‘Terrifier’ star Lauren LaVera on her new horror film, ‘Twisted’
Lauren LaVera in ‘Twisted.’ (Republic Pictures)
A savvy scammer meets a surgeon with a sick sense of morality in the new horror movie Twisted. Lauren LaVera stars as a scam artist who tangles with a neurosurgeon played by Djimon Hounsou.
LaVera, best known for her role in the ultra-bloody Terrifier franchise, is no stranger to the horror genre.
“I don’t know what it is about me that directors want to just throw all the blood on me,” LaVera told ABC Audio.
LaVera’s first major role in the industry came on the set of the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Split, where she played a body double for Anya Taylor-Joy.
“I was terrified, because I love M. Night Shyamalan,” LaVera said.
She said The Sixth Sense director would often bring her behind the camera to observe the directing process.
“Seeing that kind of passion for this art form really influenced me,” LaVera said. “I saw that you can be this kind person and this incredible artist at the same time.”
In Twisted, LaVera tackles a morally complex character in Paloma, a grifter who attempts to sell rented properties to unsuspecting buyers — until she crosses Hounsou’s Dr. Robert Kezian, who’s on a mission to bring his dead wife back from the grave.
LaVera said Paloma isn’t so different from her Terrifier character, Sienna.
“If we’re using these two women on opposite ends of the moral spectrum — they just had different upbringings. And it’s kind of like that nature versus nurture.”
Another similarity between Terrifier and Twisted is an emphasis on practical horror effects.
“It’s like assisted acting,” said LaVera. “When you have practicals, you can literally see what’s happening in the scene, and that will help influence your reaction to that.”
But it is still gross, she said: “I do not like being covered in blood. Especially when it’s sticky.”
Scream 7scared up big numbers at the box office this weekend.
The latest in the horror franchise brought in $64.1 million, landing it in the #1 spot. According to Variety, that makes it the highest debut for a Scream film, beating out 2023’s Scream VI which previously held the record with a $44.4 million debut.
The animated film GOAT came in at a distant #2 with $12 million, while Wuthering Heights was #3 with $6.95 million.
This week’s only other new release to crack the top 10 was the concert film Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Ever Imagined, which came in at #4 with $4.3 million.
1. Scream 7 — $64.1 million 2. GOAT — $12 million 3. Wuthering Heights — $6.95 million 4. Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Ever Imagined — $4.3 million 5. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert — $3.5 million 6. Crime 101 — $3.4 million 7. I Can Only Imagine 2 — $3.1 million 8. Send Help — $2.8 million 9. How to Make a Killing — $1.6 million 10. Zootopia 2 — $1.4 million
Mary Cosby on ‘Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.’ (Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images)
Robert Cosby Jr., the son of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Mary Cosby, has died at 23.
Mary Cosby shared news of her son’s death in a social media post on Wednesday.
“Our beloved son Robert Jr. has been called home to the Lord,” she wrote. “Though our hearts ache, we take comfort in God’s promise and in knowing he is finally at peace.”
She added, “We are grateful for your prayers and trust in the Lord to carry us through this time of sorrow.”
The Salt Lake City Police Department confirmed Cosby Jr.’s death to ABC News on Wednesday.
Police said they responded to a call for an overdose on Monday at an address associated with someone matching Cosby Jr.’s name and age in Salt Lake City, which turned into a death investigation.
The Police Department did not share a cause of death.
Bravo host Andy Cohen addressed the news on social media, writing, “Devastatingly sad news out of SLC. This is every parent’s worst nightmare. My heart is broken for Mary, and I am sending all my love to her and Robert Sr.”
Mary Cosby had recently shared a photo of her son on Instagram, prior to his death, writing in the caption, “#godfirst Love you all. My Beautiful Son.. I love him sm.”
Cosby Jr. was born to parents Mary Cosby and Robert Cosby Sr.
Mary Cosby’s Bravo cast bio states that she is “committed to supporting her son Robert Jr.’s sobriety and navigates life after the passing of her estranged mother.”
Justin Baldoni speaks onstage at the Vital Voices 12th Annual Voices of Solidarity Awards, Dec. 9, 2024, in New York. Blake Lively attends ‘Another Simple Favor’ New York Screening, April 27, 2025, in New York. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images | Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Animosity on the set of the film It Ends With Us was evident well before highly publicized lawsuits between stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni were filed, newly unsealed text messages show.
The messages, which are among the hundreds of documents the judge overseeing the civil claims ordered unsealed ahead of a hearing this week, show Lively and Baldoni venting to friends and colleagues during filming.
In a May 2023 text exchange between Lively and a journalist, Lively expresses her frustration with filming and says she “came home and cried” on one occasion. The actress also writes, “They’re just being creeps,” when referring to her co-star.
Texts between Baldoni and another actor show he was equally frustrated while making the movie. Baldoni, who also served as the film’s director, said in one message that Lively was threatening not to promote the movie if she was not allowed to take part in the edit.
In one message, he wrote, “She had the nuclear bomb. If she doesn’t promote the movie she can leak that I’m a bad person or that she felt unsafe with me and ‘all the stuff’ she has on me. Then she’s the victim.”
In a later text message, he wrote, “The risk to my family isn’t worth the creative integrity.”
Other unsealed documents include a text exchange between Lively and fellow actress Jenny Slate, who also appeared in the film.
Referring to Baldoni, Lively wrote, “I also saw something in him, was aware of a general vibe that I’m not into, and I pushed past it. Never again! Lesson learned.”
ABC News has reached out to Slate’s representative for comment.
Lively first filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us and accusing both Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios of engaging in a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” Lively’s reputation.
The two filed dueling lawsuits against each other in New York in the weeks that followed, with Lively reiterating the claims made in her earlier complaint and further accusing Baldoni of retaliation, suing him for nearly $500 million in damages. Baldoni’s lawyer denied the allegations, stating at the time that they had “evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over the movie” by Lively.
Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, the couple’s publicist Leslie Sloane, and Sloane’s public relations company Vision PR alleging extortion and defamation, claiming Lively had “robbed” him of control over the film and had destroyed his reputation.
Lively’s lawyers denied the allegations and called Baldoni’s suit “another chapter in the abuser playbook.”
“This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim,” they said in a statement at the time.
A federal judge in New York dismissed Baldoni’s suit in June of last year, formally ending the counterclaim in October after Baldoni did not refile an amended complaint. Attorney Byran Freedman said at the time, “Our clients chose not to amend their complaint to preserve appeal rights. In the meantime, we are focusing on Ms. Lively’s claims. We remain fully committed to pursuing the truth through every legal and factual avenue available and look forward to our day in court.”
Lively’s suit against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios is ongoing.
This week’s documents were unsealed ahead of a hearing scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 22. The trial is set to begin May 18.
A member of Lively’s legal team responded to the newly unsealed documents in a statement to ABC News, writing, “In his TedTalk to promote his brand as an advocate for women, Justin Baldoni said we must ‘listen to the women’…even if what they are saying is against you.’ See how he actually reacts in the bombshell new evidence released for the first time, which includes sworn testimony and contemporaneous messages from numerous women who actually worked with him.”
The statement continued, “The newly unsealed evidence contains never-before seen testimony, messages, and evidence from numerous eyewitnesses backing the claims in Ms. Lively’s lawsuit. The evidence includes Ms. Lively’s own testimony describing the harassment she faced, as well as new evidence from numerous women describing their own disturbing experiences.”
ABC News has reached out to Baldoni’s representatives for comment.
