a professional skater, like rollerblader-slash-break-dancer-slash-gorgeous-model. And then, everybody is just skyrocketing.Superman, [David Corenswet], is on the set, and we all found out that he was Superman at the same time.We’re all freaking out on set together.”
Melissa Barrera on ‘Your Monster’: “I Feel Like This Movie Was Made for Me”
Melissa Barrera Remains Unstoppable in Horror Thanks to ‘Your Monster’
In addition to the highly anticipated ‘Abigail,’ Barrera now has a delightful “genre-defying monster mash” to celebrate in 2024.
We’ve seen Barrera do quite a bit at this point. She’s obviously one of the best of the best in the horror genre right now courtesy of her work inScream,Scream VIandAbigail. She’s confirmed she is an exceptional singer and dancer viaJon M. Chu’sIn the Heights, andBenjamin Millepied’sCarmen. And, in quite a few titles, she’s proven she’s a star. She’s an ace #1. Ready to see her do all of that and then some in a new film? Because that’s exactly what happens inYour Monster, a Sundance Film Festival 2024 standout in which Barrera stars as an actress whose life falls apart after an especially crushing breakup. However, then she manages to find her voice again thanks to a very unexpected individual — the monster living in her closet.
“I was like, ‘I feel like this movie was made for me.’I’m a musical theater girly, I’m a horror girly, and I’m a rom-com girly, and this is all of that in one.So I was like, ‘Did I order that upstairs, God? Did you send this to me? Because it feels like that.’ And it was one of the best experiences of my life. We shot that movie in 20 days, and it was intense. It felt like I was back in college and I was just making a movie with my friends. We were kind of guerilla-style just making things work.”
As an outsider, it’s easy to look at Barrera’s body of work and have confidence she can do anything. But, for Barrera herself, there were nerves jumping into such an ambitious project that demanded a pitch-perfect blend of genres.
“I think the comedy aspect of it was hard because I was rusty. I hadn’t done comedy in a while since I left Mexico, and I was doing theater in Mexico. I hadn’t really stretched those muscles, because I feel like each genre kind of uses different muscles.This is a character unlike anything I’ve ever done, really. She’s very theatrical and very dramatic and wears her emotions on her sleeve, and I, Melissa, am the opposite. I am a fortress and you will never know that I am suffering. And soit was hard for me to come out of my shell as Melissa and just be Laura. If I had not had such an incredible director in Caroline guiding me and giving me the permission and helping me to get to those places, I don’t know that I would have given that performance without her. That’s why I’m so grateful that she believed that I could do it. I don’t know who told her that I could, because I didn’t even know that I could do it. I was just kind of up for the challenge and I was like, ‘If she’s okay with me doing it and possibly ruining her movie, then I’ll do it.’ But she saw something in me and knew how to push my buttons and kind of captain me into certain terrains that I felt scared of going to.”
Erika Henningsen Is Pushing Her Voice Acting in an Exciting New Way in ‘Hazbin Hotel’ Season 2
When you hear Henningsen’s voice work inHazbin HotelSeason 1, one word comes to mind — “perfection.” I struggle using words like “masterpiece” and “perfection” when assessing art, but in this case, it feels undeniable. She consistently soars performing what seems like wildly challenging songs to nail, and she also brilliantly captures Charlie Morningstar’s next level enthusiasm and positivity. The casting of Henningsen as Charlie is perfection.
So where does Henningsen take it from here? She’s already delivered high quality work in Season 1. How can she possibly up her game in Season 2?
“I was so petrified in Season 1 to do anything of my own. I was like, ‘Whatever is on the page, I will do.’ This is why it’s fun sometimes to do something that gets seasons because you get more comfortable with the character, soI felt a lot more comfortable improvising as the character, which I had definitely not done the first time because I just wanted to show the writers, ‘I respect you. I like your ideas!’ But the second time, it’s wild. You do an A, B, C take and then you kind of get to do as many as you want of your own. I got to talk to one of the animators recently and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re keeping a lot of your improvs because they were super fun.’ So that’s great. And maybe they’ll get cut for time, but that’s just an enjoyable part of getting to sit with this character for a couple of years, isfeeling more comfortable thinking, ‘Okay, if she had to button the scene with something, what could it be?’ And we just get to come up with it on the spot.”
While Henningsen couldn’t reveal any Season 2 spoilers, she did offer a broad tease of some of the material she brought to the sound booth that was purely her own that we might be able to see in the finished product:
“The character I play is pretty PG.I did some R-rated improv that will maybe make it in.[Laughs] I can’t give you specifics, but there are things that – I mean, the show is very adult. My character lives on the more child-friendly side,butshe’s surrounded by people, so I just thought, ‘Okay, it’s gotta permeate her at some point,’ so we kind of threw those in. I don’t know if it’ll make it though!”
While I hope these highlights from the conversation made for an interesting and inspiring read, I highly encourage you to check out the full Collider Ladies Night Live panel in the video at the top of this article. Not only is the chat packed to the brim with impassioned insight thanks to Henningsen, Barrera and O’Brian, but the trio also went all-out playing an unmissable game of Dicey Questions on stage as well.
One lasthugethank you to O’Brian, Henningsen and Barrera for making this dream of having an SDCC edition of Ladies Night a reality. Thanks to their support, hopes are high this is only the beginning for live episodes of Collider Ladies Night.
