The Stunning Transformation Of Lauren LaVera

Lauren LaVera may not be a household name — yet — but to horror fans, she's emerging as the genre's next big star. That's due to her incendiary performance as "final girl" Sienna Shaw in the surprise horror hit "Terrifier 2," who battles a circus-costumed maniac known as Art the Clown. Reviews for "Terrifier 2" were through the roof and were even better for LaVera's return in the highly anticipated sequel "Terrifier 3," which has fans referring to her by the coveted sobriquet "scream queen" — a rare horror honor held by the likes of "Halloween" star Jamie Lee Curtis and B-movie slasher-movie legend Linnea Quigley, known for such films as "Return of the Living Dead" and "Night of the Demons."

"Even being called a 'final girl' is such an honor to me, but scream queen is something I never thought I would attain," LaVera marveled in an interview with Deadline. "I think it's pretty badass ... I know certain people might have different opinions about that title, but I think it's pretty cool ... I love the title, and I would love to continue to have that title in the future."

This talented actor scared up more fans with "Terrifier 3," and her career's been getting hotter since. However, even her most ardent fans may not know all the fascinating twists and turns that have led her there. To find out more about her amazing journey, keep on reading to experience the stunning transformation of Lauren LaVera.

Born in Philadelphia, Laura LaVera became interested in martial arts when she was still just a kid. "I was a huge Bruce Lee fan growing up," she told Halloween Daily News of how the late "Enter the Dragon" star inspired her passion. "He's obviously a huge hero of mine. I just wanted to feel that power and strength. And that's why I got into martial arts."

LaVera went on to become accomplished in several forms of martial arts, including Taekwon-Do, Kun Khmer, and Wushu. She also studied dance, training in both ballroom and ballet dancing. That combined experience helped LaVera to break through into Hollywood — not as an actor, at least not initially, but as a stunt performer. Her first gig, in fact, came in 2017 as a stunt double for movie star Anya Taylor-Joy in the psychological horror film "Split," directed by M. Night Shyamalan. "This was before I even started acting, but was my first onset experience," she posted on X, formerly Twitter, in 2023, recalling the memory.

In a follow-up tweet, she revealed she responded to an open casting call looking for background actors just so she could see what it was like to be on a movie set. After a few days as a background actor, LaVera was asked if she wanted to double for Taylor-Joy and eagerly accepted. "Ended up working closely with Night and learned a lot," she tweeted. "He'd often wave me over to see the monitor & encouraged my curiosity of how the set works."

While it may be unwelcome news to some of her fans, Lauren LaVera has been happily married for more than a decade. As she explained during an interview with Scotland's The Herald, she spent some time traveling in Europe and the U.K. and studied in Italy. "It's where I met my husband," she said, without identifying her spouse's name. 

She and her husband tied the knot in 2014 under very humble circumstances. "We got married very young," she revealed in an X post. "Didn't even have a ceremony because we couldn't afford it. We got our marriage license at City Hall. I was wearing sweatpants. We celebrated at Starbucks."

While holding one's wedding reception in a coffee shop is about as low-key as it gets, the couple's financial situation has improved dramatically since then. That was evident in a 2021 Instagram post in which LaVera announced that she and her hubby had purchased their first house. "That's right, we're homeowners!!!!!!" she wrote, revealing that they were also landlords. "We bought a duplex and will be renting out one of the units and eventually both," she added, crediting her husband, Andrea, with helping to guide her through the difficult process. "I can't even express to you everything this man has done to get me through this and I'm so happy I get to embark on this next chapter in life with him," she wrote.

After breaking into the movies via "Split," Lauren LaVera eagerly began pursuing more acting roles. This led to several minor parts in small films and even a guest-starring role in a 2020 episode of "MacGyver." As her experience grew, the roles became bigger. Finally, she landed her first starring role, portraying Sienna Shaw in 2022's Terrifier 2." The film was a low-budget sequel to "Terrifier," a 2016 indie horror film from director Damien Leone, which had become something of a cult favorite among slasher-flick fans. Considered especially gory, the sequel marked the return of maniacal, murderous Art the Clown, played by David Howard Thornton.

While LaVera may not have actively been seeking to break into the horror genre, it was a natural fit for her. "I love horror. I've always been a horror enthusiast, and I love women in horror," she explained in an interview with Deadline. "I think they're some of the most complex, interesting, layered characters, and that is true tenfold for Sienna, in my opinion."

Thanks to Laura LaVera's outstanding performance, "Terrifier 2" became a hit. While its box office ($15 million worldwide) is nowhere near blockbuster territory, for a crowd-funded horror indie with a reported budget of just $250,000, it was huge.

