A common theme in slasher movies is the “Final Girl”. This is a character who defies the odds and manages to survive the horror movie’s villain. She’s often shown to be pure and virginal, smart, and quiet. She’s the one we’re meant to root for and see make good decisions. One of the most famous and belovedFinal Girlsis Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) fromScream.Sidney has stood out to audiences for not fitting into thetypical Final Girlmoldbutstill being just as badass as ever.
So, when it was announced thatMTV would be making aScreamTV series, fans were understandably weary. There was a bright side:Wes Cravenhimself was an executive producer, meaning the project hopefully wouldn’t be a disaster. But there was simply no way to match the brilliance of Sidney Prescott – especially since there had yet to be an installment in the franchise that didn’t feature her. Enter Emma Duval (Willa Fitzgerald),Ghostface’s main target in the TV series and the “new Sidney”. But it’s almost unfair to call her that, because even though she took on the role of being Ghostface’s number 1 target,Willa Fitzgerald made the character her own and didn’t rely on the notoriety of Sidney Prescott.
Emma Forges Her Own Path in ‘Scream’s TV Series
Willa Fitzgerald spoke with Colliderabout her role as Emma inScream,and talked about taking on a role that was so cemented by Neve Campbell. Fitzgerald knew howbeloved the character of Sidney Prescottwas when she took the role, andmade it her mission to honor her legacyand dosomething different with her Final Girl.
“I think that the show really was, obviously, taking a leap by changing the mask and changing these fundamental things about the franchise, but I think it was also maybe smart in doing that because it did make it its own thing and not just a TV version of the movies, which are great and so distinct and so clearly their own different thing. So, I feel like they knew what they were doing. Even when I was doing it, I feel like I probably had less of an understanding or awareness of that because I had seen the movies and alsoI didn’t want to be trying to play Neve Campbell’s part. I was also aware of trying to do my own thing. But yeah, divisive, I’m sure. I steered clear of any reading material that divisive.”
This approach is very evident in the show, because even though Emma is the main character ofScream, and the primary target, a lot of her personality and motivation differs from Sidneyin a way that helps set the two apart.
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Is the 1996 original a given at the top spot? Does ‘Scream 3’ get any love? Where does ‘Scream 6’ land? Find out here!
Emma and Sidney Are Two Sides of the Same Coin
At the end of the day,Emma and Sidney are both Final Girlsin aScreamproject, so comparison is inevitable. But Willa Fitzgerald worked hard to carve out Emma as an individual, and she deserves more credit for that. Sidney is an understandably closed-off character due to the trauma of losing her mother in such a tragic way.She’s a reluctant hero, thrust into the fight for life or death, and losing so many loved ones along the way. Meanwhile, Emma is a much more outgoing character,she’s very modern,and more focused on high school hierarchies than anything else. But when she’s faced with the Ghostface threat, she locks in and is ready to fight.Her approach doesn’t take away from Sidney’s whatsoever, it can’t, but it is impressive how well Emma stands on her own two feet.
Willa Fitzgerald succeeded in not blending in withNeve Campbell’s roleby embracing the new ideas the TV series had. The mask alone was a huge change, let alone the story, and these changes allowed for more creative freedom among the cast, since it really was trying to be its own thing. It honestly wouldn’t make any sense for Emma to be a Sidney Prescott copycat in this world, because that’s not the type of hero we need. TheScreamTV series needed a fresh,new Final Girlto go with its fresh, new ideas, andWilla Fitzgerald rose to the challenge, proving that sometimes change is good, andhorror can evolve for the better. Even when it comes tofan-favorite Final Girls.
Scream: The TV Seriesis available for purchase on Prime Video in the U.S.
Scream: The TV Series
Purchase from Prime Video
