‘Idiot’: Matthew Lillard Slams His Own Performance in Scream

Matthew Lillard’s turn as Stu Macher in 1996’s Scream may have gone down in history as one of the most iconic horror movie villain portrayals, but the actor doesn’t seem to agree with the general consensus. Ahead of his return to the franchise in the upcoming Scream 7, he reviewed his own performance in the fan-favorite slasher thriller in a recent interview and concluded that he ended up overacting in most of his scenes.

Matthew Lillard says he was ