Matthew Lillard talks Scream VII and his shock return as Stu Macher

May 1st, 2025 by Marc Comments

It was the return we Scream fans have been waiting almost 30 years for and now actor Matthew Lillard has opened up about his return as Ghostface killer Stu Macher in next year’s Scream VII.

While he doesn’t reveal too much, his enthusiasm is palpable and it feels like he’s maybe hinting that this won’t be the last time we see Stu in the franchise… or maybe I’m reading too much into it.

“I was pretty excited about it. I had a lot of questions for [writer and director] Kevin [Williamson] when he called,” Lillard says.

“I hope fans are happy. I think people are gonna love it… And then I think the script’s great. Neve’s [Campbell] on set, and working with Neve and seeing her is great. It’s got that vibe of like old school Scream, and so I just think we’re all really hopeful that we’re building what the fans will love and appreciate,” he goes on.

“I’ll be right back!” Matthew Lillard confirmed returning for Scream VII

When his return was announced, there was a lot of fans – myself included – who were surprised not just at his return but that it was revealed so early on, surely this is something that would have blown our wee Ghostface loving socks off when we went to see the movie: “I was not supposed to be announced until the trailer,” Lillard confirms.

“But I think that we were all pretty conscious of the fact that,[..]the people are gonna start paying attention to the general area. So sneaking me in and sneaking me out would’ve been very difficult. So eventually we broke the news before I got a chance to leak.”

Lillard isn’t the first actor to reveal that their shock return wasn’t a matter of choice; speaking to US Weekly and the New York Post, David Arquette, also revealed that his return as Dewey wasn’t supposed to be revealed either  as he died in Scream 5, but sadly, the internet doesn’t allow such secrets these days: “It was supposed to be a surprise. I don’t like spoilers… There’s not much I can talk about it, but I hope people enjoy it. I love playing the role of Dewey.”

David Arquette returns for Scream 7

Fleshing out why his return was officially announced, he said: “I’ll always love playing the role of Dewey. So, any opportunity [to do it]. But that was a spoiler. It was supposed to be the surprise — and somebody leaked it. So I was kind of like, ‘Oh, that’s a bummer.’”

Arquette also spoke a little about being directed by Scream creator Kevin Williamson as opposed to the late Wes Craven: “He [Williamson] created the whole world, so you know, we missed Wes [Craven] a lot, obviously, but to work with Kevin in a directing capacity was really thrilling.”

This is why the internet is a blessing and a curse. But mostly a curse.

Either way, I cannot wait to see Lillard – and Arquette – back in the Scream franchise, I just can’t wait to see how it ties in, given that they both died in the series.

Thoughts? I know you have ’em… I wanna hear them all!

Watch the full interview with Lillard here:

Kevin Williamson shares heartfelt tribute to Wes Craven as Scream VII begins filming

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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….