When Scream came out in 1996, it changed everything about modern horror movies and gave us two of the best villains in cinema, Stu Macher, played by Matthew Lillard, and Billy Loomis, played by Skeet Ulrich and now, thirty years later, their legacy may be stronger than ever.
Ulrich’s Loomis has returned in the recent Scream 5 and Scream 6, albeit as the hallucination of his daughter, Sam (Melissa Barrera), but since ’96, it’s really been Lillard’s Stu that the fans have wanted to see return.
And now he is, in Scream 7, which is less than a month away. And Lillard is talking about his return, although he’s careful not to reveal how or why he’s back… that’s for the fans to find on on February 27th.
“It didn’t really matter to me in what capacity Kevin [Williamson] wanted me to come back. The reason I was so excited about it was ’cause I had been fighting to come back. I was openly campaigning for years,” Lillard says.
We break down why Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher may be the villain in Scream 5
Talking about the Ghostface mask and suit, Lillard calls it ‘iconic’ and says: “The fan base that’s been built around it is authentic, voracious, highly invested in identifying with that movie. At our company, we build from what we’re connected to.”
The new instalment in the franchise arrives in a few short weeks and will see Lillard join a returning cast of characters who died in previous movies, including Scott Foley as Roman Bridger and David Arquette as Dewey Riley, so there’s something big afoot in this story. It will also see the return of horror’s great final girl(s), Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers, played by Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox. On top of this, it’s co-written and directed by Kevin Williamson, the creator of the franchise and writer of Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 4, so this is truly a coming home for the franchise.
But Lillard is keeping quiet about what it’s all about and reveals he has told no-one, “Not even my wife. Not even my kids!”
He adds: “One of the joys of this franchise is sitting in the dark with the entire world discovering what the twist is this time. To ruin that for anyone is to ruin one of the great joys of going to the cinema.”
WATCH: New Scream 7 featurette features Neve Campbell and Kevin Williamson
But, for all the excitement, Lillard realises the gravity of the situation and how the gamble of brining Stu Macher back could backfire on not just the franchise, but on him as an actor: “There was so much anxiety, so much fear, so much insecurity about stepping back into something that, frankly — and it’s yet to be determined — could go really poorly.
“I mean, if people hate the movie, hate me, hate Stu, question why I came back, all of that weighs on me heavily… It’s a gamble of legacy. I wouldn’t want to hurt the legacy at all. And if I thought it would, I wouldn’t be here.”
Lillard has a lot going on right now outside of the Scream franchise. He will be seen soon in the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again season 2, Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 and then there’s Mike Flanagan’s highly anticipated Carrie adaptation which is based on Stephen King’s first (published) novel and will update Brian DePalma’s iconic movie only this time, it’s an eight-episode limited TV series: “People are gonna lose their minds,” Lillard says of Carrie, “There’s also so many things in the book that weren’t in the original [Brian] De Palma film that I think people are really gonna be excited about.”
Hayden Panettiere’s Kirby Reed to lead first spinoff movie from the Scream franchise
Getting back to Scream 7, the star says: “For better or for worse, there’s a stigma about you stepping on set, especially stepping on set for Scream 7. Everyone there knows who you are. Everyone there is aware of the legacy of that character, that film, that moment.”
Scream remains my favourite horror movie – and franchise – and Stu is my favourite killer in the series and I fully admit to being a ‘Stu-believer’, and believing that he could have lived after his supposed death by TV, and further, I love the idea that he’s out there, waiting to strike back at Sidney Prescott. I’m not sure that’s what this movie will be; in fact, I don’t think it will, but whatever it turns out to be, I can’t wait to see Stu back in Woodsboro, doing what he did best.
Thoughts? I know you have them and I wanna hear ’em all!
Skeet Ulrich talks original Scream 7 plan and his planned return as Billy Loomis
Source: EW
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
Nerd Comments