For Isabel May, Acting Isn't Enough—She Wants to Be a Storyteller in Every Aspect
Word to the wise: Don't challenge Isabel May to a Scream trivia contest. She knows her facts. As someone who often overprepares for any situation, May consumed all six Scream films in the span of two days ahead of her meeting with Scream 7 director Kevin Williamson. What was first acting homework became a full-on obsession for the actress. Despite not even being born before the first three films came out and generally avoiding horror films ("I'm a bit of a baby," she says), May has always been hyperaware of the cultural impact of the iconic slasher franchise, which turns 30 later this year. So when Williamson asked to meet with her after watching her breakout performance in the Paramount+ series 1883, she was excited and, more importantly, prepared.
It turns out Williamson did not quiz May, but she left a lasting impression on the director anyway and landed the role of Tatum Prescott, the teen daughter of Sidney Prescott, in the highly anticipated seventh installment, which welcomes back Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Matthew Lillard to the franchise.
Scream 7 is just the beginning for May, who is primed for a banner year with no less than six projects on deck, including a Robert Zemeckis film with Jennifer Lopez. Her critically acclaimed role as 1883's strong-willed Elsa Dutton changed everything for the 25-year-old, paving the way for what is sure to be a noteworthy and long-lasting Hollywood career. Much more than an actor, May is a storyteller through and through with a love for fashion and thrill-seeking activities. We're calling it now: May is going to be a star.
What does it mean to you to be joining the iconic Scream franchise?
I've never been a part of anything of this size. I've been hyperaware of Scream for my entire life because it's been out for longer than I've been alive. And of course, I've seen little Ghostfaces running around every year. Neve's face is ingrained in my mind growing up. I was super aware of Kevin Williamson because every day after school I would race back home so I could watch The Vampire Diaries when cable was a thing and we would all sit around the television together at the same hour. So that's how I knew Kevin—[through] his gentler projects.
I'm a bit of a baby, and I had somewhat of a difficult time consuming horror. I didn't really seek it out so much only because I'm fearful, and I didn't want to take the chance of not being able to fall asleep that night. Kevin wanted to talk with me about this new iteration of Scream because he had seen me in a previous series that I did called 1883, and before that, I consumed every single film. I was so prepared to meet with Kevin. He didn't ask me one thing about any sort of trivia. I'm so proud to be a part of this franchise, especially when it's something that people have grown up with in this way. It's incredibly rare. My only hope is that I am one of the reasons why people are happy to stick around and not the reason why they're wanting to give it up anytime soon.
Since you are now officially a Scream superfan, is there a film or performance that stands out to you?
Oh, goodness. When Amber Freeman is set on fire, that's pretty gruesome and incredibly memorable. I loved everything that Mikey Madison did in that one. She was one of my favorite characters. But then, of course… I'm not even saying it because my character's named after her, but Tatum Riley. Rose McGowan, she is what helped define that film as a meta horror film. She fit so perfectly in the Scream world because there's two versions of a character. There are the ones that feel heightened and are the humor. It's not relief because there's no relief in a Scream film, but [they're] the people that you can laugh at and laugh with and connect to in that way. And then there's the grounding nature of Sidney and some characters like Sidney, where they really help make it feel real despite the elevated performances around her. I kind of fit in that boat. Sometimes, I'm envious of the people that got to float up into the air a bit. At the same time, to be somewhat of a mirror of Sidney and of Neve… We are not the same people by any means. She's much more intelligent than I am and sophisticated, but I do think we have a lot of similarities.
Scream is Campbell's baby. What did you learn from her in the process of working together?
This isn't just an "Oh, I have to say this" kind of thing. She really is one of the best people I've ever worked with, and I've been so lucky. I have worked with some great folks. I think what I really learned is that she's so rooted in reality. Nothing has gone to her head despite the fact that she's been a part of such success for so long, and she takes the work, no matter what it is, very seriously. Some people could come into this and go, "Well, it's meta. It's horror. You just have some fun." No, not at all. This is very difficult work. It's not easy to do well, and there's a reason why Neve playing Sidney has had such an impact. People care about her, and they believe her, and not everyone is able to sell that.
