After surviving five encounters with Ghostfaces past, Neve Campbell decided her Scream VI offer wasn’t worth another brush with death.
The actress explained that after stepping back from the franchise in 2022, she was surprised to be reprising her role as Sidney Campbell again in Scream 7, which premieres February 27 in theaters.
“When I made that decision, I just didn’t think I could live with myself walking on set,” she said on CBS Mornings. “I just didn’t feel right. I just knew that my value to this franchise was bigger than what had been offered. For me, I needed to make that choice.”
Campbell continued, “When I said goodbye to it, I thought that was it. I knew that there was a good chance that would be it.”
When asked if she was OK with that decision, Campbell explained, “Well, I had to be. I mean, I was sad. When I knew they were having their first day of shooting and I wasn’t there, I was like, ‘That sucks.’ But at the same time, I knew that my decision was right.
Neve Campbell in ‘Scream 7’
Jessica Miglio / Paramount Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection
“And when I spoke out about it, it wasn’t really to sort of rally everybody,” she added. “It was really just my truth at the time, and the fact the people got behind me, I got lovely support, and that was nice. And I do feel that other people need to make those choices.”
After reprising her role as “final girl” Sidney Prescott in the fifth installment, Scream (2022), Prescott announced the “very difficult decision to move on” from the role for Scream VI (2023)
“Sadly I won’t be making the next Scream film,” she wrote in part. “As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream. I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”
Scream 7 features returning stars Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Scott Foley, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding, as well as newcomers Joel McHale, Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Anna Camp, Mark Consuelos and Ethan Embry.