Scream VI Star Didn’t Realize They Were Playing Ghostface, Recalls Filming the Climax: “It Was Glorious”

Scream VI was released in theaters earlier this month, and it’s been a hit with fans of the franchise. Not only is the horror film having a successful run at the box office, but it’s also got a 77% critics score and a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes In honor of the movie’s success, the folks who made the film have been talking about some of the choices that led to the latest Ghostface reveal. Turns out, the killer twist that came to be wasn’t the original plan. In fact, the actor behind the Ghostface mask didn’t even realize they were playing the iconic killer until after they read the script. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

The climax of the film revealed that Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney) is actually the father of the previous film’s killer, Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid). This time around, the killers ended up being Richie’s whole family. In addition to Mulroney, the Ghostfaces were made up of Richie’s sister Quinn (Liana Liberato) and brother Ethan (Jack Champion). In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mulroney opened up about playing the villain.

“It’s really kind of a complex plan,” Mulroney explained. “[My character has] collected all of those artifacts, and called all those people in, and rented out that theater. Ridiculously complex but successful until our heroes take him out, right?” He added, “I was told by my agent, ‘Good news, we have a call from Scream VI, they want you, they can’t tell you anything else, but they need to let you know that you are the bad guy.’ … It wasn’t called ‘Ghostface’ there; it was just ‘the bad guy.’ I wasn’t even up on how intense people are following Ghostface. So then I get pieces of the script, but they neglected to tell me what part I’m playing. So I’m looking for two things when I’m reading the script, which part it is that I am and who it is in the script that’s going to wind up being Ghostface. So, for a while, I suspected that I was going to play the psychologist because Bailey is written so mildly I thought that’s probably not my part; it’s just a passing detective. It shows you that the script itself was quite ingenious in how they buried Bailey or made him incidental to scenes. Then I get to the end, and it is Bailey! It was me all along!”

Mulroney added of filming the final sequence, “It was glorious,” he said with a laugh. “It was glorious, and all of us were in a great mood because it’s that moment in the movies. Of course, what’s wonderful about that reveal scene in Scream VI is that it’s amidst this incredible action sequence, whereas in some of the earlier movies, it’s kind of a standalone scene in the house. This has nine other things going on at the same time. It was all of us together in that final conflict, and they were really exciting days to shoot.”

Is Scream VII Happening? 

There is no official word on if there will be another Scream movie, but they announced Scream VI less than a month after the release of Scream (2022), so we wouldn’t be surprised if another film was announced soon. At the red carpet premiere for Scream VI, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett revealed they’d love to return to the franchise once again with Scream VII. “We hope,” Bettinelli-Olpin told Deadline. “We want to be watching Scream movies whether we’re involved or not for the rest of our lives.” Gillett added, “We’re so happy it’s back.”

Scream VI is now playing in theaters.