'Scream 4' premiere: Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts and Anna Paquin discuss being the fresh blood [Video]

Let's be real: Those who appear in horror movies aren't always praised for their acting ability. But all of that screaming, trembling and panicking can actually be quite difficult to convey convincingly on-screen -- or so say the stars of "Scream 4."

Wes Craven's latest had its premiere in Hollywood on Monday night. The film's fresh blood -- younger actors such as Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts and Anna Paquin -- said that acting scared is a real challenge.

Having a creepy masked figure chasing you helps, though, Panettiere said.

"There's something really terrifying about that mask," she said. "A lot of masks nowadays, they have the boils and they just look gruesome and icky. There's something so simple about that ['Scream'] mask, but so frightening. It's eerie."



Roberts, meanwhile, said the trick lies in really committing to the emotion and not giving in to the worry that it might make you look stupid to do so.

"You have to go for it. You can't hold back. You just gotta do it. Because otherwise, you look silly," said the 20-year-old niece of Julia Roberts.


'

But Paquin, best known now for her role as Sookie Stackhouse in "True Blood," said at the end of the day, "it's all acting."

"I have done a lot of movies that involve blood and people screaming," she said. "None of it's real."