Due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the actors appearing at this panel could not speak to promote any work that was considered a “struck project.” Actors did their best to answer fan questions as best as they could in respect to both the SAG-AFTRA strike and the WGA strike.
The following are some highlights from the Fan Expo panel An Evening with Matthew Lillard, Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, and Jamie Kennedy – who all starred together in the first Scream film. Some of the questions include their favourite scary movie and their memories of Wes Craven.
- Neve came home (to the Greater Toronto Area) early and has been at the cottage.
- Neve notes that every moment (at Fan Expo) is “meaningful.” “I love seeing Ghostface out here!” she continued and said that these fan conventions inspire them to keep going.
- Matthew said “It’s really humbling [to come out here and see the fans]. For a lot of us, it’s how we feed our families.”
- Jamie also noted “It’s beautiful coming here and doing these [conventions]. The fandom has gotten bigger. We experience a lot of emotions [coming out here].
- Matthew doesn’t get the phenomenon of fans getting tattoos of the Scream characters: “These are horrible choices. You need to see more movies.”
- Jamie added that it’s both an honour and a lot of responsibility, about the tattoos!
- When discussing strong female roles in the horror genre, Neve notes how empowering the role of Sidney Prescott has been for women.
- What’s your favourite scary movie?
- Jamie: “The scariest movie ever made is The Exorcist. The Boogeyman you can kill or run from, but the Devil can get inside of you! Also, Showgirls.”
- Skeet: Religious horror films, like The Exorcist. And Jaws.
- What scares them the most?
- For Matthew: “American politics and gun violence.”
- For Jamie: “Being home alone!”
- Favourite Memory of Wes Craven:
- For Neve: “He had this wonderfully twisted sense of humour and genuineness. He had a real glee about making these films. He really enjoyed them. He would do a crazy violent take and then you’d hear him laugh in a sinister way. He was a wonderful person. I miss him.”
- For Skeet: “He had a psychological curiosity about all his characters. He was incredibly supportive of everyone around him,” which led to everyone being part of a team, and “brought his vision to life.”
- For Matthew: Wes once told his mom that he’d win an Oscar. At one point, Matthew wasn’t sure if he’d ever work again and noted how you have to believe in yourself [like Wes did] and that moment still deeply resonates with him.
- For Jamie: “He was just so calm. He set a precedent of a calm, beautiful and inclusive demeanour. I had no credits [before Scream]. These guys all had credits, but he made me feel like part of a family. He told me to never be scared to ask for a different take or even ask a question – which spoiled me early on but it gave me confidence.”
- Have their kids watched the Scream movies?
- Skeet: “My kids have not watched Scream. They don’t think I’m that cool.”
- Matthew: “My wife didn’t even see it until the 20th anniversary! The only reason she married me is because she didn’t see it. As for the kids, I’ve coached soccer their entire lives and on the first day, the kids are listening to me. On the second day, they are snickering because I’m Scooby-Doo! Then third day, I’m making them run lines.”
- How Neve gets into character: She breaks down a script and analyzes the arch. Tries to find out “Who was this person” and creates their history. She also feels that you can bring to your character things that have occurred in your life if it makes sense.
- On playing Julia Salinger on Party of Five, Neve said “The writing was so good on that show, and I think the reason it was so good was because the writers wrote from their experience, or from real experiences. Even if you were a cool kid in school, you can still feel insecure or have challenges [in your life]. Especially in our youth. I certainly did. I was not the cool kid – the boys in class wrote a song about the girls in the class and all they could come up for me was ‘Neve, ugh. Neve, ugh.’
- Neve continued that she felt very fortunate for the amount of work she received on Party of Five, “I had a lot of stories to tell in six years. I felt very lucky.”
- Skeet on the almost resurrection of Jericho: “Netflix tried to buy Jericho from CBS for a third season. They were trying to figure out how [the third season] would start…like maybe 10 years later and they’d live in caves below the down. Unfortunately, CBS wasn’t willing to sell it.”
- Neve is putting her background in dance to work by executive producing Chelsea McMullan’s Swang Song, which will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this month. Check out the trailer here.
