Matthew Lillard has revealed his anxieties ahead of returning to the Scream franchise.
READ MORE: ‘Scream VI’ review: a nightmarish thrill ride through The City That Never Sleeps
In late January, it was reported that his character would be returning for Scream 7, despite being presumed dead ever since the first film. The actor, who has enjoyed a career resurgence of late thanks to films like Five Nights At Freddy’s, remained a fan favourite and spoke about coming back to one of his most iconic roles.
During a panel at ’90s Con, moderated by People, he revealed: “I will say, I can’t say anything about it, obviously. But I am very excited and slightly terrified to be back because all I can do is really screw up a legacy that we have”.
He continued: “I could really suck, and so that’s my fear. My fear is that I come back and sort of punish something that I could never have touched and been just fine. I hope I don’t ‘F’ it up for everyone”.
Lillard was a key figure in the first Scream film, released in 1996. During the classic horror’s conclusion, his character, Stuart “Stu” Macher, was the accomplice to the Ghostface killer, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). It was assumed he was killed along with Billy, although over the years fans have been quick to point out the audience never sees him die.
Scream 7 is scheduled for release February 27, 2026. Lillard will join franchise regulars Courtney Cox and Neve Campbell. Campbell did not appear in the previous instalment, Scream VI, having refused to return due to a pay dispute. Last year, she spoke about her relief that the studio “came back to me in a respectful way”.
Recently, another past character was reported to be returned – David Arquette’s Dewey, who will be joining the new film despite having been killed in 2022’s Scream.
The post Matthew Lillard is “terrified” about returning for ‘Scream 7’: “All I can do is screw up a legacy” appeared first on NME.
