What is a? “Scream”Without some new blood, what movie?
The fifth installment in the series’ fifth season will see the addition of five young actors. installment in the outrageously popular horror series that began with Wes Craven’s stone cold masterpiece in 1996, are Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega and, of course, Jack Quaid. Quaid plays Richie, the boyfriend of Barrera’s Sam, who gets roped into a murder mystery connected to events from the 1996 original. As it stands today “Scream” universe, good-natured boyfriends are either sadistically evil (Skeet Ulrich in the original film) or brutally killed (Jerry O’Connell in “Scream 2”). Quaid is a good listener and doesn’t show his cards.
Quaid spoke with me about how it felt to be part of such a prestigious franchise and the feeling it was to share scenes with legacy “Scream”Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette and his real thoughts about them. “The Last Jedi,”If the movie is not named, it will be invoked.
How was your relationship to the “Scream”Franchise before you sign on?
Jack Quaid:My relationship with the “Scream”franchise was, I had an interesting thing with it. When I was around four years old, I went trick-or-treating for the first time. It was the year Ghostface was released. I saw many other Ghostface kids. “Scream”I was traumatized by it. It terrified me beyond belief. And there was this one mask that this one kid had, that I’ve seen since, where you can pump fake blood through a see-through Ghostface mask. Just complete no. That was all I could see. “No, I want no part of this.” So if you would’ve told my four year old self, that one day he’d wind up in a “Scream” movie, he wouldn’t have believed you.
Then I became braver and started to try out funny, scary, but mostly hilarious stuff. “Shaun of the Dead,”I loved it, but then I was able to. “Scream”It was a love affair that I found myself in. It’s kind of a gateway drug to the whole horror genre because it references so many horror movies whilst also being a movie that’s amazing in its own right. It’s a must-see movie, and you will want to see all the others. “Scream”And I did. It made me a horror fan.
Are you a fan of scary movies?
I do, “Alien.”I think “Alien”It is most likely the movie that scared the most me when I saw it. It was very young when I first saw it. I was 14. It was 14.
Did you feel any hesitation in joining something with such a large fan base?
There was also trepidation. It’s something people care about so much. It was there, and that fear. We don’t want to let the “Scream” fans down and I hope we didn’t, but it’s one of those franchises that people care so much about and there is a pressure there. Some of the legacy cast members were encouraging us to have fun, and they were so welcoming and friendly. Just by watching them perform and what they did on the set, you can learn so much. So of course there’s pressure, but I’m of the mind that if you’re not a little trepidatious, if you’re not a little bit fearful going into a project … Those are the kind of projects you want to go into, the ones that scare you a little bit, so I’m happy I didn’t let the fear get the best of me.
You’ve been a part of these franchises, whether it’s “Star Trek”You can even get it! “The Boys”And now, this is what people care about so much. And this “Scream”Specifically, it discusses the phenomenon of toxic fandom. Do you remember being part of that conversation? “Scream”Have you ever tried to open up the conversation?
I’m happy that we’re talking about it because it’s an interesting thing because obviously I think the toxic fans are kind of a very vocal minority in the grand scheme of things. I think that most fans of most things just love what they love and are really just genuinely into whatever media they’re consuming. And I was one of those people growing up. I was such an individual. “Star Wars”Growing up as a geek, I can relate to that feeling. It’s something I love. If you’re a fan of something, I feel like I’m on your side, there’s something about just being genuinely passionate about something that’s so endearing.
But then, again, there is a vocal minority, I think there’s kind of an entitlement sometimes if something isn’t exactly what a so-called fan wants something to be. You can definitely not like something, of course, and you can have your opinion, but when you stretch it to death threats on the actors, or just bombarding people with hateful comments … And then obviously these so-called fans love the franchise so much, but you see some racism in there, you see some homophobia in there, you see all these terrible things.
And I’m glad that we’re talking about it because I think that sunlight’s the best disinfectant because no matter how much something disappointed you, I don’t think anyone has the right to make someone feel that awful or to threaten their life, which has happened. I’m against toxic fandom. What makes me mad is the fact that I believe fandom is a positive thing in general. So, the vocal minority coming in and messing it up for everybody, I’ve never appreciated.
As an example, “Star Wars”Fan, what was your impression? “The Last Jedi”?
It was a great experience. “The Last Jedi,” actually. Rian Johnson is something we also talk about in the movie. I just rewatched the movie. “Looper,” I just think he’s amazing. But that movie, that was one of the first movies I ever went into without … I consciously did not watch any trailers for it because I realized that when I watch trailers for movies, maybe the suspense kind of goes out the window. I’m like, “Oh, is the movie about to end? No, we haven’t got that scene I saw on the trailer where they’re on the desert planet.” It doesn’t ruin anything, but I wanted to know what it’d be like to go into something without watching a trailer.
I went into “The Last Jedi”It was amazing. It was incredible. I liked that they were trying something new and I saw it with my little sister who, she’s native to China, but we adopted her. And there was something so cool about the idea that you didn’t have to be a part of some grand family in order to be special. The idea that specialness can be found anywhere was so refreshing. It was a bond that I can remember our deep, intimate connection over. It was a great experience. “The Last Jedi” a lot.
These movies are well-known for their secrecy. Did you know how much? Did you actually read the whole script before signing?
Here’s the thing, when I first read the script, I think it might have been before I auditioned. I figured that it wasn’t correct because I know these things are super secretive, but the first script I read was not the right one. It featured different deaths, different murderers, different survivors, and different kills. But here’s the thing though, they sowed the seed of doubt, so we all thought different things were happening. Dylan Minnette was like this when I was talking to him recently. “I didn’t know what the real deal was until the week before we wrapped, basically.”I found it so fascinating that the secrets were kept. We’re making a whodunit and we’re also trying to figure out who is playing the killer or killers. It was very interesting.
If you’d been told everything beforehand do you think your performance would have been different?
This way was enjoyable for me. It did however, cause me to doubt my ability to solve the problem. I kept asking questions. “Is this true? Is this real?” I couldn’t really trust anybody. When script pages came my way, I couldn’t really trust them because I just to know the lengths they’ve gone in the past to kind of fool everybody.
Do you remember what it was like to work with legacy artists?
It was unbelievable. I mean, the OG three, David and Nev and Courtney, they’re incredible people. I don’t know how else to put it. They’re so nice. They were so welcoming. They didn’t need to be as welcoming as they were to all of us newbies, but they just went above and beyond for us in a way that I’m so grateful for. David led us in this Bob Ross painting class, because he’s a certified Bob Ross painting instructor.
He went to Florida to obtain a degree in order that he can now teach the class. We were all there in the hotel’s common room, creating happy mountain-scapes and trees. And David led us through this course and it was towards the beginning and I still can’t, to this day, figure out if it was supposed to send some sort of message, like don’t overthink this and just be free. It sent that message, and it made the environment much more relaxing. It was a great environment, and it was onset. But offset it was so wonderful to be able to spend time with these people, especially after so much isolation.
The OGs showed a lot love, and there was a lot of it. And it’s a movie about murder, so it was a really weird contrast, but no, they’re all amazing. Nev invited us all to her beach house in Wilmington, and we all had a great time. The two of us had a conversation on her porch that I’ll never forget. It was simply amazing. She’s the best. And Courtney would invite us out to dinners and she’s maybe the sharpest person I’ve ever seen in my life. She has the quickest wit out of anyone I’ve ever encountered. They have nothing but positive things to report on me and I was a fanboy the whole time.
“Scream”It is currently only playing in theaters.
