2026 is a big year for Olivia Rose Keegan, who can be seen in Scary Movie (2026) and Paramount +’s Dutton Ranch. The former has her playing Cindy Campbell’s daughter, Sara, and it grossed over $228 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing Scary Movie in the film franchise. The latter has her portraying a concerned wife, Whitney Ayers, and the series broke records, including becoming the biggest original series launch in Paramount+ history.

When watching Keegan portray the daughter of Anna Faris’ Cindy in Scary Movie, I was thinking to myself, “The casting director did a wonderful job.” She admits that she had the upper hand when it came to getting the part.

“A small part of me feels like I cheated my way into this,” Keegan tells Nerd Reactor. “I know I earned it, but I feel that way because I talk about this a lot, so I feel like a broken record, but I’ll say it again and again and again. I love Anna and her work so much, and I’ve been inspired by her for as long as I can remember. So I do feel like she’s always been my comedic north star.

“Whenever I would audition for comedic projects in the past, I had her voice somewhere in my head and heart. Like her voice, as in her whole performance and everything she’s done. I really have genuinely admired her. So she was living in my little creative heart. And when I got the audition, I didn’t know when I got the audition that I would be playing her daughter, but when I eventually found out, I was like, ‘Oh yes, I can let it rip, and I can really play around with this.'”

The comedy role was a stark contrast with Keegan’s role in Dutton Ranch, a drama that follows a family starting a new life.

“It’s so fun because that’s my favorite thing about this job, getting to play around in different universes and different genres. I didn’t know I could do a comedy until this, or I didn’t know I could improv. I just always thought of myself as not super gifted at those things. The more I get to zigzag between all these crazily different worlds, I feel like the more personally fulfilled and successful I feel.”

Dutton Ranch is now available to stream on Paramount+, and Scary Movie is currently in theaters.