Scream is one of the most iconic slasher flicks. Creepy, homicidal villains, freaked out teens – it has it all. And for a lot of us, it’s one of the most nostalgic movies of the 90s. Part of the reason is its cast, which is so quintessentially of that decade.
Among it's other attributes, Scream was one of the first movies to really question the formulaic structure of horror movies, through the inclusion of horror nerds who try to predict what happens next by using the knowledge they've acquired from watching so many slasher films.
With that in mind, here’s the scoop on what the movie’s cast members are up to these days.
12. Drew Barrymore
What’s not to love about Drew Barrymore? She played Casey in the movie, and her most memorable moment was the phone call scene at the beginning of the film. Since then, Barrymore has been in a wide range of movies, and her production company, Flower Films, has produced movies like Never Been Kissed, Charlie’s Angels, and 50 First Dates.
In 2011, she directed the music video for the song “Our Deal” by the band Best Coast. The video features Chloe Grace Moretz, Miranda Cosgrove, Tyler Posey, Donald Glover, Shailene Woodley, and Alia Shakwat. She is also set to star in this year’s upcoming Netflix sitcom Santa Clarita Diet.
11. Kevin Patrick Walls
He plays Casey’s boyfriend Steve, who is ultimately disemboweled – though he actually auditioned for the role of the movie’s villain, Billy Loomis, which went to Skeet Ulrich. During the 90s, Walls guest starred on a number of TV shows, including The Practice and Seven Days. He played Krieger in Blade, and starred in a horror movie called Stricken, with Jamie Kennedy.
Walls’s acting career apparently fizzled out in the early 2000s, with his last credited role as a character named Billy in the 2004 movie Sweet Underground. There doesn’t seem to be much information about him after that point, but we hope all is well and he’s just taking a break from Hollywood.
10. Neve Campbell
She has played Sidney in the Scream series, and of course we all remember her as Julia Salinger from Party of Five. After the release of the third movie in the series, she started in a few smaller, critically acclaimed movies like 2000’s Panic and 2002’s Last Call, for which she won a Prism Award for Performance in TV Movie or Miniseries.
In 2006, she made her West End theater debut, in Arthur Miller’s Resurrection Blues, performed at the Old Vic theater. In 2011, she came back to the Scream franchise for a belated fourth entry. And in the same year, she starred in the film Singularity. She currently stars as Leann Harvey in season four of the Netflix drama House of Cards.
9. Skeet Ulrich
As mentioned, Ulrich played the movie’s main villain, Billy Loomis. He’s probably best known for his role as Rex Winters, a detective and former Marine from the Law and Order franchise. He has featured and starred in a number of movies, including the series Jericho, and he ABC series Miracles and TNT’s multiple Emmy-nominated miniseries Into the West.
He is set to be a series regular in ABC’s drama pilot Stay, and his film The Mystery of Casa Matusita is scheduled to be released in September of this year. Ulrich is also (awesomely) a voice actor for Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken and has voiced characters like Brainy Smurf and Duke from G.I. Joe.
8. Courteney Cox
Of course, Courteney Cox will always be Monica Geller in our hearts. But she also played reporter Gale Weathers in all four Scream movies. She has appeared in a number of other films, including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and 3000 Miles to Graceland. She was a candidate for the role of Susan Mayer in Desperate Housewives, but was unavailable due to her pregnancy, and the role went to Teri Hatcher.
In 2009, she started her role as the star of ABC’s Cougar Town, and she starred in three episodes of Lisa Kudrow’s web series Web Therapy. Earlier this year, it was announced that NBC would finally be giving audiences a Friends reunion, but it turned out to be not a new episode of the show, but a tribute to director James Burrows, who helmed several episodes of Friends. She works with Coquette Productions, the production company she co-founded with her ex-husband, David Arquette.
7. Rose McGowan
In the movie, McGowan played Casey’s best friend Tatum, who ultimately has her neck snapped and is electrocuted. In 2001, she was cast at Paige Matthews on the WB series Charmed, and she played the character until the show ended in 2006. In 2007, she starred in the critically acclaimed Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez film Grindhouse. In addition to movies and appearances on television shows, she has done voice acting for the video games Darkwatch and Terminator Salvation. She made her directorial debut in 2014 with a short called Dawn, which premiered at Sundance, and last year, joined Tangerine Entertainment as a director for The Pines.
