Skeet Ulrich said he will not return to the Scream franchise without Melissa Barrera. Ulrich explained, “without Melissa Barrera and Sam Loomis, there’s no Billy Loomis.” Barrera got fired by Spyglass in 2023. Many fans saw the cast change after she left, and Jenna Ortega also decided not to return.
Skeet Ulrich, who starred in 1996’s “Scream” as Billy Loomis and later reprised the role in both 2022’s “Scream” and 2023’s “Scream VI,” has opened up about not being able to complete what he calls his “three-film arc” after his co-star, Melissa Barrera, was fired from the franchise.
Speaking with US Weekly, Ulrich explained that he doesn’t see himself returning to the franchise because “without Melissa Barrera and Sam Loomis, there’s no Billy Loomis.” (Barrera played Sam Carpenter, who was revealed to be Loomis’ daughter.) “He was in her head. They had their chance at it and didn’t quite get to complete the three-film arc that they talked to me about.”
After starring in “Scream” and “Scream VI,” Barrera was ousted from the films by “Scream” franchise producer Spyglass due to social media posts criticizing Israel amid the war in Gaza in 2023. At the time, the company said it had “zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
After the firing, Barrera’s on-screen sister, Jenna Ortega, announced she wouldn’t return for 2026’s “Scream 7.” Neither Barrera nor Ulrich appeared in the recent film, which starred Matthew Lillard, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding and others.
Last month, Lillard, who starred alongside Ulrich in the original film, admitted he felt “ashamed” for acting in “Scream 7” after Barrera was ousted.