Anna Faris Reveals the Melania Trump Joke She Pushed for in ‘Scary Movie’ That Never Made the Cut

Anna Faris has always been one of Hollywood’s most committed comedic performers, and her long-running role as Cindy Campbell across the ‘Scary Movie’ franchise is proof of that dedication. The actress first brought Cindy to life in the original film in 2000, and returned for multiple sequels before sitting out the fifth installment in 2013.

Now, more than a decade later, Faris is back in the role she helped define, and she came prepared with bold ideas for how the character should have evolved.

Directed by Michael Tiddes, the new ‘Scary Movie’ brought back the Wayans Brothers, taking the franchise back to its roots, with returning stars including Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, Dave Sheridan, Cheri Oteri, and Chris Elliott.

Embracing its R-rating, the sequel is full of intentionally offensive humor as it pokes fun at various recent horror releases, including ‘Smile,’ ‘Longlegs,’ ‘Sinners,’ ‘Get Out,’ ‘The Substance,’ ‘M3GAN,’ and ‘Weapons.’ It’s the kind of boundary-pushing comedy the franchise built its reputation on, but it turns out at least one gag was considered a bridge too far for the final cut.

Speaking to Dexerto to promote the film, Faris revealed she had lobbied hard to reimagine Cindy as a conspiracy-minded figure with a very specific political identity. “I was always pushing for Cindy to be classic MAGA rabbit hole,” she told Dexerto. “The kind of person that you saw outside of the Walmart during quarantine, that was raising some kind of crazy ass fuss.”

The pitch went even further than a general character vibe. Faris had envisioned a scene where Cindy, getting progressively drunk in her truck, looks into the rearview mirror and delivers a line clearly winking at Melania Trump. “There was a moment where I’m getting just wasted, just so drunk, I’m in my truck, of course, and I look into the rearview mirror and I say, ‘Be best, Cindy Campbell. Be best.’ That didn’t make it, but I liked my little winking there,” she shared.

In an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, Faris also described the broader setup for the bit, involving Cindy escalating from a shot glass to a flask to a keg to a full margarita, before delivering the punchline. She framed the joke as a nod to Cindy being a “quarantined, lonely person,” harkening back to post-COVID conspiracy trends. The layered physical comedy and the pointed cultural reference clearly meant a lot to her, which makes its absence from the finished film all the more notable.

Whatever ended up on the cutting room floor, audiences have not been put off by the final product. The film is projected to close out its opening weekend with a global total of over $105 million, comprising $55 million domestically and an additional $50.5 million from international theaters.

That domestic figure marks the best opening weekend in the franchise’s history, beating the previous record set by the third installment back in 2003. Faris herself has credited the return of the Wayans Brothers as a key reason for the film feeling like a genuine comeback, telling MovieWeb that when the original ‘Scary Movie’ arrived in 2000, “it was like a cultural earthquake.”

With ‘Scary Movie’ proving the franchise still has serious commercial life, a Cindy Campbell who goes full MAGA rabbit hole might just be the kind of character development a potential sequel could lean into. What do you think, should the Melania Trump joke have made it into the film, or was the edit the right call?