In a recent interview with Collider, actress Mikey Madison admits to not knowing what her character, Amber, does in Scream ’22 would have such a long-lasting impact on her career. If you haven’t seen the requel yet, there are spoilers ahead.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett had to direct what screenwriter Kevin Williamson put on paper for the Scream requel. In it, Williamson killed off a beloved character, Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who had been with the franchise since its start. But fans weren’t mad at Williamson, although we can imagine Annie Wilkes would have hobbled him over such a plot twist.
In the movie, it was revealed that Amber was the one who killed our favorite deputy, in a death that was both irreverent to the character and somehow fitting. Some people actually went through the five stages of grief at his demise and berated Madison during the anger stage.
Believe it or not, Madison had no idea how much Dewey was loved until fans let her have it.
“I have to be honest, when I did the film, it sounds naive, but I wasn’t so aware of the huge fan base that the franchise has, that I’ve now been able to discover,” Madison said in the interview. “Scream and horror fans and people who love horror films are the best people ever, but I really naively went into it.”
That naivety was quickly lost when Scream fans lashed out in anger. Madison felt the need to apologize for her fictional actions after people came for her.
“And so I remember being kind of sad because I was like, ‘Oh, such a great character. It’ll be sad to see him go.’ And then I realized afterward the heartbreak that so many people felt. People have come up to me, and they’re like, ‘I hate that this happened. I’m mad at you.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t write the script!’ I didn’t want to do it.”
As fans know, legacy sequels almost always kill a character of franchise lineage, and with the upcoming Scream 7, who knows what the writers will do. Ironically, Williamson will have to direct it, perhaps karma for writing Dewey’s death.
