Everyone remembers the red jacket. People remember the zombies, the Vincent Price voiceover, and the legendary dance sequence in the fog. But if you grew up in the eighties or you've spent any time falling down a YouTube rabbit hole, you know the girl in Michael Jackson's Thriller video is just as iconic as the King of Pop himself. Her name is Ola Ray. She was the one screaming in the movie theater and running for her life through a graveyard while Michael did his best "ghoul" impression.
She wasn't just some random extra picked off a street corner.
By the time John Landis cast her in 1983, Ola Ray was already making waves. She was a Playboy Playmate—Miss June 1980, to be exact. That’s a detail a lot of the "family-friendly" retrospectives tend to gloss over, but it’s part of why she had that effortless, camera-ready charisma. Landis wanted someone who could actually act a little bit but, more importantly, someone who could handle the sheer scale of what they were building. Nobody knew it would become a cultural juggernaut. It was just a music video. Except, it wasn't. It was a short film with a budget that made people’s heads spin at the time.
Why Ola Ray became the face of a generation
John Landis had a specific vision. He’d already done An American Werewolf in London, so he knew horror. He needed a girl who could play the "final girl" trope—the innocent date who realizes her boyfriend is literally turning into a monster.
Ola fit the bill perfectly.
She had this wide-eyed innocence that contrasted with Michael's growing intensity. Think about the opening scene. They’re in the car. It’s "1950s style." Michael is trying to tell her he’s different. It’s cheesy, sure, but Ola’s reactions sell the fear. When she runs away from the theater because she’s too scared of the movie—only for the movie to become her reality—that’s classic horror storytelling. Her chemistry with Jackson was palpable. Rumors swirled for years about whether they were actually dating, but Ola has mostly described their relationship as a very close, very sweet friendship during that era. She’s mentioned in interviews how shy Michael was, yet how he’d play pranks on set to keep things light between the heavy makeup sessions.
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The legal battles and the "Thriller" curse
You’d think starring in the most famous music video of all time would mean you’re set for life. Honestly? It didn't quite work out that way for her.
The industry can be brutal.
For years, Ola Ray was locked in a struggle to get what she felt were her fair share of the royalties. It’s a messy story. In 2009, just about two months before Michael Jackson passed away, she actually sued him and his production company. She claimed she hadn’t been paid her portion of the profits for the video for over a decade. It wasn't about being greedy; it was about the fact that Thriller was—and is—a massive commercial machine that generates millions in licensing, merchandise, and streaming.
They eventually settled. In 2012, reports surfaced that she received a settlement, though much of it reportedly went toward legal fees. It’s a sobering reminder that behind the glitz of MTV’s golden age, there were contracts and disputes that lasted way longer than the four-minute song.
Life after the graveyard
What does one do after being the girl in Michael Jackson's Thriller?
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- She did some more acting, appearing in Beverly Hills Cop II.
- She showed up in Cheers.
- She tried her hand at music, releasing a single called "Remember" in the 2010s as a tribute to Michael.
- She’s a frequent guest at horror conventions and fan expos.
She’s basically the queen of nostalgia now. When you see her at a convention today, she still has that smile. She leans into the legacy. Most people would get tired of talking about a job they did forty years ago, but Ola seems to understand that she’s a part of music history. She’s the personification of that specific 1983 moment when music videos stopped being promotional clips and started being art.
The technical side of the performance
We have to talk about the screaming. It’s a skill.
Landis needed someone who could scream in a way that didn't sound like a "movie scream" but felt visceral. During the climax of the video, when the zombies have her trapped in that abandoned house and Michael is closing in, Ola Ray's terror feels real. Part of that might be because the set was genuinely creepy. They were filming in the middle of the night in Los Angeles—locations included the Palace Theatre and a specific stretch of Carroll Avenue where the "haunted" house still stands today.
If you visit that house now, it looks surprisingly normal. It’s a Victorian in Angelino Heights. But in the video, through the lens of cinematographer Robert Paynter, it was the end of the world. Ola had to hold her own against a dozen dancers in prosthetics that took hours to apply. She wasn't a dancer herself, which worked in her favor. She was the audience surrogate. We weren't supposed to be dancing with the zombies; we were supposed to be scared with her.
What most people get wrong about her role
A common misconception is that she was just a "video vixen." That’s a term that came much later, mostly in the 90s hip-hop era.
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Ola Ray was a co-star.
The Thriller credits list her prominently. It was a SAG-AFTRA production with a real script. She had to hit marks, handle dialogue, and maintain a consistent character arc over nearly 14 minutes. If she hadn't sold the "date night gone wrong" vibe, the whole thing would have fallen flat. It would have just been a guy in a wolf suit. She gave the video its stakes.
The legacy of the red jacket and the yellow dress
Everyone talks about Michael’s red leather jacket with the black "V" piping. But look at Ola’s outfit. The blue and yellow ensemble she wears in the main sequence? It’s peak 80s. It was designed to pop against the muted, grimy colors of the street and the graveyard. Stylistically, she represented the "normal" world that was being invaded by the supernatural.
Actionable insights for fans and creators
If you’re a fan of pop culture history or a creator looking to understand why this specific casting worked so well, there are a few things to take away from Ola Ray’s stint as the girl in Michael Jackson's Thriller.
First, casting against type works. Landis didn't cast a typical "scream queen." He cast a model with a very warm, approachable presence, which made the horror elements feel more jarring. Second, if you're ever in Los Angeles, you can actually do a self-guided tour of the Thriller locations. Start at the Palace Theatre on S. Broadway, then head over to the 1300 block of Carroll Avenue. It’s a masterclass in how location scouting turns a simple street into a nightmare.
Finally, if you’re an artist or performer, protect your rights early. Ola Ray's story is a textbook example of why the "back-end" of a contract matters. Even if you're working with the biggest star on the planet, make sure the paperwork is solid.
The Thriller video remains a masterpiece because of the chemistry between its leads. Ola Ray wasn't just a girl in a video; she was the perfect foil to Jackson’s supernatural energy. She remains a vital piece of the puzzle that made Thriller the best-selling cultural phenomenon it remains to this day. To truly appreciate her contribution, you have to watch the "Making of Thriller" documentary. It shows her in the makeup chair, laughing with Michael, and navigating the chaos of a production that was changing the world in real-time. She handled it with grace, and that's why we're still talking about her decades later.