Scream’s All-Star Cast Through the Years: All the Actors Who Faced Off With Ghostface

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Scream’s All-Star Cast Through the Years: All the Actors Who Faced Off With Ghostface

What’s your favorite scary movie? For many, the answer might be one of the many Scream flicks.

The first-ever Scream film, written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, debuted in 1996. Its popularity was met with massive success that would later spawn a booming franchise that included three additional films in 1997, 2000 and 2011.

Neve Campbell (Sydney Prescott), Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers) and David Arquette (Dwight “Dewey” Riley) have starred in all four Scream films. However, the horror series has also seen other major stars nab roles in its various installments over the years including Drew Barrymore, Emma Roberts, Liev Schreiber, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jamie Kennedy and Laurie Metcalf.

A few years after Scream 4 hit theaters, the slasher film franchise was adapted into a television series for MTV in 2015. It was later moved over to VH1 for its third season in 2019 but was not renewed for a fourth.

It was announced in April 2020 that Ready or Not filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett would direct the fifth installment, 2022’s Scream. They returned the following year for Scream VI, which moved all the slasher fun from the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, to New York City.

Scroll down to see which actors have eluded Ghostface — and which haven’t fared as well — in the legendary horror films over the years.

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Neve Campbell

1996's Scream was a sleeper hit that grossed just $6 million in its first weekend and went on to rake in $103 million in the U.S. After appearing in the next four films, Campbell chose to exit the franchise after rejecting the studio's salary offer.

“Sadly, I won’t be making the next Scream film. As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream. I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise," Campbell told Us Weekly in a statement in June 2022. "It’s been a very difficult decision to move on. To all my Scream fans, I love you. You’ve always been so incredibly supportive to me. I’m forever grateful to you and to what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years."

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Drew Barrymore

In Scream's opening scene, Casey (Barrymore) gets harassed by a stranger on the phone. "What's your favorite scary movie?" the caller asks in the 1996 horror flick. The masked killer, Ghostface, then chases Casey outside the house, where he ultimately murders her.

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Emma Roberts

"There were times when we were filming in a weird house at 2 a.m. and I'd get really spooked out," the actress, who played Jill Roberts in Scream 4, told ELLE in 2011. "But what I've always loved about the Scream films is that they'll have you terrified one moment and laughing the next."

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David Arquette and Courteney Cox

"I love the franchise," Arquette — who met ex-wife Cox (Gale Weathers) while playing Dewey Riley in 1996's Scream — previously told Us. "I love being an audience member watching it and laughing and being scared."

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Matthew Lillard and Rose McGowan

With school canceled due to the growing number of murders in Woodsboro, Stu Macher (Lillard) threw a wild party for his friends. Unfortunately, both Stu and his girlfriend, Tatum Riley (McGowan), were killed off in the first film.

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Jenny McCarthy

In Scream 3, McCarthy played Sarah Darling, a fictional actress starring in the film Stab 3. After receiving a call from someone claiming to be Roman Bridger, the film's director, McCarthy waited patiently in his office — until Ghostface showed up to kill her.

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Erik Knudsen, Rory Culkin, Marielle Jaffe and Hayden Panettiere

"For an audience that is so well-versed in Scream and in what happens and who becomes the killer, it's trickier to throw them a curveball," Panettiere, who plays Kirby in Scream 4, says. "I think they've done a really cool job with the script."

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Scott Foley and Parker Posey

In Scream 3, Foley played Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro director Roman Bridger, while Posey played actress Jennifer Jolie. Posey's character later dies at the hands of Ghostface, but Bridger had a much bigger storyline: he was revealed to be Sidney's secret half-brother!

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Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett Smith

In Scream 2's opening sequence, the lovebirds were brutally stabbed to death during a screening of Stab, the film based on the Woodsboro murders seen in Scream.

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Skeet Ulrich

Ulrich played Sidney's boyfriend, Billy Loomis, in Scream — but he was anything but a doting lover. Billy later reveals that he and Stu (Matthew Lillard) killed Sidney's mom one year earlier because she had an affair with his father.

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Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell

"It's a really fun movie, and everyone loves it as much as they did the first one," Bell has said of her cameo in Scream 4. "[My role] doesn't go down like you think it does, but it was fun doing it."

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Jerry O'Connell

O'Connell played Sidney's college boyfriend, Derek, in Scream 2. When Mickey (Timothy Olyphant) reveals himself to be Ghostface, he names Derek as his accomplice. Before Derek has a chance to explain, Mickey shoots him.

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Liev Schreiber

The actor played Cotton Weary in the first three Scream films. He was wrongfully accused of raping and murdering Sidney's mother, Maureen Prescott.

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Portia de Rossi, Rebecca Gayheart and Sarah Michelle Gellar

The trio played sorority sisters in 1997's Scream 2. The first to die? Gellar's character, Cici, who was stabbed and thrown over the balcony by Ghostface.

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Adam Brody

The OC alum plays Deputy Ross Hoss in Scream 4. He was stabbed in the back by Ghostface.

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Jamie Kennedy

Though his character was stabbed to death in Scream 2, Kennedy reprised his role in Scream 3 in a series of tapes Randy made prior to his death.

