The quiet Essex life of Smile 2 actress Naomi Scott who dropped out of A-Levels to pursue Hollywood
This weekend sees the release of a new Hollywood horror film, which marks a powerhouse turn for its star, Naomi Scott. The 31-year-old actress plays pop sensation Skye Riley in Smile 2 , the sequel to the breakout horror hit Smile in 2022 which sees characters stalked by a mysterious smiling entity which latches onto people's anxieties. The film opened in UK cinemas this weekend.
Scott has shot to fame after previous roles in Power Rangers (2017), Charlie's Angels (2019) and the mega-Disney blockbuster Aladdin (2019), Guy Ritchie's live-action retelling of the classic animation. But before being catapulted to superstardom, Scott had lived a quiet life in Essex, having moved to the area when she was eight years old.
Born in Hounslow, her family swapped this for Woodford, where her parents were pastors at The Bridge Church. In an interview with AnOther Magazine, soon after she hit the red carpet for the premiere of Aladdin, where she plays Princess Jasmine, she would be "serving tea in a hoodie at the Woodford panto" the following week.
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She grew up listening to gospel and R&B music, specific singers Kim Burrell, Mary Mary, and Kirk Franklin, and singing in church as she grew up. She would go on to attend the Davenant Foundation School in Loughton. But in 2011, Hollywood began beckoning.
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Scott shared how she left school during her A-Levels to take up a starring role in the Fox sci-fi TV series Terra Nova, produced by Steven Speilberg. Scott said: "I left school in the middle of my A-Level [exams]. I went to see the headmaster, and he was great — big up to him — he was like, ‘I think you should go.’”
Now in her new film, Scott's character has a lot to grapple with. “I definitely learned that my body produces so much snot and tears, and I don’t know how I did it [but] I’m so proud of it. Do you need some snot? I got you!” says the actress, who is married to former English footballer Jordan Spence. “I was so scared when it got to day three – I wondered if I was going to dry up and have nothing. But no, throughout the whole shoot, it kept coming.”
When viewers first meet Skye (Scott), she’s a young recording artist still recovering physically and emotionally from a horrific car accident involving her actor boyfriend Paul (played by American actor Ray Nicholson, 32, who previously starred in the Amazon Prime Video series Panic and film Out Of The Blue).
Alongside the emotional trauma, Skye is grappling with the promotion of her latest album, Too Much For One Heart, which includes an international tour and a comeback interview with American talk show host Drew Barrymore, 49 — who appears in the movie as herself.
However, with her manager and mother, Elizabeth Riley – played by American actress Rosemarie DeWitt, 52, of Little Fires Everywhere and Mad Men fame – putting pressure on her, Skye is under immense strain.
Vulnerable and dealing with nagging back pain from the accident, Skye visits her former classmate Lewis (Lukas Gage, 29, known for roles in Euphoria and The White Lotus), who is now a drug dealer. During their meeting, she is exposed to a random encounter that launches her on a terrifying and isolating journey.
It makes Skye doubt whether she can trust her closest circle – including her mother, her best friend Gemma (Dylan Gelula, 30, of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame) – and even whether she can trust herself.
The emotionally intense scenes were part of the appeal for Scott, who emphasises that she must be challenged in everything she does.
“I think when you’re challenged, you just naturally grow, and you get better. When you fail, fall on your face and don’t die, you realise that it was not too bad,” she says. “I just want to have experiences, creative experiences and work with people that I think are great. That’s why I was so excited to do this [Smile 2] because I was such a fan of Parker [Finn, who wrote as well as directed the film].
“It’s really about the filmmaker, right? When I watched that first movie, [it was obvious that] he was a filmmaker who cared about the characters. The movie is about these people, and that’s what keeps us engaged,” she adds.