She took me in, she sat me down, and we had a nice little dinner together. I suddenly grew a real respect for the horror community because there's so much I didn't realize. I've always felt like a loner, and I'm notoriously a hermit. I like socializing, but I've been mostly awkward in my time socializing. What she introduced me to was an entire group of people who felt the same way for different reasons that have congregated together over their shared love of a thing and who feel like misfits. When she opened my eyes to that, I realized, "Oh man, this is really important. It's not just entertainment. It means more to people than that." That's a long-winded way of saying she has been a great mentor and a great leader for everyone involved. There's no one you're going to meet that doesn't have respect for Neve Campbell.
Was there a scene that you loved working with her on?
I think it was anything that slowed down. There's so much pace to the project, to any of these films. You're literally running for your life. There's one moment, in particular, at the end of the film where it's just mother and daughter having a really raw, grounded moment together. Amid all of this mayhem, it's really nice that we can center it around that, that we can have those moments—just a momentary breath. I would say that last scene, which I refuse to be a spoiler. I won't do it.
Was there an aspect of filming this movie that required a different acting muscle that surprised you?
Absolutely. Endurance. A film generally is never an easy thing to make. I've never been on a film and went, "Oh, that was a piece of cake." Never. You're always tired. You're always this. You're always that, whatever. There are harder jobs in the world. It's not a complaint, but it still takes a lot out of you. I would say amplify that times 10 with a horror film. You're working almost exclusively overnight every single night. There's always something going wrong just in the logistics of things. … If you're constantly having to be in a state of extreme fear and fatigue and horror, it's bound to… I will admit I was crippled by illness in this production. I got sick a lot, and thank God for Neve. I remember I called someone on production, the first AD, and I went, "I literally can't get out of bed. I cannot roll myself off this bed. I am so sick." And Neve called two seconds later and said, "Baby, I got you." She was so gracious. Didn't make me feel bad about it because, you know, films don't just pause for you. She took the brunt of a couple of days of work off my plate, and they moved things around. That's what I mean by leadership. She's number one on the call sheet for a reason. Wow, I sound like a sycophant. She'd probably roll her eyes, but it's true.
Tell me a little bit about Tatum. Does she take after her mother?
The thing that allowed me access to this story and what made me really interested in it was this new approach that Sidney has a legacy of trauma. I felt a lot of people could relate to inherited trauma. That is what Tatum is grappling with. She's trying to connect with a mother that's been through a lot of stuff, terrible things, and is having a difficult time opening up to her child. So there's really no way to reflect on the good moments and to connect. But then separately, what Sidney also symbolizes is resilience and perseverance despite these terrible things, so for me, my route in was having this history overshadow my relationship with my mother, who I want to be like.
I think Tatum really admires her. She's a cool kid, and she's got a life, and she's got a boyfriend, and she's got interests, and she likes music and these things. She wants to be like her mom, but she's not sure if she is. It's like, Have I inherited that strength? It's a big question. Someone told me she's like [a] "Gen Z final girl." … To a point, yes, she's sort of that, but it would do a disservice to Gen Z to just do a stereotype of what I think that is. Honestly, I don't know what generation I am, but I don't think we're defined by social media and our phones. I think there's more to us, and I wanted Tatum to feel like more than that, like that wasn't what made her of this generation. There's just a lot to unpack and play with.
For a role like Elsa in 1883, there was a lot of prep in terms of learning how to ride a horse and learning the accent. What were the things you did in preparation for Tatum?
I like to always overanalyze so I don't have to analyze at all when I get there. What's always allowed me access to a character is being very opinionated about what they wear and how they look. This is a film that is leaning into nostalgia. I think we're seeing a lot of young people that are suddenly really intrigued by fashion in the '90s, so I wanted to play with that. I thought that'd be really fun. She's someone who feels like an old soul to a degree and, again, really admires her mom, although she'll never say that out loud. She's still a teen, but in certain ways, she wears things to be a reflection of what her mother wore, which is stuff I do today with my own mom.
You had some amazing looks in 1883 too.
