Abigail Breslin is a huge fan of horror movies and when the opportunity arose to join the cast of Fox’s Scream Queens from American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy, Breslin knew she’d found the perfect TV series to be a part of. Breslin keeps busy with work in feature films, however during our roundtable interview at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, Breslin talked about why she was willing to commit to a series.
“I have thought about it because I feel like TV is so strong right now, especially, and I feel like there are so many good things going on television-wise. But I knew that I wanted to do something that would be the right thing and something that I would feel really happy about doing and a character that I felt I could play all the way through,” explained Breslin. “And so, when I got the call that Ryan [Murphy] wanted to meet with me about a TV show I was immediately, ‘Okay, this is the person that I want to work with.’ I’m a huge fan of his; I’m a huge fan of American Horror Story anyway.”
“When I met with him he was just like talking to me for an hour just about nothing, and I was just telling him about my friends, my life. He’s like, ‘Hey, I’m doing this show called Scream Queens. What kind of character do you want to play?’ I was like, ‘I want to play a mean girl because I’ve never done that before.’ He was like, ‘There’s a group of girls called the Chanels and you can be Chanel #5.’ I was like, ‘Okay, cool,’ and then the meeting was over and I was like, ‘Wait. I don’t know if that went well.’ We barely spoke about it. And so once I got the call saying, ‘You’re coming to New Orleans. You’re doing the show,’ and I was like, ‘Yes!'”
Self-professed horror movie fanatic Breslin went on to explain what sets Scream Queens apart: “I am one of those people who will watch something and then get angry about it if it’s not right. I’m intense, so I can totally relate. That’s what I love about this is I feel like horror and comedy are both genres that have super, super strong followings and super strong fan bases. It’s kind of cool that we have…it’s a perfect mixture of both on our show and so I feel like a lot of different people can relate to it and get into it.”
The series also offers Breslin a chance to play a mean girl, something she loved being able to sink her teeth into. “I’m Chanel so I’m in KAPPA. I’m one of Emma’s minions. I play Chanel #5, and so she is horrified that the new pledges are being let in. She’s a little bit crazy, a little bit intense,” explained Breslin. “It’s been really fun to play her. I’ve never gotten to play a mean girl, so that was something I was really excited about doing.”
Breslin also appreciated the fact the show keeps the audience – and, actually, the actors – guessing as to who is the killer. “I think that that’s kind of the reason that the show is so interesting is because no one knows who the killer is and everybody has a reason why they could be the killer, and everyone has a reason why they couldn’t be. For me, I’m reading the script and I’ll be like, ‘Hmm, okay, maybe she’s doing this.’ And then I flip the page and like, ‘No, she couldn’t, because that.’ And then I’m like, ‘But wait…she could.’ It’s crazy. The way that they’ve written it is so smart in the sense that you really don’t know. You’re thrown off completely all the time and it’s been fun to play with,” said Breslin.
It’s also been fun to hang around with her fellow Scream Queens cast members. “I think that it’s interesting because people are like, ‘Would you ever join a sorority?’ And it’s like, ‘No,’ but I kind of feel like this is kind of – I’m not in college right now because I’m working and so I feel like I’m having the college experience and we’re all kind of sorority sisters. It sounds lame, but it’s true,” said Breslin, laughing. “We’ve just all become really close. Mostly our conversations are about boys and drama and friends.”
The series also gives Breslin the opportunity to work with Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis, an actress who knows her way around the genre. Asked what it’s been like to work with Curtis, Breslin replied, “You know, it’s always intimidating when you go to work with somebody you’ve always seen in films and you’ve looked up to and admired. It’s definitely nerve-wracking, but she is just the coolest, chillest person. She’s just so nice. She’s always giving us little gifts and writing us little notes. She’s so chill. She really wrangled us and takes care of us, and it’s really nice.”
- Jamie Lee Curtis Interview – Scream Queens and the Horror Genre
- Keke Palmer Interview – Scream Queens, Horror, and Comedy
- Billie Lourd Interview – Scream Queens, Horror Scenes, and Carrie Fisher
- Scream Queens Lea Michele and Emma Roberts Interview
Watch the full interview with Abigail Breslin for more on Scream Queens, her favorite horror movies, and being a scaredy cat:
