Parker Finn, director of the breakout horror hit Smile and the upcoming Smile 2, is all smiles about casting Naomi Scott (Charlie’s Angels, Aladdin) to play the lead in the sequel. “Naomi is a triple, quadruple, quintuple threat,” Finn marvels. “She is amazing.”
In Smile 2, Scott plays global pop sensation Skye Riley. About to embark on a new world tour, Riley begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and pressures of fame, she must confront her dark past before her life spirals out of control.
For the role of Skye Riley, Finn needed a lead actor who could personify the emotional fragility of someone grappling with the madness brought on by the curse, but additionally, have the charisma and musical ability of a global pop star.
When the director first met Scott – for what Scott assumed was a general meet-and-greet -- they didn’t stop talking for over three hours. “We couldn’t speak fast enough,” recalls Scott. “I had no idea that this movie had music involved, but I could see that Parker was itching to tell me about it.” Once the filmmaker revealed that the movie he was working on was about a singer, Scott thought, “Well, this sounds like me.”
Scott’s ability to do it all astounded Finn and the rest of the creative team. “We had a pretty significant audition process for the role of Skye,” admits Finn. “When I met Naomi, I was familiar with her work, but she had never done anything quite like this before. She had appeared in some big movies, but the characters she had played were the polar opposites of who Skye is. When we met, it was clear she had this other side to offer that nobody had had the opportunity to put on screen yet.”