Anna Faris Says She 'Couldn't Even Get an Audition' for Dramatic Movies After Hitting Fame with “Scary Movie”
Anna Faris Says She 'Couldn't Even Get an Audition' for Dramatic Movies After Hitting Fame with “Scary Movie”
Tommy McArdleFri, June 5, 2026 at 3:35 PM UTC
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Anna Faris in 2000's Scary Movie; Anna Faris at the premiere of the Scary Movie reboot on June 3, 2026Credit: Miramax/Everett Collection; Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty -
Anna Faris described the "odd struggle" she has experienced in her career over the last 25 years after she found fame with the original Scary Movie
Faris and her original costars Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans return to Scary Movie for a new reboot and the series' first entry since 2013
Scary Movie is in theaters June 5
Anna Faris believes she couldn't quite find a foothold as a dramatic actor in Hollywood after she found fame with the Scary Movieseries.
Faris, 49, is back on the big screen as Scary Movie franchise lead Cindy Campbell in a reboot of the series from its original creators Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans and Keenen Ivory Wayans. At the movie's Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday, June 3, Faris told The Hollywood Reporter that while she considers the franchise a "gift" in her career, she has felt she has struggled to expand her work outside of comedy due to her association with the spoof movies.
"It has been like an odd struggle for me and defining, frustrating, gratifying. I've spent 25 years feeling the love from people [but] I didn't win any awards, I couldn't even get an audition for like dramatic stuff," she said. "My peers felt like they had a leg up, I didn't know why. I was like subjugated to what, R-rated comedies? What the f--- is my future?"
Anna Faris on June 3, 2026Credit: Monica Schipper/WireImage/Getty
Now though, Faris told the outlet that "it just feels incredible to be like holding my own" as she returns for the series' reboot. "I'm a pillar now. And look at me, try to knock me over — I'm stable now," she said.
Faris made her onscreen acting debut in the 1991 television movie Deception: A Mother's Secret and starred in the movies Eden and Lovers Lane prior to Scary Movie's release in 2000.
She has appeared in all of the franchise's releases except for 2013's Scary Movie 5. When the Wayans brothers returned to the series in 2024, they made a point of bringing her and costar Regina Hall back into the fold.
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In recent years, Faris has appeared in movies like The Estate and My Spy: The Eternal City, on top of sporadic television and voice acting roles. Her long-running CBS sitcom Mom wrapped in 2020.
"I had been coming around to the idea of Hollywood sort of putting me out to pasture. And that was okay," Faris confessed to Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview. She noted that her home in Los Angeles, which she shares with husband Michael Barrett and her son Jack Pratt, burned down in the fires that devastated much of the city in early January 2025.
"With the house burning down, there was a lot of taking stock. So to have this opportunity to thank them — I got to thank [the Wayans] every day," she said of her return. "They were probably really annoyed with me."
Anna Faris in Scary Movie (2026)Credit: Quantrell Colbert
Faris previously told PEOPLE in April that she felt "shocked and immediately thrilled" when she received the ask to rejoin Scary Movie for the new entry. "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that there was a world where I would be feeling so good about doing Scary Movie, not just good, but great," she said.
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Scary Movie is in theaters now.
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