Four actors have appeared in all five Scream films, which makes it one of the few franchises that still has so many of its original cast members.
In the 2022 movie, a new group of youngsters played by the likes of Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid and Melissa Barrera turn for help to the people who were around when the original Woodsboro murders happened, after someone dressed as Ghostface starts killing again.
Here’s which classic Scream cast members will be riding to their rescue—or, in one case, seriously hindering them.
Which Original ‘Scream’ Cast Members Return in the New ‘Scream’?
Warning: The following contains spoilers for the whole Scream franchise
Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
Across the Scream movies we have seen ambitious TV journalist and author Gale Weather go through multiple incarnations (and some questionable haircuts). Originally, Courteney Cox was not considered for the part of Gale because executives thought her role in Friends would make her unbelievable as the cutthroat reporter.
In the films so far, Gale has gone from TV reporter to author, with her book on the Woodsboro murders becoming the basis of the franchise-within-a-franchise Stab. In Scream 4, she was struggling with writer’s block while trying to write her first work of fiction. She was also married to Dwight “Dewey” Riley (David Arquette). Cox and Arquette met on the first film and married in real life, although they divorced after making Scream 4.
Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
More than even Cox, Neve Campbell is the face of the Scream franchise as Sidney Prescott, the original “final girl” of the series (though technically there are at least two final girls and a final boy at the end of the first movie). This is despite her role being reduced in Scream 3 because of scheduling conflicts and her almost deciding not to return for Scream 4.
Last time we saw her in the franchise, she was back in Woodsboro to publicize her self-help book about overcoming trauma, only to become a suspect when a new Ghostface started killing.
Initially, Drew Barrymore was meant to play the lead role in Scream, but she opted to take the smaller role at the start of the first film instead.
The co-director of the new Scream, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, told The New York Times that he sent a letter to Campbell to persuade her to make the film, writing: “This movie doesn’t exist without you, full stop. We’re not trying to make it any other way.”
David Arquette as Dwight ‘Dewey’ Riley
Arquette’s fifth appearance as Dewey is a first for the actor—the first Scream film he has made since he and Cox divorced.
This will be reflected in the film, with a scene revealing that Gale and Dewey are no longer together. Speaking to The New York Times, Cox said of this scene: “He got very emotional while he was filming it. He said the next day the crew didn’t look at him.” Arquette said: “It’s a cathartic experience to just be able to act opposite Courteney.”
Marley Shelton as Judy Hicks
Shelton joined the franchise cast for the fourth movie as Deputy Judy Hicks, and it is her character that ties together Scream 4 and the 2022 film the most. Her son Wes (Dylan Minnette) is a lead in the new movie (his name, of course, is a tribute to Wes Craven, the Scream director who died in 2015).
Roger L. Jackson as the Voice of Ghostface
In the films, the creepy Ghostface voice is explained as the result of a voice modulator used by Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard’s characters. In reality, it is the voice of Roger L. Jackson (who trivia fans will be interested to learn is also the voice of Mojo Jojo in The Powerpuff Girls.
Although every film has had a different Ghostface, Jackson has voiced the character in all five movies and the Scream TV show.
Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis
In Scream’s most surprising cameo, original movie star Skeet Ulrich returns, despite dying at the end of the first film. How does the movie pull this off? Well (major spoilers ahead) new character Sam (Melissa Barrera) is revealed to be the secret daughter of the first movie’s killer – and in a slightly hokey move in this new film, she sees visions of her father in moments of stress.
Heather Matarazzo as Martha Meeks
Scream 3 may in many ways be the weakest entry in the franchise, but one of its better characters is Martha, the younger sister of the original film’s movie-obsessed character Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy). In Scream 5, The Princess Diaries actor makes a brief cameo as the mother of Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) – and we get to see the shrine she has in her house to her brother, who died in Scream 2.
Update 01/17/22 at 3:18 a.m. ET; This article was updated to add information on two more cast members.
