“Smile 2” director reveals how he landed Drew Barrymore cameo: 'She was so gracious'
Parker Finn tells EW he wrote a personal note to Barrymore, who ultimately 'invited us in and allowed us to use her set.'
Horror excellence recognizes horror excellence — that's exactly why Smile 2 director Parker Finn wanted to land an epic Drew Barrymore cameo in his genre sequel, he tells Entertainment Weekly.
The filmmaker, who returned to write and direct the sequel about a demonic curse first introduced in his 2022 hit Smile, explains that his affinity for Scream star Barrymore's work in the horror space led him to write a scene set during an episode of her Drew Barrymore Show talk series. He even wrote to her, asking her to be part of the project.
"Building credibility with this pop star was such a priority because if people didn't believe her, the music, the stage presence, I didn't think they'd get on the ride with me," Finn recalls of writing the script, which follows sober pop star, Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), who announces a post-car crash comeback tour on an episode of Barrymore's talk show, days before she inherits the sinister "Smile Entity."
"I wanted to blur those lines and do something kind of meta and introduce her on a real talk show. I wrote the scene on The Drew Barrymore Show show and tried to write it in Drew's voice," Finn says. "I sent the scene to Drew along with a note explaining the whole idea. She was so gracious and said yes, and invited us in, and allowed us to use her set. She was such a wonderful host and so fun to work with."
Plus, Finn admits he's "such a huge Drew Barrymore fan," calling her "a legend, obviously in horror with things like Scream." The director adds, "She's such an icon, and it felt so cool to get to do that."
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Finn's sequel follows the massive success of Smile, which earned glowing critical reviews and earned over $217 million at the global box office on a reported $17 million budget. Its story also incorporates an original song from real-life pop starlet Tate McRae, who penned a tune, "Grieved You," that appears as one of Skye's compositions in the finished film.
Finn, a pop culture fanatic, says Skye's journey was inspired by public complicity in the stories of tragic pop stars like Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, and Britney Spears.
Smile 2 — also starring Rosemarie DeWitt, Lukas Gage, and Kyle Gallner, who returns from the first film — is now playing in theaters nationwide.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.