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Kelly Rutherford

Within the first few scenes of 2000's Scream 3, Rutherford and her onscreen beau Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) were murdered for refusing to share Sidney's whereabouts with a man who would "kill to know where Sidney is."

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Henry Winkler

The former Happy Days star played Principal Arthur Himbry in the original slasher flick.

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Lucy Hale and Shenae Grimes

In Scream 4’s opening scene, Hale and Grimes play fictional pals featured in the fictional Stab 6. While talking about what movie they wanted to watch, the pair were being harassed over the phone by Ghostface. The serial killer later pops out and kills them both. 

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Laurie Metcalf

Though she appears as local news reporter Debbie Salt throughout most of Scream 2, she later reveals herself to be Billy's mom, Mrs. Loomis, during the film's climax. She recruits Mickey (Timothy Olyphant) from a serial killer-devoted website and devises a plan to seek revenge on Sidney.

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Timothy Olyphant

Olyphant’s character Mickey Altieri appeared to be a normal college student, but was later revealed as one of the killers. Sidney and Gale fatally shot him.

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Emily Mortimer

Mortimer appeared as Stab 3 cast member Angelina Tyler, who was killed by Ghostface in Scream 3 at the intimate gathering held at John Milton’s (Lance Henriksen) mansion.

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Patrick Dempsey

In Scream 3, Dempsey played Mark Kincaid — a detective working to determine who is behind the murders on the set of Stab 3. During the film’s final moments, Mark follows Sidney to the mansion where many Stab 3 cast members were already murdered. Though the timing of his arrival led Sidney to suspect he might be Ghostface, he ultimately helps her face off against the killer alongside Gale and Dewey.

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Anthony Anderson

The comedic actor played Detective Anthony Perkins, who was tasked with watching over Sidney and Jill. He was ultimately stabbed in the head. 

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Alison Brie

Brie appeared in Scream 4 as Rebecca Walters, who was Sidney’s publicist and personal assistant. While accompanying Sidney to Woodsboro for her book signing event, she is ultimately stabbed in the stomach by Ghostface in a parking garage. Rebecca’s body was later thrown onto a truck.

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Aimee Teegarden and Britt Robertson

While watching the fictional Stab 7, Marnie (Robertson) and Jenny (Teegarden) talk about their differing opinions on the horror movie. Teegarden’s character later tricks Marnie into thinking she’s Ghostface, but the real killer steps in and kills Marnie. Ghostface then goes to kill Jenny, kicking off the events set to be solved in Scream 4. 

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Nico Tortorella

The Younger star played Trevor Sheldon, the ex-boyfriend to Roberts’ character Jill in Scream 4. Jill ultimately shoots her former beau in the head upon revealing that she was Ghostface.

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Marley Shelton

Shelton played Deputy Judy Hicks in Scream 4. As an officer with the Woodsboro Police, she worked alongside Dewey to help determine the new Ghostface killer.

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Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega

Barrera and Ortego lead the franchise's fifth and sixth installments as sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter, respectively. Unlike others, Tara survives Scream's opening Ghostface attack to fight another day. Sam is also revealed as the secret daughter of original Ghostface killer Billy Loomis, giving her a leg up on other killers coming after her and her friends.

In November 2023, Barrera was fired from the seventh film after publicly weighing in on the conflict in Israel and Palestine. That same month, news broke about Ortega's exit due to a conflicting filming schedule with Netflix's Wednesday.

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Jack Quaid and Mikey Madison

Quaid portrayed Sam's boyfriend, Richie Kirsch, in 2022's Scream. He helped the new final girl solve the mystery of Woodboro's latest killer, only for it to be revealed it was him behind the mask.

Fresh off playing one of the Manson murder victims in Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood, Madison played Richie's accomplice Amber Freeman, who met a fiery end at the hands of Gale and Tara.

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Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding

The Yellowjackets actress and Love, Victor star play twins Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin, the niece and nephew of Randy from the first two films. The two are Tara's high school friends, who find themselves wrapped up in Ghostface's killing sprees in Scream and Scream VI.

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Dylan Minnette

The 13 Reasons Why alum took on the role of Judy Hicks' son, Wes, in 2022's Scream. He suffered the same fate as his onscreen mom, as both died at the hands of Ghostface.

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Dermot Mulroney

Mulroney traded in his status as a rom-com veteran for a serial killer, as his character Detective Bailey was revealed as one of three Ghostface killers in Scream VI.

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Jack Champion and Liana Liberato

Champion and Liberato also made history as being among the franchise's first trio of killers in Scream VI. The two played Detective Bailey's kids Ethan and Quinn, who teamed up to seek revenge on Sam for the death of their son and brother, Scream killer Richie.

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Samara Weaving, Tony Revolori and Josh Segarra

No stranger to the horror genre, Ready or Not's Weaving joined the likes of Barrymore as Scream VI's opening kill. Revolori was revealed as a fakout Ghostface before being slaughtered by the true killer, while Segarra's character Danny Brackett helped his girlfriend, Sam, and Tara take down their latest threat.