Before taking on a new role, Melissa Barrera asks herself, “What message am I trying to send out to the world?”
Mexican actor and singer is conscious with the projects she chooses, including her latest film, Carmen, the feature film Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied makes his directorial debut.
It is a musical love story loosely inspired by the 1875 opera by George Bizet. The modern retelling, now in theaters, takes place in both the desert along the US-Mexico border and gritty Los Angeles.
Barrera – perhaps best known to US audiences from the “Scream” series and the film adaptation of “In the Heights” – stars as Carmen, a young Mexican woman. One night near the border, she crosses paths with Aidan (played by Academy Award nominee Paul Mescal), a Marine with PTSD who works as a volunteer border patrol agent. A series of dangerous events forces them to go on the run together.
Barrera says that building chemistry with Mescal was easy since they would spend hours together in dance rehearsals.
“When you dance with someone, you get to know their body and you learn how they move and you make fools of each other together and you laugh and you fail and you fall,” she said. “And it’s a very complete way of getting to know another human being very quickly.”
Millepied takes the audience on a visually poetic journey as the two make their way to Los Angeles. Carmen reunites with her late mother’s best friend, Masilda – portrayed by Rossy De Palma – and finds solace in dance and her growing love for Aidan.
The score was composed by Nicholas Brittell, starring Julieta Venegas, Taura Stinton and Tracy “The Doc” Curry.
When Barrera first heard about the project, she didn’t know what the story was about. “I just saw that Benjamin Millepied is making his feature film debut and it’s going to be an adaptation of ‘Carmen.’ That’s all I have,” the actor said.
It wasn’t until months later, when she received the script, that she realized it was a story about an immigrant running from the cartel. It’s a topic Barrera has been trying to avoid since beginning her career as a crossover actress in the United States. When she first moved here, she said she only received calls to be part of immigrant stories or cartel-related roles.
“And we (Latinos) are always the victims, and we’re always painted in an ‘aye pobrecito’ (oh you poor little thing) light,” the actor said.
While she knows immigrant stories are real and important, Barrera prefers to “fight for other places where they don’t see us and try to get us in there.”
However, as she continued reading the script, her initial hesitation disappeared.
“I thought, OK, this is different. It’s kind of beautiful and romantic and poetic and it’s told through sequences of movement and dance,” she said.
Millepied’s “Carmen” is a surrealistic fever dream in which avant-garde symbolism is woven. Each song and dance sequence contains Barrera, Mescal or De Palma.
When asked, “What’s the message?” In this case, Barrera said, it’s “the plight of this woman who, like many women who are on the frontier right now, is running from danger and trying to find a better life.” and to find freedom, security and love, and that is what all people want.”
She hopes the film will humanize people at the border awaiting asylum, spark conversations and “reach different audiences.”
Barrera said she worked closely with Millepied, who was born and raised in France, to approach the story with sensitivity.
“It was a very collaborative experience and I always felt that my opinion and voice mattered. And it was the first time I felt that way on a project.” She said.
Barrera’s career began in Mexico with popular telenovelas and she appeared on Netflix’s Club De Cuervos. In the US, she quickly landed a television crossover role in Starz’s Vida as Lyn. Her roles include Vanessa in Jon M. Chu and Lin Manuel Miranda’s film In the Heights.
When she landed the role of Sam on “Scream,” Barrera said the message she wanted to send was, “We (Latinos) belong in franchises… We can be franchise leaders.”
“I like to just keep working and knocking on those doors and auditioning for things that aren’t meant for me but changing people’s minds and being like, ‘Oh actually, it can be someone like you.’ “, she said .
Barrera will soon star in an untitled monster thriller directed by Scream VI directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. Audiences can also see her on Netflix’s Keep Breathing.
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