Mia Goth Was Surprised By How Big Her Pearl 'I'm A Star' Meltdown Would Get

This post contains spoilers for "Pearl."

Poor, sweet Pearl. All she ever wanted was to be a star. When the prequel film to "X" released in theaters, viewers went in knowing that Pearl's Hollywood ambitions weren't going to pan out, which is part of what fills "Pearl" with dread from beginning to end. By the time Pearl gets to her audition, she's already killed her parents and the projectionist at her local theater; nailing this audition feels like her only shot left at finding happiness. And she does nail it; at least, it seems like she does a good job from the movie's skewed perspective. But it just isn't enough.

What makes it harder for Pearl is the fact that nobody ever taught her how to handle rejection. She argues with the casting people for a while, who politely but firmly tell her that she's not what they're looking for. And then she repeatedly screams "I'm a star!" at them as she breaks down in tears. It's a moment that's turned into a bit of a meme on TikTok, as girls will film themselves jokingly overreacting to minor criticisms with Pearl's meltdown playing as the only audio.

The popularity of this scene in particular was surprising to "Pearl" lead and co-writer Mia Goth. "I didn't necessarily know how big it was going to be," she explained to Variety. "I don't really like to think through the scenes in too much detail, to be honest. I do all of my prep, but I honestly think that my body always has far better ideas than my head does."

Of course, it's not a huge surprise that Mia Goth's performance got turned into memes at various points in the film. Not only does Mia Goth nail her performance, but there is something depressingly relatable (and funny) about Pearl as a character. Who among us has not gotten our hopes up a little too much for something, only to have the dream come crashing down? Who hasn't tried to hide parts of themselves to people they like, only for it all to slip up to the surface? Admittedly, it wasn't great that Pearl murdered all those people, but hey, nobody's perfect.

Much like with "M3GAN" in 2023 or Dani (Florence Pugh) in "Midsommar," the internet loves to ironically rally around a female character who takes things into her own hands, who self-actualizes in her own twisted way at the expense of the people around her. Morally, none of these movies belong in the "good for her" genre of film, but it's fun to pretend like they do.

The "I'm a star!" meltdown likely blew up as much as it did because most of us do understand the impulse to react as Pearl does to a crushing rejection. But whereas we usually have the dignity and self-control to not have a public meltdown, Pearl has no such qualms. She makes zero attempts to hide how devastated and angry she is, and we respect that. As we wait for the final entry in Ti West's "X" trilogy, "MaXXXine," to release in theaters, we can only guess what sort of deeply-troubling, unforgettable moments Mia Goth will gift us next.