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In December 1996, scary-movie fans got a Christmas treat.
And David Arquette turned the hapless town cop archetype into a noble hero with Deputy turned Sheriff Dewey Riley.
Williamsons Leopold and Loeb, after all this time, still have their feet on the neck of Woodsboro.
And to all you Stu Lives truthers out there, your king has a message of hope.
The original is a perfect film.Matthew Lillard:It is not a perfect film!
Okay, why isnt it a perfect film?
Is this interview going to be me defendingScreamto you?M.L.
:I think the opening sequence is incredible.
It sets the tone for everything else, and the middle of the movie sort of gets bogged down.
Then the end sequence, the last 20 minutes, is incredible.
And then it comes screaming up to finish strong.
You mean when you and Skeet get unleashed at the end?Skeet Ulrich:[Laughs.]
To be like, Oh my God, thats crazy!
Theyre stabbing each other!
The brutality, the killing of Tatum and then youre laughing in the middle of it all.
I think its an intersection you dont see very often, and its really hard to hit.
Its hard to scare the crap out of people and make them laugh at the same time.
At that point, were wondering what else these guys have done together.
How many atrocities dont we know about?
Did you speculate much about their involvement with one another before the events of the movie?S.U.
:Its probably going to be disappointing to hear my answer because Im not a backstory kind of actor.
So I didnt really need to embellish.
It never really crossed my mind.
:It did come up.
We did talk about it, but I dont remember answering it.
Hes finding these idiosyncratic moments that the actors are giving and choosing to keep them.
What was the dynamic like between all of you?
Just a bunch of young actors with no idea theyre making something that will become a classic.M.L.
It was before technology, before phones, before Instagram and these social-media platforms.
Because of the hours we worked and the way we worked, we were inseparable.
Not only that, but the grips are there, the crews there, Wes is there.
I think that there was an innocence about it because we were all young.
We all had a lot to gain.
Nobody was out trying to make an iconic movie.
So it wasnt like there were great expectations, but there was the sense that we were all in.
Nobodys protecting themselves or being like,This is lame.
Everyone was all in, and I think the power of that is sort of unappreciated and undeniable.
It really speaks to the artistry.
:I agree completely.
We did feel like a group of outcasts that came together.
We must have looked like the most insane group of people in this hotel complex!
It really was an incredible time.
:On the hillside, yeah?
:On that hillside, on this massive lawn or whatever.
I just remember us all for whatever reason convening there for a little bit.
I think it was pre-Davids bar being built in his room [laughs].
:I wonder if you remake the original version ofScream you know how Gus Van Sant didPsycho?
I wonder if the movie still works, shot for shot, with a different cast.
I dont know what it is.
:Its completely losing our minds!
I mean, that whole last sequence is us on a 10 andchewing scenery like no ones business.
The idea that Wes Craven sat behind the monitor and was like,This is great.
:Maybe even 70!
:You would just be like, Fix it!
Youre eating the scenery like youve never seen a film camera!
But there we were, completely screaming at each other.
Like, what are we doing?
:I just think we were amped.
We were in between takes trying to maintain the energy.
Were not going to dinner.
Were sitting there trying to stay in this space that you could get back to.
:A fever pitch, yeah.
Courteney comes in, and we make eye contact, and Wes is like, Okay, all right.
Shes freaked out, and were not even filming yet.
And I distinctly remember Wes being like, All right, guys.
Just calm down for a second.
She was quite startled by what she walked into!
:You get interview requests over the years: Do you want to talk aboutScreamor do a podcast?
Its been really lovely, and its literally like thinking of your first girlfriend.
Looking back on this has been like looking back on the first love of your life.
Its been really, really endearing, to be honest.
Trying to find this hint of rawness and pain and tears.
I had so many damn feathers stuck to all that blood around the knife.
We do the first take and all I can hear is Wes laughing.
We were like, How are we going to do this?
:Im thinking about that scene now.
Then all of a sudden hes got the line, I think Im dying here, man.
:Soit wasnt the TV!
M.L.:Shhh!
He doesnt bleed out!
Nobody bleeds out in real life, Skeet.
Somebody wouldve come along and cauterized the wound.
Im the grandfather of Stu truthers.
Youre the Q of Stu truthers!M.L.:Yes.
I would love to be.
I was supposed doScream3.
I got paid for3.
Look, its a horror movie!
Crazy things happen all the time.
Have you seenFriday the 13th?
Jason comes back like Stu still could come back.
He didnt take a point-blank shot to the head.S.U.
:It was a glancing blow.
:Theres still hope for Stu.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
