Scream producer defends that divisive character return

Scream spoilers follow.

The grand return of Skeet Ulrich's serial killer Billy Loomis in Scream has been defended by producer Chad Villella.

He was of course finished off with a bullet to the brain in 1996's slasher of the same name, but Billy creeps back into view via Sam's (Melissa Barrera) hallucinations as her biological father during the franchise's fifth movie.

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"He was just as shocked as we were the first time we read the script to receive that call," Villella told Fandom of the actor's involvement.

"It was in the script the first time we read it, and it was another one of those big swings that we took, moving everything forward and making him part of Sam's life and Sam's storyline and the way it informs who Sam is and what she has been running from and what she needs to overcome to move forward as a character."

According to the producer, Ulrich was overcome with emotion when he first visited the set.

"Getting Skeet to set was an absolute blast. It was a day that we were on stage in the Macher house, which is Amber's house in our movie. And he walked in and he walked through the kitchen and there were tears in his eyes. And we're thinking, yeah, this is a pretty incredible and surreal experience not only for him but for us who grew up on the movie and love the movie more than anything to be able to stand in that kitchen with Billy Loomis," he continued.

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"It was just the meta on top of meta on top of meta and we stand by it being the right choice for the movie and Skeet just honestly took it to the next level for being there one day, in one weekend.

"Because of COVID, he had to quarantine with everybody and the way he bonded with our entire cast in such a short amount of time and to be able to really build a friendship with everyone so that the trust was there throughout was just remarkable. And he brought a lot, as a ghostly reflection, to our storyline and it's such a vital part of it."

Scream is now in cinemas.

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Miramax Scream trilogy [Blu-ray] [2020]

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Entertainment Film Distributors Scream 4

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Dan Seddon

Reporter, Digital Spy 

Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment. 

In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.