Who Plays Sierra In Terrifier 2?
In 2016, the slasher horror film "Terrifier" — written and directed by Damien Leone — came out and followed Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) as he terrorizes three women. Six years later, "Terrifier 2," also written and directed by Leone, made its way to theaters and received positive reception — at this time of writing, it currently holds an 89% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, alongside an 85% audience score.
The film finds Art the Clown resurrected and returning to Miles County, where he sets his sights on teen Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) and her younger brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) to terrorize on Halloween night. The character of Vicky Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi), the only survivor of the events of the first film, also returns, now in a psychiatric hospital.
A few critics singled out LaVera's performance as one of the film's strongest points. Matt Donato of IGN (who had criticisms of the movie as a whole) wrote, "LaVera rules as Sienna in her angel-winged fantasy armor as a final girl fighting for family, facing her demons, and screaming bloody war cries in Art's mocking face — but Leone's spotty storytelling stunts her enthusiastic survival arc."
For those curious about LaVera, here are other projects the actress has done thus far.
LaVera is fairly new to the industry
Interestingly, Lauren LaVera got her start as an actress the same year that the first "Terrifier" film came out — in 2016, she appeared in a short film called "Home Office" (via IMDb). In other words, that means that LaVera will have been considered a newcomer to the industry by the time she starred in the sequel in 2022.
LaVera's next project was a television movie called "Under the Flowers," which was then followed by a string of short films such as "Return Safely" and "Mulk." Also, in 2017, LaVera played Ciara in one episode of the Netflix Marvel series "Iron Fist"; Ciara is a member of Bakuto's faction of the Hand.
LaVera's first non-television movie was 2018's "The Middle of X," in which she played a minor role of an AA meeting attendee. She has also appeared in films such as 2019's "Wetlands," 2020's "A Taste of Christmas" and 2022's "Not For Nothing," as well as a slew of other short films throughout the years. Meanwhile, in 2021, she appeared in "The Hunter's Anthology" as Kate for one episode before appearing in two episodes of "Gilly and Keeves."
The actress has a few projects in the works, according to her IMDb page, such as the romantic drama "Chestnut" opposite "Stranger Things" star Natalia Dyer and the horror film "The Fetus."
LaVera spent a year filming Terrifier 2
In October 2022, Lauren LaVera spoke with Bloody Disgusting about starring in "Terrifier 2" — including the intense filming schedule that came with it.
LaVera explained that filming was initially scheduled for two months but turned into a full year of shooting the film. Moreover, the days were exhausting — in part because of the genre. LaVera explained, "We talked about how in horror, you always have to be at a 10 for everything. The stakes are high because you're fighting for your life. The stakes are survival, so it's so exhausting." She then added that she used the tiring conditions to her advantage. She continued, "I found myself using the exhaustion, the depression, and the discomfort I was feeling for the role, and I think it helped at times just using that energy."
As if the filming process didn't sound grueling enough, LaVera felt some pressure from the ardent fanbase of the first "Terrifier" to do justice with the sequel, admitting that she may not have taken the role had she known how dedicated the fans were. The actress continued, "It was very daunting. But I felt supported the entire time by Dave [Thornton] and Damien [Leone]. Even today, they still make me feel supported by the DMs that I get from fans, which is very daunting to me at times. I'm like, 'Oh my God, what do I say?' And they're very like, 'It's okay. We got you. We support you.'"