Emma Roberts has turned into one of the most reliable faces in horror, but her successful career as a scream queen got started with Scream 4.
Emma Roberts was steadily working for over a decade before she transitioned over to horror. Before Roberts got her major break, the actress was primarily doing lighter fare and breezy romantic comedies, as well as establishing a career in the music industry. Roberts mastered the basics of the industry as she grew up in these roles (and surely learned plenty from her cousin, Julia Roberts), but she eventually was ready to move on into more mature productions and show off more of her range.
Renowned horror director, Wes Craven, was instrumental in broadening Emma Roberts’ career. Roberts hasn’t entirely turned her back on the lighter kinds of projects where she got her start, but she’s comfortably embraced her place in the horror genre and found considerable success in the arena. Wes Craven’s Scream 4 was widely celebrated for its smart update to the series and the return of the original cast, but arguably the person who benefitted the most from the horror film was Emma Roberts.
Scream 4 Put Emma Roberts Front And Center As Sidney’s Villainous Cousin
Scream 4 was a big deal for horror and happened to be a fitting swan song to Wes Craven’s career as the director’s final film. Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is still fundamental in Scream 4, but the film features a passing of the guard, so to speak, as it introduces a younger generation of characters who mirror the group in the original Scream. The most significant of these fresh additions is Emma Roberts’ Jill Prescott, Sidney’s cousin. Jill turns out to be the major mastermind of this new massacre, set on using the sensationalism of the crimes to catapult her into the spotlight. Jill’s scheme in Scream 4 may not be a success, but Roberts’ powerful, layered performance in the movie was enough to kickstart a prosperous career in horror.
Craven’s Scream 4 showed the world that Roberts could play an unhinged killer, which was quickly capitalized on by Ryan Murphy. Murphy first cast Roberts in Coven, the third season of his American Horror Story anthology. Roberts has become a regular presence throughout American Horror Story’s run and Murphy even made her the centerpiece of his short-lived Scream Queens horror parody series. Even beyond television, Roberts has appeared in horror films like The Blackcoat’s Daughter and the trippy Paradise Hills. It’s safe to say that Roberts’ days in horror are far from over and maybe if a sequel to Scream 4 ends up happening, it’ll find a logical way to feature her in some capacity.
More: Scream 4 Deleted Scene Gives Director A Cameo
