Sidney Prescott actor Neve Campbell addresses sitting out Scream 6 and doubles down on her comments regarding the pay dispute. After playing a prominent role in every previous installment, the latest sequel from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet sees the franchise move on without original final girl Sidney. Campbell was originally supposed to return for Scream 6, but opted not to after receiving what she considered to be an unsatisfactory salary offer.
Now, following the confirmation of Scream 7, Campbell reflects on her decision not to return in a recent interview with KiSS 92.5 while at TIFF.
While acknowledging the importance of Sidney in her life, the actor explains that not returning was a matter of principle for her. Check out Campbell’s full comment below:
“As much as I love the characters that I’ve played and ones that I’ve had a history with, it’s also very important to me the concept of equal pay. We’re still not there yet. I really do believe that if I had been a male the offer would be very different.I can’t prove that but its the feeling that I have and the way that I was treated was not great and it feels disrespectful. So at what point does self respect come to play? It has to always be there, right?”
Will Neve Campbell Ever Return To The Scream Franchise?
Sidney served as the central protagonist in the first four Scream movies, facing off against a variety of different Ghostface killers. In 2022’s legacy sequel Scream, dubbed a “requel” in some meta dialogue within the film itself, Sidney returns once more, but this time as more of a mentor character. The 2022 movie introduces Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega), and several other new characters, who share the screen with legacy players like Sidney, Gale (Courteney Cox), and Dewey (David Arquette).
Campbell’s decision not to return for Scream 6, however, evidently led to the newer characters largely dominating the narrative. Despite this, the door remains open for Sidney to return, with the latest film explaining her absence by revealing that she got out of town with her family after hearing that Ghostface had returned. While Sam, Tara, and the others will seemingly be carrying the franchise forward, there’s no story reasons why both Sidney and Gale couldn’t return for smaller supporting roles.
When Campbell was previously explaining why she didn’t return, the actor stressed that it was purely a business decision on her part. This seemingly means that, should the creative powers that be want to bring her back for Scream 7 or beyond, all it will take is a satisfactory salary offer. That being said, Scream 6 was a significant success without Campbell’s involvement, which could potentially make the studio less willing to shell out more money for her return down the line.
