New Scream Directors Reveal Sneaky Cameos From Former Cast Members

The latest Scream was meant to usher in a new roster of heroes who might face off against the villainous Ghostface, but directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett and executive producer Chad Villella still found a variety of ways to honor the past, as they recently detailed a number of Easter eggs and cameos to Bloody Disgusting. With many of these cameos coming from performers whose characters were definitively killed in previous outings, they couldn’t entirely be brought back for on-screen appearances, though the filmmakers broke down the audible cameos from iconic figures in the Scream franchise’s history.

WARNING: Spoilers below for the new Scream

Matthew Lillard played Stu Macher in the original film, with his character being killed by a TV to the head. With a majority of the new Scream‘s finale taking place at his home from the first movie, the filmmakers found a way to include Lillard in multiple ways. At one point in the film, audiences see a clip from the in-movie slasher sequel Stab 8, which includes a killer using a flamethrower while wearing a chrome Ghostface mask. Lillard voiced this character, delivering the line, “This sh-t is lit.”

“He’s been around to help us when we’ve asked. He’s been great through this whole process. He did some voice ADR for us,” Bettinelli-Olpin shared with the outlet. He also pointed out Lillard’s voice could be heard in a scene at the original house in the finale, detailing, “He also did a line at the party. There’s a line when Amber’s walking through the party, there’s a couple right before she turns into the kitchen, and Matthew Lillard’s ADR is ‘Cool house, Freeman,’ which we thought was funny because it’s his house.”

Gillett continued, “That was an early joke … We thought that’d be funny to have Matt Lillard comment on how cool the house is; that just ended up actually happening.”

Actor Drew Barrymore was easily the most famous star in the original Scream, which is why her death in the opening scene came as such a shock to audiences. Despite the famous death, Barrymore managed to have a vocal cameo in the latest film.

“There’s a little bit of everybody in there. Drew is in the movie,” Villella pointed out. “She is the principal making announcements at the beginning of the movie when the camera pans down from the tree to find our new cast at the picnic tables. Drew did the principal announcement, and that’s just one of many, many.”

The party at the end of the film is in tribute to a character named Wes, which came with some added significance, as a toast in honor of the character doubled as a tribute to Wes Craven, who directed the first four films and died in 2015. This allowed the filmmakers to recruit a number of figures connected to the franchise to offer up their own toast to Craven.

“Then we got Jamie Kennedy to come back, he does the line, ‘Someone’s goofy ass dad is kicking us out at the party,’” Gillett pointed out. “Henry Winkler, Adam Brody, Hayden Panettiere, they all are a part of the toast, the ‘to Wes’ toast, Patrick Lussier, Marco Beltrami, Wes’ widow Iya [Labunka]. We got everyone who knows Wes, including Julie Plec. Their voices are all in that big toast at the party at the end.”

The new Scream is in theaters now.

Did you recognize any of these cameos? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!