If you ask any fan of Scream how they felt when they first saw the film — well, it would be a long conversation. There were moments of horror, scenes that evoked a sense of humor and laughter, and scenes that shocked viewers completely. The cast and crew worked together effortlessly to nail every single emotion the film was aiming for and doing so in a way that made it hard to turn away from.
Skeet Ulrich played Billy Loomis, one of the masked killers in the first film, Matthew Lillard, as Stu was the second. Together, they terrorized the citizens of Woodsboro and members of their own friend group. Smiling at their faces and romancing them quickly turned to murder at the hands of Billy and Stu.
Of course, the pair met their demise at the end of the film, and in a recent interview with Collider, Ulrich was asked about his character.
Could Loomis have found a way to blend in and move past the murder, or was he was a serial killer through and through? Ulrich had this to say:
“I think the latter, I think he would have found other ways to vent and to punish people for sure. I think for whatever reason it was born into him early — prefrontal cortex damage? Who knows. I think he’s a serial killer through and through.”
As Craven told Ulrich, he did play both “sides” of the character so well; he was convincing as a killer, it would have made sense that he’d continue down that path.
Ulrich was then asked what part of the iconic third act that he found the most challenging. He commented that the big reveal was a scene they spent days and nights on and that getting there emotionally was a journey.
“There’s a particular beat inside of the reveal of his motives and the heartbreak of his parents falling apart. I think trying to..because of the elevated energy and stakes and being on a 10 the entire time performing that scene for 5 days and 5 nights as it was to get that one scene…you know, trying to switch to that heartbreaking a way that isn’t sappy but feels sort of raw was a particular focus of mine.”
Ulrich says he thinks they achieved exactly what they meant to within that part of the storyline.
“I think we got it, I think it’s there but it’s not off, and there’s a little bit of a rawness to it that kind of makes you feel for him a little bit. That was always sort of the goal was that you know, you try and get an audience on your side no matter if you’re the good guy or the bad guy. THat’s the challenge of a part like that and it was the first time I was playing a part like that and I was glad to have Wes to guide me through that.”
You can stream Scream on HBO Max right now in preparation for the debut of the 5th installment of the franchise on January 14th, 2022.
