Naomi Scott’s Scene in This Popular Sci Film Were Cut

British actor Naomi Scott recently played the lead in the psychological horror film Smile 2, receiving rave reviews for her portrayal of global superstar Skye Riley. Since being a teenager in Disney’s Life Bites and Lemonade Mouth, Scott has steadily built a successful film and TV acting career, taking diverse action-packed roles with considerable screen time. Her film roles include a power ranger, a princess and a systems engineer.

She also played a member of NASA in Ridley Scott’s 2015 sci-fi hit The Martian. However, audiences didn’t see her speak in that role as it was cut from the main film, making her more like an extra. Actors being cut, even from Hollywood blockbusters, is common. They still get paid for their work, which is some compensation, but it’s disappointing when they’ve put blood, sweat and tears into their art.

Where Was Scott’s Scene in ‘The Martian’?

Derived from Andy Weir’s fictional book, The Martian was directed by the renowned Ridley Scott, who is no stranger to working on epic sci-fi films such as 1979’s Alien and 2012’s Prometheus. He felt drawn to the story of Dr Mark Watney, telling the Los Angeles Times, “I think the film is about how no one is ever alone.”

When botanist and mechanical engineer Watney, played by Matt Damon, is left on Mars, his only option is survival, while NASA and, crucially, his crew devise a plan to get him home safely. Naomi Scott plays the character Ryoko in the film, who’s part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory workforce and an expert in rovers, remote-controlled motor vehicles which Watney uses to travel across the Red Planet.

After The Martian’s completion, Scott arrived at the London screening without being told that her only scripted scene had been cut. As Scott relayed to Jimmy Kimmel, she didn’t expect Matt Damon to be there (he wasn’t), but there is a chance at events like these to find more opportunities. While watching the film, she anticipated where her scene should be, knowing it was linked to the rover.

The film progressed to the end credits, and Scott realized that her speaking part lay on the cutting room floor. She shared with Kimmel, “Time goes by and hope just slips away.” All that remains of Ryoko in The Martian is one short shot of her laughing while wearing a baseball cap, but fans can see more of her in action in the film’s extended cut.

Great Roles Followed for Naomi Scott

Her next major part was a dream of many young people: wearing a pink morph suit to play Kimberley Hart in the 2017 Power Rangers movie. Coming full circle, she landed the role of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s 2019 classic tale of Aladdin. Like 1992’s animated version, she played Jasmine as an independent and adventurous personality. Scott then went on to play Elena Houghlin, a system engineer, in 2019’s Charlie’s Angels and returned to space to play Naomi Callerway in 2024’s sci-fi comedy Distant.

Creatively speaking, the moment Scott had been waiting for came in the form of playing troubled pop star Skye Riley in Smile 2, directed by Parker Finn. From all the parts she’s played, Skye is a huge departure from what Scott usually undertakes and a million miles away from Jasmine. Scott stated it was the most physically demanding role she’d ever undertaken, telling Vanity Fair, “I’ve never been so exhausted in my life.”

Prominent singer Skye has a stint in rehab after losing her boyfriend in a crash. Thinking she’s ready to take on the world again with a tour, pressure mounts. Her trauma is nowhere near healed, causing her to relapse. She visits her drug dealer, only for him to savagely kill himself in front of her. And so, like Smile, the curse is passed on, and a week of anguish begins.

There’s a danger of Smile 2 being repetitive and too similar to Smile, but this hasn’t happened, in part, due to Scott’s commitment to the role. Both films share the same theme: once you see the “smile,” you’re tortured by an entity that hallucinates your mind until your untimely death. However, the leads, Sosie Bacon as the therapist in Smile and Scott as the pop star in Smile 2, drive each plot in different directions because of their chain of events.

Scott is collecting high praise for her portrayal of Skye, with audiences rooting for her complex character by the film’s end. This draws similarities to Demi Moore playing the fading movie star and fitness instructor Elizabeth Sparkle in The Substance, also released this year. Both Skye and Elizabeth deal with an overbearing sense of self-loathing, showing that fame and fortune do not always bring happiness.

Naomi Scott’s story is one of perseverance, proving the point that when one door closes, another opens. From being cut from The Martian, which must have stung, to playing the lead in an extremely well-received worldwide horror sequel, Smile 2, she has an inspirational journey to share with the world.

The Martian is available to stream on Max.