IT’S time to get back hiding behind the sofa, because Scream is returning to terrify audiences once more.
The sixth instalment of the classic horror franchise hits cinemas today, and comes an astonishing 26 years after the first movie.
Scream was released in 1996 and made stars out of its cast
The 1996 original featured stars like Courteney Cox and Drew Barrymore who went on to be some of the biggest actors on the planet.
From ‘crazy’ plastic surgery to a bizarre bear attack, we take a look at what they’ve got up to in the decades since.
Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott)
Neve Campbell has appeared in ever Scream film until now
Canadian actress Neve, 49, enjoyed a breakout role as the film’s terrorized main character, Sidney.
Over the years she has appeared in all the Scream movies, but announced that she wouldn’t be back for the 2023 instalment.
“As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream,” she told Deadline. “I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”
Outside of the franchise, she has appeared in many other films and TV projects, including a recurring role in the hit Netflix Drama House of Cards as political guru LeAnn Harvey.
While her career has been mostly smooth, the same can’t be said for her personal life.
Her first marriage to Jeff Colt lasted just three years with the pair divorcing in 1998. She then went on to wed fellow actor John Light in 2007, but by 2010 they had split.
Neve has now found love with actor JJ Feild and in August 2012 they welcome their son Caspian.
Six years later they announced the adoption of their second son Raynor.
In 2021 she revealed that she had been attacked by a bear aged 17 on a film set.
Speaking on The Kelly Clarkson show, she said: “I dipped my hand in honey and I run to this rock, and I turn around and I put my hand out and the bear is not slowing down and he’s not coming for my hand, he grabs me by the leg and he pulls me through the forest.
“My mother was visiting set and she’s screaming. The whole crew is frozen because nobody can believe what’s happening. All I can think to say is, ‘He’s biting me,’ like it’s not obvious.”
Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.
Skeet Ulrich (Billy Loomis)
Skeet is best known these days for Riverdale
Skeet, 53, has recently gained a new generation of fans for his role as Forsythe Pendleton “F.P.” Jones II on Netflix’s Riverdale.
Like his co-star Neve, he has not always been lucky in love. His first marriage lasted eight years, his second just four and his third engagement lasted less than a year.
In 2021, he started a romance with Pretty Little Liars actress Lucy Hale who is 20 years his junior.
Things didn’t work out and the pair decided they were better suited as just friends.
In 2017, Skeet claimed that “most people” in the industry knew about Harvey Weinstein’s behaviour towards women.
Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers)
Courteney Cox is known to millions for starring in Friends
Courteney, 58, is best known for her role as Monica in Friends, but before that, she appeared in Scream.
Her career has been hugely successful, but unfortunately, her private life has been far from easy.
Starring in the horror flick introduced her to David Arquette – who she married in 1999.
The pair welcomed their daughter Coco in 2004, but announced their divorce in 2013.
Three years after the birth of her only child, Courtney opened up about suffering from postpartum depression.
She told USA Today: “I went through a really hard time – not right after the baby, but when (Coco) turned six months.
“I couldn’t sleep. My heart was racing. And I got really depressed. I went to the doctor and found out my hormones had been pummelled.”
Since late 2013 she has been in a relationship with Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid.
The actress also admitted she had gone too far with her plastic surgery and ended up looking “strange” and like a different person as a result.
In 2017, she said: “I’ve had all my fillers dissolved. I’m as natural as I can be. I feel better because I look like myself. I think that I now look more like the person I was. I hope I do.”
Drew Barrymore (Casey Becker)
Drew is another top Hollywood star to emerge from Scream
Drew, 48, is one of the most famous people in the world thanks to her acting credits in blockbusters like E.T and Charlie’s Angels.
The former child star struggled with alcohol and drug addiction during her teenage years.
Mum Jaid took her to New York’s infamous Studio 54 club, where Drew encountered drugs and danced with young stars. She described herself as a “party girl” and would go out drinking five times a week.
By 12 Drew had moved on to marijuana and cocaine.