Costume design is a huge thing for me. In fact, I'm good friends with Colleen Atwood. She's an iconic costume designer. I was introduced to her through this series Masters of the Air. I adore the woman. What she's been able to do with actors to elevate their performance is unseen. The way that people view it is, "Oh, it's just putting an actor in a costume." No, it's so much more than that. It's helping them transform. It's allowing them to access that character. I love fashion. I love costumes. I love every aspect of it. I want to do more of it.
Who were some of the artists on the Tatum playlist?
Let me bring it up real quick. I listened to Mother Mother's "Hayloft," Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer," Ladytron's "Seventeen," Depeche Mode, and She Wants Revenge. There are a couple of new ones, like Mindless Self Indulgence. It's very moody. Hayley Williams is the queen for Tatum. I think she's a Hayley Williams obsessive-compulsive freak. I got to geek out musically.
Switching gears to 1883, how did that experience shape you as an actor and impact the roles that you want to take on going forward?
It changed everything for me. It was a very odd experience, in that I'm this very unknown, unimportant actor who just wants to do good work and have the opportunity to do good work. I read for Taylor Sheridan, and then he calls two weeks later and says, "I'm gonna write a role for you. You're not doing that one." It was just such a whirlwind and an explosion. You don't know if that's going to be any good, but it's Taylor Sheridan, so you're expecting it will be, and then it's really good, and it's everything you would have hoped for. I was completely lost in it. It changed my perspective on how I work and what I want to do. But it is then difficult to digest anything after that. I suddenly had this bar that was too high, and I was trying to figure out, How do I navigate that? How do I bring it back down? What do I need to do? Because I got there really quickly. You're in this weird situation where you're doing something that I think a lot of actors would have really wanted that role, but it wasn't for anyone but you. You also haven't done enough work prior to that to build up to that point, so you kind of need to backtrack, and there's a lot of navigating.
Now, I have seven films coming out this year. I feel very lucky for that. But it made me reevaluate. You just gotta go and keep working and work your ass off and be really grateful for every opportunity you get and build up to the point where you can have control. That's what I'm really seeking. I wanna be in a situation much like some of the other actors who I really admire that are in the industry doing so well right now, where I can make decisions of my own volition. You gotta earn that place, so that's what I'm doing, but there's so much I want to explore. I don't think acting is enough in my opinion—just for myself personally. There's no stone I don't want to turn over. It took me a while to think of myself as an actor. I just think of myself as a storyteller, and I think whatever medium I can play with and explore to become more of that, I'm happy to do.
I know you love reading. What's currently on your nightstand?
I'm reading a gratuitous book called Maeve Fly (CJ Leede)—gratuitous in the best way, by the way. I'm reading Playing to the Gods (Peter Rader), which is about Sarah Bernhardt, who is one of the first actors and fake celebrities of her time. It's fascinating. That's a nonfiction novel. Gosh, I'm reading a book that Andrei Tarkovsky wrote, who was a very famous Russian filmmaker. I'm the sort of person that has too many books in circulation at the same time, and because of that, I can't ever get anything done. I feel like I read seven books at the same time for a year, which is incredibly ineffective. I need to figure out how to do this better. I read quite a bit also just looking for development material. I did that with one book. I became obsessive-compulsive about a book when I was 16, and I got the rights to it when I was 23. Once I get an itch, I have to scratch it. All I do is read and watch movies and then go out and try to do some crazy activities that are probably verging on extremely dangerous, but I find that really fun.
So you're a thrill seeker?
Well, there's the two extremes. It's root yourself and then unroot yourself. But nothing in between. I look at reading and watching films as part of my job. When I'm thinking of things that have nothing to do with my job and nothing to do with the entertainment industry or art in general, I love rally racing. I've been trying to get a pilot's license for almost five years, which is really ridiculous. But every time I'm on a project, I'm forbidden from flying. So my goal is to try to find a patch of time, like a month, to just completely commit to it, and I can get it done. It's been a huge goal of mine. I love flying. I find it really nerve-racking and stimulating. I guess I'm a bit of a thrill seeker.
Scream 7 is now in theaters.
Photographer: Elias Tahan
Stylist: Kevin Michael Ericson
Hairstylist: Kiki Heitkotter
Makeup Artist: Kelsey Deenihan
