Anna Faris Was 'Shocked' the Wayans Brothers Asked Her to Return to “Scary Movie ”After Not Seeing Them Since 2002 (Exclusive)

Victoria Edel, Meredith WilshereWed, April 1, 2026 at 6:24 PM UTC

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From left: Anna Faris, Marlon Wayan and Shawn WayansCredit: Todd Williamson/January Images/Shutterstock;Amy Sussman/Getty; Michael Tullberg/Getty -

Anna Faris tells PEOPLE she was 'shocked' to get a call from the Wayans brothers asking her to do the sixth Scary Movie film

Faris said that she never got the chance to thank them for casting her in the film

The actress opened up about her Candy Crush takeover

Anna Faris is ready to drive back into Scary Movie — but she was ‘shocked’ when the Wayans brothers gave her a call.

Faris, 49, tells PEOPLE, “I haven't seen the Wayans brothers since 2002.” Shawn Wayans had the original idea for the film and wrote it with his brother Marlon. “When they left the franchise, I was still under contract for Scary Movie 3. When they called me, I was shocked and immediately thrilled.”

Shawn, 55, and Marlon, 53, wrote the original Scary Movie in 2000 and the sequel, 2001’s Scary Movie 2. They were fired before Scary Movie 3 came out in 2003.

“I couldn't believe it,” Faris continues. “I couldn't believe that there was a world where I would be feeling so good about doing Scary Movies — not just good, like great.” She says that there is something "healing" about everyone coming to be together again.

Regina Hall (left) and Anna Faris in 'Scary Movie 3'Credit: Marni Grossman

“And that in and of itself is, for me, a personal celebration because I got to thank them,” she explains. “I'd never thanked them properly. It felt like the Wayans brothers were casting me. And this time, I got to thank them and feel like I wasn't gonna get fired.”

Faris says that she was “just so scared” she was going to be fired because she had “no body of work behind me.”

“I didn't even have an agent,” she explains. Scary Movie was Faris’ first major acting job. She played Cindy Campbell and was based on horror protagonists like Sidney Prescott in Scream and Julie James in I Know What You Did Last Summer. After Scary Movie 3, she returned for one more film, 2006’s Scary Movie 4. She decided not to return for 2013’s Scary Movie 5.

Cindy, Faris says, “steps into her own, and it feels so good. It just feels great.”

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Anna Faris in 2023Credit: Raymond Hall/GC Images

Back in 2020, Marlon opened up to Variety about why he and Shawn didn’t return for the third film. The movie was released by Miramax Films, run by Bob and Harvey Weinstein. The Wayans brothers were arguing with the Weinsteins about their deals, and on Christmas Eve they learned someone else would be writing Scary Movie 3.

“We probably could have sued or whatever, but part of us was like, ‘All you can do is allow us to create something new,’ ” Marlon said. “I could write a book on that whole thing, honestly.”

Scary Movie 6 will reunite Faris and Regina Hall, who played Brenda Meeks in the first four films. The movie will be released in theaters June 5.

The House Bunny star also spoke to PEOPLE about her Candy Crush takeover. On March 31, she attended the Los Angeles Clippers game undercover as Candy Crush’s Bubblegum Troll.

“[I] get to essentially become part of a game that I love to play,” she says. “I get to bring joy and playfulness to a huge crowd of people. I'm thrilled.”

She jokes that she wasn’t sure Candy Crush knew she’s 49 years old. “I still get to have this childlike, fun, energetic experience and I'm thrilled.” She says the last 18 months, including filming Scary Movie 6, have been “absolutely transformative” for her.

“I am feeling so grateful that I am in a position where people, when they see me, if they do recognize me, they usually smile,” she says with a laugh. “They're usually like, ‘Oh yeah, I think that's that girl who did that dumb thing.’ I'm really embracing that. I feel just grateful.”

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”