The failure of her marriage in 2016 to art consultant Will Kopelman, with whom she had two children, left her devastated.
“It was just like my worst nightmare… I so wanted to raise kids in this ultra-traditional way and do everything the polar opposite of my experience,” she told the Ellen Degeneres show in 2017.
She had gone through two failed marriages before meeting Will.
Drew now owns her own beauty brand and has chat show, The Drew Barrymore show, which is now in its fourth series.
Matthew Lillard (Stuart Macher)
Matthew struggled for work after Scream
Scream was one of the early films in Matthew’s career and helped secure his place as a 90s icon.
He landed roles in She’s All That and later bagged the role of Shaggy in the live-action Scooby-Doo films – a character he has voiced in other film and TV shows.
His career has spanned decades, but the actor, 53, admitted he was brought back down to reality with a bump when he didn’t work for two years.
He told The Daily Star: “I had a big house and big cars and then I looked at my wife after not working for two years and realised I wasn’t as big as I thought I was, my career hadn’t gone where I thought it was going to go and I had to change.”
Matthew has abandoned his big house and fancy cars for a more down-to-earth lifestyle.
“My life now is not about being famous. My life is about writing a script that means something emotional to me,” he told Buzzfeed.
“My life is about teaching and trying to grow as an artist. My life is about trying to cultivate my craft. There’s no quitting because you could get a job at any time even if you haven’t worked in 10 years.”
Rose McGowan (Tatum Riley)
Rose McGowan was one of the most prominent women to speak out about Harvey Weinstein
Rose, 49, shot to fame in Scream as Tatum Riley and went on to appear in a host of movies and TV shows including fantasy classic Charmed.
In 2017 she alleged that she had been raped by Harvey Weinstein and that Amazon Studios had dropped a project she was in after she reported it.
The same year, it was reported that Rose had received a $100,000 settlement from the disgraced mogul for an alleged sexual assault in 1997.
She was one of the most prominent women to speak out about his sexual assaults, which sparked the MeToo movement.
Two years later, she accused film director Alexander Payne of statutory rape, alleging that he had intercourse with her when she was just 15 years old. He has denied the accusations.
David Arquette (Dewey Riley)
David struggled with drink and drug addiction
The actor, 51, was already on his way to becoming a household name when Scream came out.
He has continued to act, appearing alongside Barrymore in romcom Never Been Kissed, and in 2000 made his debut as a professional wrestler.
In 2011 he entered rehab for “alcohol and other issues” and later said he started stealing pot from his father when he was eight-years-old.
David claimed he started drinking seriously when he was 12 years old and that he was heavily into harder drugs after the death of his mother in 1997.
“I’ve been sober for long periods of time. I’ve gone through programs. I’ve examined what works and what doesn’t for me,” he told IndieWire.
He also claimed that he is never 100 per cent sober and smokes pot to help with his moodiness.
In 2020 he claimed he had nearly died during a fight two years prior after being smashed in the head by a fluorescent light.
Since his divorce from Courtney, he has remarried to Christina McLarty.
Jamie Kennedy (Randy Meeks)
Jamie’s subsequent films have struggled to win over the critics
The American actor, 52, has continued acting and working as an established comic since the film.
In 2016, he shared that he had been living with a congenital heart block for 35 years and had a pacemaker put in when he was 14 years old.
Making light of the condition when people said they hadn’t noticed, he joked: “You thought I had nice…You thought I had breast implants?”
He courted controversy when he lost his temper at a drunk woman who was burping during in his stand-up set.
Jamie told the woman and her pals that their lives were “f***ing bulls***”, before offering to refund other audience members’ admission due to the disruption.
Several of his films, including Son of The Mask, have flopped, and his attempt at a move into the world of documentary with Heckler was also met with disdain.
It aimed to show the difficulties of being a comedian, but was widely viewed as the comic having a lengthy moan.
Jamie’s only high-profile romance was a short-lived relationship with singer and actress Jennifer Love Hewitt from March 2019 until the same month the following year.
