When Scream premiered in 1996, it was meant to satirize slasher flicks. It poked fun at a tired genre, using cliches for laughs and packing in meta moments where the characters discussed the very tropes the film was working to subvert. But, likely due to its charismatic cast and excellent direction from horror icon Wes Craven, it pulled double duty and became a classic slasher in and of itself.
Based on the real-life case of the Gainesville Ripper, Scream was creative. It broke rules, found a wide audience, and breathed new life into the horror genre, spawning its own franchise and even inspiring its own parodies. It also gave many members of its cast widespread fame and set them on the path to fascinating careers and personal lives. So whatever happened to those Scream teens? Here's where they are decades later.
Drew Barrymore was already a household name by the time she appeared as Casey Becker in Scream, with a front-row image on the poster and starring credits - which made it all the more shocking when she was immediately slaughtered in the first 10 minutes.
Barrymore may have had a rough childhood up until Scream - including struggles with addiction, emancipation from her parents, and momentary has-been Hollywood status at just 14 years old - but she was on an upswing in her 20s. After Scream, she went on to act in films like The Wedding Singer, Never Been Kissed, Charlie's Angels, Donnie Darko, 50 First Dates, He's Just Not That Into You, and many others. She also made TV appearances on SNL, Family Guy, and Santa Clarita Diet. She even produces and hosts her own talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, and has been a producer for quite a while. She founded the production company Flower Films early in life and produced many of the films that got her career back on track in the late '90s/early 2000s. She's directed several projects, as well, including Whip It, her 2009 feature-film directorial debut, which she also starred in.
Off screen, she has numerous interests and business ventures. She has written two autobiographical books (Little Girl Lost and Wildflower) and has launched cosmetics, wine, and clothing lines. In her personal life, she's been married three times (divorcing her most recent ex-husband in 2016), is a proud mother of two, and is also a vegan.
Although Neve Campell's portrayal of the witch Bonnie in The Craft was her first lead role in a feature film, just seven months later, she'd snag the role that would really make her famous: Sidney Prescott in Scream. Her part in the wildly popular franchise made her a fan-favorite scream queen, earning her accolades at the MTV Movie Awards, Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and Saturn Awards for her efforts.
Outside of horror, she had an indie phase from about 2000 to 2011, starring in films that were well-reviewed but never really reached a wide audience (among these, 2000's Panic and 2002's award-winning Last Call with Sissy Spacek and Jeremy Irons). During this time, she also co-wrote and produced a couple of films (one centered around her love of ballet, being a former ballerina herself), and even took to the stage for her theater debut. She did eventually return to mainstream entertainment in 2012 with a more TV-based approach, appearing in everything from The Simpsons and Grey's Anatomy to Mad Men and House of Cards. And finally, she confirmed Sidney would return for Scream 5 in 2022.
As for her personal life, she happily revealed the adoption of her second son in 2018.
Spunky Tatum, Sidney's best friend with an unfortunate end, was played by Rose McGowan, who would go on to work in movies like the 1999 cult film Jawbreaker,Monkeybone, and Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse films. As for TV, she's appeared in several shows including Nip/Tuck, Law & Order: SVU, Chosen, and Once Upon a Time. One of her most memorable career roles (aside from Tatum) was that of Paige Matthews on Charmed, where she co-starred alongside Alyssa Milano.
Her professional life extends off-screen, as well. She's worked on a number of musical projects, including singing for the Grindhouse and Charmed soundtracks, appearing in music videos for Marilyn Manson, RuPaul, and Charlie XCX, and even releasing her own album called Planet 9. She wrote a memoir titled Brave(published in 2018), has done voice work for video games like Terminator Salvation and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, directed a short film (Dawn) that received critical acclaim at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and starred in a documentary series about her art and activism titled Citizen Rose.
More recently, she showed her support for the Me Too movement by speaking out against Harvey Weinstein, who allegedly assaulted her while she was working on Scream. Time later recognized her as one of the Silence Breakers who were collectively named the magazine's 2017 Person of the Year.
As for her personal life, she's had long-term relationships with Marilyn Manson, Robert Rodriguez, and artist Davey Detail (whom she eventually married and divorced). In 2021, she became a permanent resident of Mexico with a home in Tulum.
