'Yellowjackets' star Jasmin Savoy Brown on 'different ways' of exploring violence in new 'Scream'

Even though actress Jasmin Savoy-Brown has been working steadily in film and TV for the past decade, she's having a bit of a moment right now in horror circles, co-starring in two of the buzziest titles in the genre: Scream (2022) and Showtime's original series, Yellowjackets. 

In the critically lauded Yellowjackets, the actress plays Taissa, a soccer player on the high school championship Yellowjackets team who is one of the survivors of a harrowing plane crash in the remote wilderness. The series reveals the ordeals she and her teammates go through to survive in the aftermath, and then what becomes of them 25-years later after some are rescued. Meanwhile in the latest Scream, Savoy-Brown is Mindy Meeks-Martin a Woodsboro resident terrorized by a new killer in town.

"It's funny because I don't really like watching horror," Savoy-Brown admits to SYFY WIRE about her current projects. "I really hate blood. I hate violence. But I think [horror] can be cathartic and it's important. And Yellowjackets and Scream obviously explore violence in very different ways."

Diving into the genres for both TV and film, Savoy-Brown says she's been able to appreciate how the horror genre is able to confront and address topics other genres won't touch. "You know, human beings are inherently violent, and we always have been." She notes: "The Salem Witch Trials, nailing Jesus to a cross, burning people at the stake, stonings, and then these days, it's mass shootings and sexual violence. We have violent impulses, and I think those impulses themselves aren't what's bad, but it's how they come out. I think if we can put those impulses into art, which is what we're doing with films and shows like these, then we can explore them."

With the Season 1 finale of Yellowjackets airing on Showtime Sunday night, Savoy-Brown says the series has been unique in exploring female violence in a frank and realistic way. "[The series] is a safe space to look at violence, let the impulses out and say 'let's talk about it.' Let's see how we can evolve beyond some of our violent impulses. So, I think that horror really does a service to human beings and it's really great that I get to be a part of that."

She's also thrilled to be part of the long-time legacy of the Scream franchise as the next generation of actors to join legacy icons like Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell. "It's been another honor," Savoy-Brown enthuses. "This franchise is a legacy franchise for a reason. It was the first of its kind. It broke so many boxes and started so many great trends in horror, but no one can do it quite like Scream and that is really cool."

With production pending on the next season of Yellowjackets, the actress may have a little down time which she hopes to fill with something very different. "I would love someone to put me in a romantic comedy next though," she laughs. "I would like a [horror] break for a minute. Just real quick."