‘Scream Queens’ – Lea Michele and Emma Roberts Interview

Lea Michele and Emma Roberts 'Scream Queens' Interview
Emma Roberts and Lea Michele star in ‘Scream Queens’ (Photos © 2015 Fox Broadcasting Co)

Lea Michele (Glee) and Emma Roberts (American Horror Story) say their Scream Queens co-star Jamie Lee Curtis is like the group’s den mother. Curtis brought them books and juices, and couldn’t have been more giving with her co-stars. “But more than that, just feeling like there’s such a supportive…she’s the main structure that keeps everything together,” said Michele. “She’s like our protector, and I really love that. I feel like being a part of a show that has someone who does that for us is unbelievable.”

Michele and Roberts were teamed up for the Fox Scream Queens press room at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con where they discussed being a part of Ryan Murphy’s new horror series.

“I think we all just went into and I don’t think that we knew that people were going to solidly die each episode,” explained Roberts when asked about the death toll in horror movies and TV shows. “Like we were kind of like, ‘Oh, every couple of episodes someone will die and it’s not going to be us.’ And Ryan’s like, ‘No. Someone is going to die every week and none of you are safe. We were kind of shocked. We were laughing about it. We’re like, ‘What do you mean?’ We thought we weren’t going to die. So, all of us are as in the dark as you guys too, because Ryan will not tell us.”

“Yeah, he won’t tell us,” added Michele. “But it’s so great too because Ryan’s always so smart with adding all of the important elements to a show. It’s funny, it’s scary, but it also has that girl-power thing about the show. When he pitched the show to me I had zero information. But then the more we talked about certain things that he was saying about what was important about the show – and it goes back to what you were saying – maybe at the end it will be us girls who survive, who take the killer down. I love that and I love that Ryan always keeps that in mind. So I think it will be a positive show.”

Asked what it is they love about the show, Michele says she loves the writing and being a part of something fresh and new. “I had the same experience with Glee. I’m so excited right now to be playing a character [that] they’re challenging me so much,” said Michele. “I’m also so grateful to be working with such a strong group of actors who have such established careers and talents.”

“For me, I’ve known Ryan Murphy for a long time because he’s friends with my aunt. I’ve known him through the business, but then I’ve always wanted to be on a Ryan Murphy show. I wanted to be on American Horror Story more than anything and I didn’t even ask him about it. One day he called me and I was like, ‘I didn’t want to ask you because I didn’t think there would be a role for me. He’s like, ‘No, I have a role for you.’ So the fact that he’s yet again called me with an amazing role…and also to work with someone like him who’s a guy who can write for women so well and makes us smart and articulate and funny. The show is mostly young women, and Jamie Lee Curtis’ role is amazing, it’s just really cool to be able to trust someone like him to make all of us girls look good.”

So, how do Michele and Roberts feel about horror movies in general? Michele loves them while Roberts admits she watches them with her hands over her eyes. Michele actively seeks out films that will scare here, but she admits it’s hard to find anything that will do the trick, while just about anything will scare Roberts. “My friends won’t even watch horror movies with me anymore,” confessed Roberts. “They won’t invite me to see them because they’re like, ‘One of us will have to sleep over at Emma’s house if we take her to watch the movie.’ I’m like, ‘You guys!’ They’re like, ‘We are not seeing The Conjuring because you’ll make us move in.'”

Watch the full interview for more about Emma Roberts and Lea Michele’s roles in Scream Queens: