Neve Campbell Confirms Her 'Scream' Notoriety Inspired Her Decision to Leave Hollywood

In 1996, Scream helped breathe life to the slasher genre with its blend of humor and genuine scares, leading to a renaissance of teen thrillers. A big factor in the film's success was Neve Campbell's performance as Sidney, delivering audiences a smart and resourceful character who would never give up. Despite the film helping launch Campbell's career, the actress recently revealed that being regularly offered horror movies after that film's success resulted in her brief departure from Hollywood.

"I needed a minute. In my 20s, it all hit so fast and so big that it was a little overwhelming," Campbell shared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. "Wonderful, obviously, and I'm very grateful for it, but it got to a level, also, where the kinds of things that I was being offered were not the things I wanted to do. I was constantly being offered horror films, because I was known for horror films, or bad romantic comedies."

Whether it was contractual obligations or a sense of pride in the character of Sidney, Campbell returned for Scream's three sequels. After Scream 3 in 2000, it would be more than a decade before she returned for the final chapter of the series with 2011's Scream 4.

"I just wasn't interested in the scripts and I was feeling a bit unhappy with the things that were coming to me and I was feeling a little bored of the whole thing and I thought, 'I want a change,'" Campbell noted of her decision to shy away from the spotlight.

Scream wasn't the only film that earned a passionate following in the '90s, as Campbell also appeared in The Craft, which focused on a group of teenagers who turn to witchcraft while the rest of their high school mocks them.

"I went to a 20-year reunion screening of The Craft at the Hollywood Cemetery last year, with Rachel True and Robin Tunney, and Andy Fleming, our director," Campbell explained to Entertainment Weekly last year. "It was pretty insane. Everyone was in costumes – wearing our school uniforms and getting a little drunk. Having a lot of fun, screaming the lines at the screen. I don't think I had ever realized what a cult kind of movie it was. What a cult classic it was. So that was a lot of fun to see."

Campbell will next be seen in Skyscraper, hitting theaters Friday.

Stay tuned for details about the third season of the Scream TV series on MTV.

Do you wish Campbell would make a return to the horror world? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T YouTube, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]