At first glance, the opening scene ofScary Movielooks exactly like its target,Scream.
There’s the girl innocently making popcorn.
There’s the mysterious, menacing phone call.
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There’s the casual conversation about favorite scary movies.
But soon enough,Scary Moviestarts showing its spoof-tastic hand.
“Miramax just didn’t want to cast her,” he recalls.
“They didn’t think she could do it.
“I kept saying to them, ‘Look, trust me.
Electra hopped on the phone with EW to look back on her riotous starring role.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Do you remember how you got involved?
And I said, “What?!”
And so I’m like, “Oh myGod, this iscrazy!”
So basically on no sleep at all, I flew in, and we shot all night long.
This role was spoofing your career up to that point, in a way.How’d you feel about that?
Oh, I was thrilled!
It was so fun to kind of laugh at myself.
It’s good to laugh about yourself and laugh about life.
I mean, laughter is the best medicine.
Were you worried about anything going in?
I’ll never forget that.
But we finished that scene in one night.
Any improv you remember doing?
He said, “Just go with it.
That was what was really cool about working with a director like Keenen.
He knows how to get out of you what he wants that scene to be like.
There were also scenes that got cut out.
I was running forso longon it.
It was fine, because I was really into working out!
I have to say, it really changed my life.
I mean, God, the franchise went on for so long, it’s so crazy.
Probably the popcorn scene, that was hard after saying my line, “Oh, I farted.”
[Laughs] I think that was the line.
[Laughs] I mean, come on.
What do you remember about how big it became afterward, when it topped the box office?
Do you remember what it was like seeing it for the first time?
I remember getting tickets to go see the movie, to see it in the theater.
There was such a huge line to even get tickets, and they had to turn people down.
I threw on a baseball cap and just kind of laid low.
It was, like, the coolest thing ever.
Well, maybeStar Wars?
What’sreallyyour favorite scary movie?
I have to go back to the days ofAmityville HorrorandThe Exorcist.
Seeing those movies as a little girl just terrified me.
And I’d go, “Oh my God,noooo.”
[Laughs] I was so scared, but I grew up watching them.
