Kristen Stewart almost played a lone opening victim in 2011’s Scream 4, akin to Drew Barrymore’s character Casey Becker in Scream. Talking to Slant Magazine regarding her Princess Diana biopic, Spencer, Stewart revealed that she’s a huge fan of the Scream franchise and was even offered a role in Scream 4. Stewart, who was starring in the Twilight series back then, was going to play Ghostface’s first victim in the film. The makers wanted to emulate Barrymore’s role from Scream, but Stewart turned down the offer, feeling doubtful of living up to Barrymore’s short, yet now- iconic role. Here is what Stewart said:
“So it’s the Drew [Barrymore] character that gets killed in the beginning. And they created a whole sequence where a lot of people got killed to emulate the Drew thing. But it was just going to be one person, and I was like, ‘I can’t do a Drew. I can’t touch that.’ Do you know what I mean? But, yeah, so then they ended up doing, if I’m remembering correctly, a larger sequence and not just one victim.”
Scream 4 ultimately scrapped the whole scene and instead featured a triple opening scene. The first two victims (played by Lucy Hale and Shenae Grimes) turn out to be part of the 6th film in Scream’s fictional movie-within-a-movie franchise, Stab. They are in turn being watched by two women (played by Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell) who are later revealed to be in Stab 7 and are being watched by two friends (played by Britt Robertson and Aimee Teegarden) in the “real” world. This unconventional opening scene was one of the highlights of the film.
However, Kristen Stewart, being the star of a mega-popular film franchise, was a well-known actress in Hollywood at the time, and it would have been a genius move to cast her, give the impression she was the main lead, and then kill her off in the opening scene, just like Drew Barrymore in Scream. Featuring Jenna Ortega, the scene was subsequently recreated in Scream (2022) but with a twist.
Scream 6 is Officially Confirmed, Could Kristen Stewart Join The Franchise?
While Kristen Stewart may have missed out on starring in Scream 4, the doors are still open for her to battle Ghostface. Scream (2022), a reboot-cum sequel or a requel, successfully reinvigorated Wes Craven’s meta-horror franchise. Scream grossed nearly $140 million at the box office against its $24 million budget, and thus, a sequel has been officially greenlit. Scream 6 will shoot this summer. When asked if she’d like to join the film, Stewart said it’d depend on the script and went on to reiterate her love for the Scream franchise.
“Maybe. I would read the script. I love Neve Campbell so much. She was very nice to me, and it was very satisfying that she’s a very nice person. I love that movie. I’ve watched it recently, as an adult though. It’s so gnarly. I love the movie because it loves movies. The coolest part of Scream is what it says about film. It’s so self-aware. It folds in on itself like six times. I love how much [Wes Craven] loves movies and how embedded that is. It’s a total film nerd type of movie. It’s not just a flasher flick. It’s a beautiful movie. It’s so hard to watch. I’m like, ‘I don’t have the stomach for that shit anymore.’ I was like, ‘Oh, man, this is very, very, very intense.’”
Kristen Stewart is currently celebrating her first Best Actress Oscar nomination for her brilliant performance in Pablo Lorrain’s Spencer. Be sure to check out the Academy Awards ceremony later this month on March 27.