Also in 2015, she took to Twitter to bring attention to sexism in Hollywood after receiving a script for a movie with a wardrobe note attached that explained how a tank top she was to wear in the film should show off her cleavage, and which specifically encouraged push-up bras.
6. David Arquette
Arquette played Deputy Dewey, Tatum’s older brother in the Scream series. He has appeared in a variety of other movies, including the Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, released on Netflix earlier this year, and 2014’s Field of Lost Shoes. In 2005, he voiced a role as himself in the Sega video game ESPN NFL 2K. He also appeared on season 13 of Dancing with the Stars.
In 2000, Arquette filmed the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) movie Ready to Rumble, after which he was brought into various WCW storylines. He even won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He has four upcoming movies, When the Starlight Ends, Truck’d Up, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and Chuck Hank and the San Diego Twins.
5. Matthew Lillard
He played Stuart in the movie, the character who helps Billy carry out the killings. He’s ultimately killed when Sidney hits him with a vase and drops a TV on his head. Lillard is more recently known for his role as Rowby Canton in CBS drama The Good Wife.
He played Shaggy in the 2002 live action Scooby-Doo movie and its sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. He also voiced the character for animated movies and television, taking over for Casey Kasem. He is scheduled to appear in the upcoming movie One Heart, based on the true story of a small town football coach and his team of juvenile offenders.
4. Jamie Kennedy
In the movie, he played Randy, the only member of his group of friends besides Sidney to survive the killings. Since then, he has appeared in a number of movies. He also voiced the character Federline Jones in The Cleveland Show. Like Arquette, he played himself as a “celebrity adversary” and owner of his own team in ESPN NFL 2K5.
He performs standup comedy, and appeared in sketches on his TV show The Jamie Kennedy Experiment. He currently appears in the YouTube web series Interns of F.I.E.L.D., a parody of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He has a movie being released this year, Walk of Fame, and another movie called Heart, Baby being released in 2017.
3. Liev Schreiber
In the series, he plays Cotton Weary, the secret lover of Sidney’s mom, who was framed by Billy and Randy for her murder. He’s possibly most widely recognized for his portrayal of Victor Creed/Sabretooth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He has appeared in a number of theater productions of Shakespearean plays, and has narrated several documentaries.
He voiced the villain Skeletor in the 2002 incarnation of Masters of the Universe, as well as Iron Man and King Triton in Robot Chicken. He wrote and directed the 2005 movie Everything is Illuminated, a film adaptation of the short story on which Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel of the same name is based. He has two upcoming movies, Goon: The Last of The Enforcers, and The Bleeder.
2. Wes Craven
That’s right! Wes Craven was not only the director of the movie, he also made a cameo as Fred the Janitor. You’ll see him in the halls of the high school right before Principal Himbry is attacked. He wears a hat and red and green sweater like Freddy Krueger’s, which is a bit of a Fourth Wall-breaking moment, since it was Craven who directed Nightmare on Elm Street.
Since Scream, he has of course gone on to write and direct a number of popular movies (largely horrors/thrillers), including The Hills Have Eyes and The Last House on the Left. In 2012, the New York City Horror Film Festival awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award. Unfortunately, Craven passed away earlier this year at the age of 76.
1. Henry Winkler
Yep, Winlker was in it too! He played Principal Himbry. Winkler is, of course, best known for his role as the Fonz in Happy Days. More recently, he has voiced characters for a number of animated series, including Bob’s Burgers, Robot Chicken, and BoJack Horseman. He has also made appearances on Drunk History, Parks and Recreation, and Arrested Development. Winkler also played Sy Mittleman on Children’s Hospital, the live-action Adult Swim show based on the web series of the same name.
This year, he starred alongside Johnny Depp in a satirical, Funny or Die-produced adaptation of The Art of the Deal, the bestselling business book from current presidential candidate Donald Trump.
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Did anyone else from Scream live an interesting post-movie life? Let us know in the comments.