Like Neve Campbell, 1996 was a big year for Skeet Ulrich. Back to back to back, he starred in Boys (with Winona Ryder), The Craft (with Campbell), and, of course, as Sidney's boyfriend and one of the killers in Scream (teaming up with Campbell yet again). From here, he gained more starring roles in films like As Good As It Gets (reuniting with Scream alum Jamie Kennedy) and Chill Factor. As for TV, he appeared in the multiple-Emmy-nominated miniseries Into the West, the TV film The Magic of Ordinary Days, as a recurring guest voice on Robot Chicken, and on procedural dramas CSI: NY, Law & Order: LA, and Law & Order: SVU.
More recently, his biggest role was likely that of F.P. Jones, the father of Jughead Jones, on Riverdale - but he apparently left the show because he got bored.
In his personal life, he has said before that he's not exactly interested in fame and hates having his picture taken. He's even self-conscious about his early films. “My god, most of my beginning films, like Boys, the first one, I was horrific,” he says. “And I thought I was really bad in The Craft. I was like, This is horrible.” Perhaps it was a good thing then that he went on something of a self-imposed break from his fame when his children (two twin boys) were born so he could be a present and active father (a break that ended with the aforementioned Riverdale casting).
Lastly, he apparently really enjoys woodworking, specifically making furniture.
Matthew Lillard portrayed Stu Macher, the wildcard of Sidney's friend group and Billy Loomis's partner in the Woodsboro slayings. He quickly became a fan favorite of the film and was everywhere in the '90s and early 2000s, with roles in Hackers, SLC Punk!, She's All That, Thirteen Ghosts, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and two live-action Scooby-Doo movies. In fact, his performance as Shaggy was so iconic that it not only still spawns memes to this day, but he actually took over voicing the animated character when the original Shaggy, Casey Kasem, passed in 2014. He said of the inheritance that he hoped to "protect the legacy that was created" by Kasem.
Of course, Lillard's career wasn't always smooth sailing. Shortly after filming 2004's Scooby-Doo 2, he entered a lull of direct-to-video roles and TV guest spots. During this time, he apparently had an existential crisis, doubted his acting abilities, and pared down his Hollywood lifestyle. He decided to focus on teaching for a time, working at the Vancouver Film School in British Columbia. Eventually his acting did kick back into gear with 2012's The Descendants, and he went on to appear in Trouble with the Curve, The Good Wife, Halt and Catch Fire, Twin Peaks, Supernatural, Good Girls, Bosch, and Fat Kid Rules the World - his directorial debut).
Today, the actor has a notable cult following thanks to his down-to-earth and entertaining personality, and he frequently interacts with his fans on Twitter. His personal life includes a marriage that has lasted over two decades and three children; in his free time, he loves playing Dungeons & Dragons and has appeared as a celebrity player at various D&D tournaments and events.
Jamie Kennedy actually struggled as an actor in Hollywood before snagging a role in Scream that was essentially an audience surrogate. Randy is an avatar for all the horror nerds out there, advising everyone on the classic tropes and using his expertise to keep his friends alive (not that it helps him much in the second film).
That same year, he acted in Romeo + Juliet, then went on to appear in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Malibu's Most Wanted (which he also helped write), and, somewhat regrettably, Son of the Mask. This last endeavor earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actor, and inspired him to refocus on his original career goals in comedy.
From here, he formed a production company called Wannabe Producers, which he used to produce comedy shows like The Jamie Kennedy Experiment and MTV's Blowin' Up, as well as a documentary titled Heckler, which described the impact of the personal criticisms he suffered in the wake of some poorly received acting roles. He did stand-up, filmed some comedy specials, and had a few hosting gigs. He even wrote a book about his rocky journey to fame titled Wannabe: A Hollywood Experiment.
Of course, while acting took a backseat, it didn't stop completely. He starred in the CBS drama Ghost Whisperer and Tremors 5, and he did voice work for The Cleveland Show and Fanboy and Chum Chum.
Today, he still regularly performs stand-up, hosts a podcast called Hate to Break It to Ya, and regularly uploads to his YouTube channel. As for his personal life, he notably dated Ghost Whisperer co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt for a year before the two called it quits.
