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Jenny McCarthy

Jenny McCarthy is an American television personality, actress, model and author whose entertainment career has spanned television, film, radio and publishing. For horror fans, she is particularly remembered as Sarah Darling in Wes Craven's Scream 3, while television audiences know her from programmes including Singled Out, The View and The Masked Singer. Born in Illinois, McCarthy began her professional career in modelling during the early 1990s before quickly making the transition into mainstream television. Her energetic personality and willingness to embrace outrageous comedy made her particularly suited to the rapidly changing television landscape of the decade. Singled Out and MTV McCarthy's major television breakthrough came when she became a co-host of MTV's dating game show Singled Out. The programme became one of the defining MTV shows of the mid-1990s and considerably increased McCarthy's public profile. Her success on the network led to further opportunities, including The Jenny McCarthy Show, which allowed her to lean even further into sketch comedy and the unpredictable humour that had become part of her television persona. Acting roles followed as McCarthy expanded beyond presenting. Her early film appearances included Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, The Stupids, BASEketball and Diamonds. Then, in 2000, Ghostface called. Sarah Darling in Scream 3 Jenny McCarthy joined the Scream franchise in Wes Craven's Scream 3 as Sarah Darling. Sarah is an actress working on the troubled Hollywood production of Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro, the latest movie-within-a-movie inspired by the murders that Sidney Prescott survived. Sarah has been cast as Candy, one of the fictional characters in Stab 3. Unfortunately, production isn't going particularly smoothly. The screenplay keeps changing, the actors aren't entirely sure what version of the movie they're making, and somebody has started murdering people connected with the production. For a franchise built around characters understanding the conventions of horror movies, Sarah finds herself in an especially strange position. She's an actress in a horror sequel about murders from another horror sequel while an actual killer stalks the production. And then the telephone rings. Ghostface Calls Sarah Sarah is summoned to the studio after apparently receiving a call from director Roman Bridger. Once there, another call arrives. This one isn't really from Roman. Ghostface is on the line. Sarah quickly realises that the horror movie she's supposed to be making has become considerably more real than anything in the screenplay. The resulting sequence plays directly into the Scream franchise's love of horror filmmaking itself. Sarah moves through a studio filled with costumes and props, surrounded by fake weapons and movie equipment while attempting to escape a very real killer. Ghostface eventually catches her, making Sarah one of the victims of the Hollywood killing spree at the centre of Scream 3. It's a relatively brief role, but McCarthy's comic timing fits naturally into the film's broader Hollywood satire. From Scream to Scary Movie McCarthy's relationship with horror comedy didn't end with Scream 3. Three years later she appeared in Scary Movie 3, part of the spoof franchise that parodied many of the same horror conventions that the Scream films had already been playing with. She portrayed Kate in the film's opening sequence alongside Pamela Anderson. The appearance gave McCarthy the unusual distinction of appearing both within the Scream franchise and within a series built around parodying the type of horror movies Scream helped revive. Film and Television McCarthy continued working across both film and television throughout the 2000s. Her movie credits include Dirty Love, which she also wrote and produced, John Tucker Must Die and Witless Protection. Television remained an especially important part of her career. She appeared in programmes including Two and a Half Men and later returned to presenting and talk-show work. McCarthy joined the daytime programme The View as a co-host and subsequently appeared with husband Donnie Wahlberg in the reality series Donnie Loves Jenny. She has also worked extensively in radio and publishing, releasing several books during her career. The Masked Singer Another major television chapter began when McCarthy became a panelist on the American version of The Masked Singer. The programme revolves around celebrities performing while concealed inside elaborate costumes, with the panel attempting to determine their identities from a series of clues. It became another high-profile television role in a career that had begun on MTV more than two decades earlier. A Career Built Around Personality Jenny McCarthy's career has taken an unusually varied route. Model. MTV personality. Game-show host. Actress. Author. Radio presenter. Talk-show co-host. Television panelist. Her willingness to move between different areas of entertainment has allowed her to remain a recognisable figure long after her original breakthrough during the 1990s. For Scream fans, though, there will always be Sarah Darling. An actress making Stab 3 who discovers one of the fundamental rules of the Scream universe: When an unknown caller starts asking questions, staying on the telephone is rarely a good idea. Short Bio / Excerpt Jenny McCarthy is an American television personality, actress and author known for Singled Out, The Masked Singer and her role as Sarah Darling in Wes Craven's Scream 3.