Scream VI: Liana Liberato on her character’s life before the Ghostface murders

[Editor’s note: The following article contains spoilers for Scream VI.]scream VI shattered fan expectations by giving us three Ghostface killers for the first time in the franchise. The three killers were also all members of the same family, determined to avenge the death of the late Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid), 2022 SCREAM villain. So we know the entire Bailey family is united when it comes to killing. But what about her life before the killer? In an exclusive interview with Perry Nemiroff for Collider’s Ladies Night, Stern Liana Liberato revealed how scream VI‘s cast discussed the workings of the Bailey family, which helped her become a more humanized killer.

In scream VILiberato plays Quinn Bailey, Detective Bailey’s daughter (Dermot Mulroney). While posing as a lawman, Bailey becomes the mastermind behind the latest Ghostface murder spree, helping to keep the suspense going until the final confrontation scream VI. While the film doesn’t focus on the life of the Baileys prior to the gory events of the sequel, Liberato tells us that Dermot made the cast create imaginary scenarios to justify their actions. As the star puts it:

“We all talked about it a bit, and then, with the help of Dermot’s wild imagination as well, it was really fun to build that world up a bit. I was trying to just think about Quinn’s personal motives and I kind of assumed I was probably the middle child, Richie the eldest, me in the middle and then Ethan the youngest, and I’d like to think that Quinn really looked right down to Richie and was a bit of a protector.”

did scream VI Humanize the Ghostface killers?

scream VIThe on-set casting debate influenced her performances, but also helped Liberato bring more humanity to Quinn. While the film doesn’t explore the Baileys’ past, Liberato has a clear idea of ​​why her character is starting to seek revenge. In Liberato’s words:

“It was a really big goal of mine not to look too crazy in the reveal. I really wanted Quinn’s anger to be fueled by an immense amount of pain and love for her brother, and that feeling of, my only purpose now is to protect my family the way Richie took care of me. I was trying to find a sense of humanity because there isn’t much when it comes to ghostface killers. I think we played those notes a lot and then there’s obviously a hierarchy in the family with Dermot and he’s obviously so incredibly proud of Richie.”

According to Liberato, Mulroney was so busy working out the Baileys’ motivations that one of his improvised lines even made the final cut. The line, which is extremely revealing about the family’s hierarchy, also leads to one of the funniest moments of the sequel. Liberato said of Mulroney’s improvisation:

“One of my favorite lines Dermot improvised is ‘There’s nothing like a father’s love for his first son,’ which makes me laugh every time it hits Ethan [Jack Champion] and Ethan is like, damn. [Laughs] But it’s such a good line! But that alone lays the foundation for the kind of family or the kind of dynamic that we were in as a family, so it was fun to play with as well.”

scream VI currently lowering box office expectations in cinemas. Watch our full interview with Liberato below: