"Nothing to do"- Jenna Ortega finally reveals her reasons to leave the Scream franchise

Jenna Ortega has finally revealed her reasons for leaving the Scream film franchise.

In her interview with The Cut, the actor has elucidated the real reasons behind her drifting away from the franchise. Earlier, it was reported that it had to do with payment or scheduling issues, but Ortega has clarified it not to be true in her statement, as she mentions:

“It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling”

Let us find out what more Jenna Ortega revealed about her reasons to leave the Scream film franchise.

Jenna Ortega finally reveals her reasons to leave the Scream franchise

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As Jenna Ortega spoke to The Cut, the actor mentioned the incident when her fellow actor Melissa Barrera was dismissed from the cast of Scream VII. Melissa Barrera was terminated from the cast as she has posted social media posts in regard to her stance on the Israel-Palestine issue.

Since Melissa Barrera had voiced her solidarity for Palestine, she was laid off from the film. Soon, Jenna Ortega, too, left the film in solidarity with Barrera.

In the interview, Jenna Ortega mentions

"The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart,"

"If Scream VII wasn't going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn't seem like the right move for me in my career at the time."

Ortega has appeared in two films of this franchise, including Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023). In both of these films, she essays the role of Tara Carpenter. Her co-actor in these films, Melissa Barrera, portrays her sister's role, Sam Carpenter.

Jenna Ortega has appeared in a plethora of films and series of the horror genre by now, including Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), X (2022), Wednesday (2022-present), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), and her most recently released, Death of a Unicorn (2025).

Jenna Ortega also further mentions challenging herself as an actor and working with fresh stories and making interesting choices. She talks about her recent film, Death of a Unicorn, as she further states:

“I’ve happened to join a lot of franchises, which is so great to be a part of legacy,”

“But for me, I’m really trying to prioritize new directors and original stories. I know on the outside, maybe people are looking at my choices like, Man, what the hell is this girl doing? I never thought I would do a movie with unicorns. But an original script is exciting. If I can help get it made, I love to do that.”