What’s your favorite scary movie?
For throngs of fans in attendance at Rhode Island Comic Con in Providence this past weekend, the emphatic answer was Wes Craven‘s Scream.
Actors David Arquette (Dewey), Skeet Ulrich (Billy), Matthew Lillard (Stu), Jamie Kennedy (Randy), Rose McGowan (Tatum), Roger L. Jackson (voice of Ghostface), Lee Waddell (Ghostface), and Dermot Mulroney (Scream VI‘s Detective Bailey) participated in a reunion panel on Saturday.
“The fact that this movie has spanned generations is unbelievable to us,” a grateful Ulrich greeted the packed audience.
“We’re so thankful for you for taking the time out of your lives to come and see us and for the love and the warmth that you share when we get to meet you. We don’t always have a ton of time, but we try and take as much time as possible to really show our love for you. So thank you.”
Fans were surprised to learn that, despite the big reveal at the end, the cast received the entire script prior to auditioning.
“We all read it at that time,” says Ulrich. “There’s some films now where you only get to read parts of it, and then hopefully you get at some point to read the whole thing. But that one was pre-spoiler, pre-any worries about things like that.”
He continues, “I don’t think they had really conceived the sequel at that time, so we all read it before we ever auditioned for it, so we knew everything about it. Some of that was somewhat malleable, but it really didn’t change that much from what we read.”
McGowan added, “I read, obviously, that Tatum was going to rest in peace. I went into her room on set and there were two twin beds. I thought, ‘Genius! Her dark-haired sister will come back and avenger her death.’ I’m still waiting!”
Arquette wasn’t warned about Dewey’s death in Scream 5. “I got the script, and I was going through it. I was like, ‘Dewey’s got a great role in this one!’ And that I got that part, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I didn’t– Wait, let’s check the ending for a little thumbs up.’ I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s why.'”
Dewey’s fate also came as a disappointment to Mulroney. “When I got Scream VI, my first question was, I hope I get to work with David Arquette! My agent said, ‘I’m gonna call right now and find out.’ Agent calls back and is like, ‘I’ve got some bad news.’ Because I was a cop, I thought we were gonna be cops together,” he laughed.
Arquette suggested a callback to his favorite line from Scream — “Bam, bitch went down,” delivered by McGowan as she colorfully describes Sidney punching Gale — in a Scream 5 that was ultimately left on the cutting room floor.
“I was supposed to be all drunk in a scene. I had arguments with the directors [Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett]. I was like, ‘That’s not really Dewey. He’s not like that.’ We went back and forth, and they cut it out,” he explains.
“But I get punched by Kyle [Gallner, playing Vince]. I fall into a pool table, and I hit the ground. I told the directors it would be really funny if one of the kids walking by said, ‘Bam, bitch went down.’ I was like, ‘Just trust me on this. It’ll get a really big response!’ They had Amber say it, but it got cut out.”
For Ulrich, a moment from the original Scream that stands out involved inadvertently intimidating Courteney Cox. “I remember Matt and I were in the middle of what was like a 15-day journey shooting that kitchen scene.
There was a point where where Gail enters the scene, so Courteney comes to set. Matt and I were in killer mode, just locked into this mindset and staying focused on what we had to do. She walked on, and I remember us looking at her like she was prey, to the point that Wes stepped in. He was like, ‘Guys, stop.’ But she was visibly like, ‘What the fuck am I walking into?'” he smirked.
Arquette recounted his surprise to hear Jackson on the other end of the phone while filming a scene for Scream 2. “I picked up the phone in some scene that I was on the phone with Ghostface, and [Jackson] was on the phone. I said, ‘Wes, is he really on the phone?’
He was doing the voice, and I’m like, ‘Wes, he can see us? Has he been on the movie? Why haven’t I met him before?’ He’s like, ‘I have him stay in a separate hotel. You guys have never met him.’ I said, ‘That is so creepy!'”
Waddell fondly reflected on his time discussing the craft of acting with Henry Winkler, who appears uncredited as the principal in Scream. “He’s such a pleasant guy. That is the only time in my entire 30 or 40 years of acting and stunts that I fanboy-ed out.
“The lessons he taught on the fly in the middle of a shoot, I still use them to this day. That’s how powerful that was.”
Arquette shared his own Winkler story. “I grew up right down the street from Paramount Studios. I used to walk down the street and stand in line for ‘Laverne & Shirley,’ ‘Happy Days,’ ‘Mork & Mindy.’ I’d go in and be a part of the live studio audience — at like 8 years old, alone!”
He continues, “I’d always be amazed by the crew and the actors and the whole thing. I’d be watching really intently. Then one time I stayed after with a few other people at the end of ‘Happy Days,’ and Henry Winkler came out and shook everyone who waited’s hand.
“I told him this story on the set of Scream, and he said, ‘Well, let me shake your hand again!'”
On the subject of celebrity interactions, Ulrich recalled being starstruck by Skinny Puppy vocalist Nivek Ogre, of whom he’s been a fan since he was a teenager. “I met him at a convention, and I couldn’t speak. It never happens to me. I just love the dude.”
Lillard shared a story about meeting Barack Obama. “We hosted an event at Universal Amphitheatre when he was on the campaign for the first time, and I went up to him like, ‘Dude, how fucking tired are you?’ I don’t think people swore at him very often. He stared at me for a second and then was like, ‘Pretty fucking tired.'”
Scream‘s legacy doesn’t merely endure but it continues to grow after nearly three decades, not only due to new installments being produced but also because those impacted by the original film now have families of their own with whom they share it.
“It’s kind of hard to think it’s real in a lot of ways, but we continue to go around the country and see rooms like this, and it’s pretty amazing,” says Ulrich. “It’s brought families together — which you would never in a million years think that a movie like this would unite people, but it really has.
“It’s a bit surreal. It’s certainly very humbling, and we’re all incredibly grateful for it. There’s no way 28 years ago us hanging out in Napa Valley, California would have thought that this would exist. That’s really a tribute to you guys more than it is us, so thank you for loving us.”
“Yesterday I signed this beautiful painting, and it was Ghostface on a surfboard,” Kennedy grinned. “I’m like, ‘That’s a wrap!’ Ghostface is now Ronald McDonald. It’s a part of pop culture. It’s incredible.”
“I’m a new kid, even though I’m the old guy, so you guys were already here ready to receive Scream VI,” said Mulroney. “It was incredible, the landing for a movie like that. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life, and I feel so privileged to be with this group of people that paved the way for my entrance late in the game.”
Despite the longevity of the film and their respective careers, the actors still audition for most roles. “Every movie I’m offered is terrible,” Lillard chuckled. “That’s actually not true. Five Night’s at Freddy’s was a good one.”
“One of the last films I auditioned for was the new [Five Nights at Freddy’s], and I did not get a call back,” Arquette admitted with a giggle. He also amiably mentioned failing to book a part as a sheriff on Scream writer Kevin Williamson‘s new show, “The Waterfront.”
Ulrich concluded the panel with inspiring words for the audience. “We’re a group of artists. I’m sure there are many, many artists in the group. I want you to hold that as your success that you have found what you love to do. Don’t hold anybody like Hollywood to your standard of why I’m not successful because I haven’t done X, Y, and Z.
“We all face that battle too. We’re all the weirdos, and we love you and thank you immensely for your time.”
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