Meanwhile, reviews from horror fans were through the roof, heaping praise on LaVera in her first-ever starring film role. "'Terrifier 2' is an irrefutable triumph," read the review from The People's Movies. "Lauren LaVera rules as Sienna in her angel-winged fantasy armor as a final girl fighting for family," declared IGN. She was also lauded by Paste as the film's MVP in a review that trumpeted, "LaVera, tasked with injecting humanity into the sequel, lives up to this task with pure star power. Even when the film is flagging, her light isn't diminished."

Loud and Clear also singled out LaVera in its review. "Lauren LaVera is a badass final girl and scream queen in the making," it read, praising her for bringing depth to what could otherwise have been just another shlocky gore-fest. "Because of LaVera's performance," that review added, "there are dashes of sympathy added to the blood-filled screen."

After the success of "Terrifier 2," Laura LaVera branched out as an actor. This included taking a role in the 2022 mob drama "Not for Nothing" and a small supporting part in the indie drama "Chestnut."

She was back on familiar ground in her next starring role, in the 2023 horror film "The Well," playing a woman working to restore a medieval painting — which just happens to be imbued with a supernatural curse. As the film's director, Federico Zampaglione, told Bloody Flicks, he was so impressed with LaVera after seeing her in "Terrifier 2" that he wanted her for the lead in his upcoming horror film. "So, I contacted her on social media and told her I was about to make this new horror movie and that she would be great as the main character," he recalled. "She was interested, I sent her the script, two days later she said she loved it."

According to a review in Gruesome Magazine, LaVera demonstrated how much she'd progressed as an actor. "Make no mistake — this young woman can act — and she acts her ass off in this one," the review pointed out. "Showing an amazing range as she progresses from 'fish out of water' foreigner to scared, confused house guest, to ass-kicking monster slayer ... If 'Terrifier 2' made her a scream queen — let 'The Well' make her a star."

While "Terrifier 2" managed to elude the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — evidenced by the film's zero Oscar nominations — its star, Lauren LaVera, nonetheless received an award. Of sorts, at least. 

As LaVera revealed via Instagram, "Terrifier 2" was honored by winning multiple awards at Fangoria magazine's annual Chainsaw Awards. "Thank you so much to everyone at @fangoria for this honor and to everyone who voted for 'Terrifier 2,'" she wrote in the caption, accompanying a video in which she posed with the very creepy-looking Editor's Eyeball Award, featuring a golden chainsaw severing a gold skull atop a gory base, with one large eyeball popping out of the skull's eye socket.

"I never would have thought in a million years that I'd be honored with such a legendary award ... like the Chainsaw Award," she said in her acceptance speech, delivered remotely.

Lauren LaVera's scream queen cred opened the door to other opportunities beyond starring in horror movies, although some of them may have been horror-adjacent. That was the case when she was invited to be a guest judge on "The Boulet Brothers Dragula." The show, for the uninitiated, is essentially a horror-themed take on the TV reality competition "RuPaul's Drag Race," in which the titular siblings host the show in their drag personas, Dracmorda and Swanthula.

"I was SO excited when I was invited to guest judge on 'Dragula.' One of my first thoughts was, 'S***, wtf am I gonna wear?!'" LaVera wrote on Instagram, revealing that a friend connected her with designer Xtian de Medici, who outfitted her in a tricked-out bodysuit that was originally designed for pop star extraordinaire Lady Gaga. "It was so much fun going through all the different costume selections but it wasn't easy because all my pieces looked great on her!" de Medici wrote in an Instagram post.

"I've fallen for each drag artist harder with every passing episode and tonight will be no exception," LaVera posted on Instagram, commemorating her appearance on the show. "Thank you so much ... for celebrating and giving a platform for queer drag artists and inviting me in to be a part of something so important."

Lauren LaVera reveled in her status as scream queen yet also explored avenues that would take her into different areas. That bore fruit in early 2024 when she landed a role in "Law & Order: Organized Crime" — a spinoff focused on Detective Elliot Stabler (played by "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" fan favorite Christopher Meloni).

"It's every actor's dream to be able to work on 'Law & Order;' a rite of passage," LaVera gushed on Instagram, celebrating the fact that she was finally cast on one of the "Law & Order" series, after numerous attempts. "Been auditioning for it for years with countless callbacks and holds, which already feels like a win," she continued. "Imagine my surprise when I finally booked it and it turned into a recurring role!"

As she pointed out, her character — Heidi Morris — appeared in not just one episode, but two, the episode titled "Missing Persons" and the next one, "Beyond the Sea." As she pointed out, her experience with "Law & Order" was a lesson in the power of persistence as all those failed "L&O" auditions over the years finally paid off.

Given that she began her career as a stunt double and has an extensive background in martial arts training, it's kind of a no-brainer that Lauren LaVera tended to do her own stunts once she began starring in movies. That was certainly the case with "Terrifier 2," which proved to be all the more authentically terrifying by LaVera's ability to do her own stunts in the film. "I did do the majority of my own stunts," she told MovieWeb.

In fact, she added, if the decision had been left up to her, she would have done all of them. "There were about three stunts, maybe two that I didn't do, which I was game for doing, but [director] Damien [Leone] was like, 'No, it's too dangerous. If you get hurt, we're screwed,'" she explained. "I had a wonderful stunt woman who did two of those stunts, but in most of the fight scenes, of course, it was all me," she added. 

The stunts that she didn't do involved her character crashing through a ceiling, and LaVera admitted she was kind of jealous when watching her stunt double in action. "I really wanted to do it because the stunt woman got to fall on this huge cushioned thing, and that looked so fun," she recalled in an interview with Manor 208. "And I love being physical in roles, I think the more I'm physical, the more I can understand the character."

Given the reception of "Terrifier 2" and Lauren LaVera's highly praised performance as Sienna, it was a given that she'd be back for another sequel. That came to pass in October 2024 with the release of "Terrifier 3." This time, Sienna (now a college student) must confront Art the Clown when he returns, costumed as Santa. 

The third film in the series promised to be the biggest yet; Deadline reported that the budget for the threequel was considerably higher than the second film's $250,000 and was well into seven figures. "There will be a much bigger budget this time around, which is intended to give the filmmakers more creative freedom and let them be as wild as they can be," Priscilla Smith of The Coven (which produced the third film) told Deadline. "And, all jokes aside, we are going for that Oscar this year."

Discussing the film's Christmastime setting, LaVera made no bones about her feelings about the holiday. "I don't like Christmas at all," she admitted in an interview with Dread Central. "I told [director] Damien [Leone], too, when he said he planned to set this one at Christmas. I hate Christmas. I told him that, and he just said, 'Yeah, this is going to be great.'" In fact, LaVera promised that the clown-fueled carnage contrasting with Yuletide magic would leave viewers feeling more than a little unsettled. "It's the juxtaposition of something joyful and playful right next to the gruesome horrors of Art the Clown," she explained.

Beyond the "Terrifier" franchise, Lauren LaVera's association with the horror genre has shown no signs of abating. In "The Fetus" — another horror project set for general release sometime after "Terrifier 3" — LaVera stars as an expectant mother who gives birth to a demonic entity. The film was first announced in late 2022, shortly after the release of "Terrifier 2."

Updates on the film's progress were regularly shared on Instagram, many of which featured LaVera in action. These included posts in which LaVera discovers a dead body, being chained up, and even a tongue-in-cheek video in which LaVera is pictured giving birth, while the film's director, Joe Lam, revealed that 90% of the film has been shot, but required a bit more money to complete.

Like "Terrifier 2," "The Fetus" was crowd-funded by fans. A Kickstarter site was launched, allowing horror aficionados the opportunity to contribute to the film's budget as investors; the release date hasn't been etched in stone as of this writing but is promised to be sometime in 2025.

With "Terrifier 3" freaking out audiences and "The Fetus" on the horizon, what's next for Lauren LaVera? For one thing, she's showcasing another side of herself in the romantic comedy "Dreaming of You," — which is also crowd-funded. Beyond that, LaVera's prospects appear to be wide open and may even propel her toward a whole new genre. Or at least that's the thesis promoted by the website Comic Book Resources, which has pushed for LaVera to become the next Wonder Woman when the role (played by Israeli star Gal Gadot in "Justice League" and two standalone feature films) is recast.

As CBR's Emmett O'Regan wrote, her ability to hold her own against Art the Clown in "Terrifier 2" was no mean feat, particularly for a relatively inexperienced actor. "In a film with such an iconic and screen-chewing villain at its center, LaVera turns in an undeniable movie star performance," O'Regan wrote. "Wonder Woman would be the perfect role for her to flex those movie-star muscles (literally and figuratively) on a grand scale." Meanwhile, O'Regan also pointed out that LaVera's background in martial arts and stunt work also makes her a natural for the role of the iconic superhero. "And LaVera perfectly encapsulates the fragile human elements and larger-than-life quality found in the best cinematic superheroes," he added.

Whether that happens remains an open question, but one thing that's abundantly clear is that LaVera's star is on the rise, and film and television viewers can expect to see a lot more of her in the years to come.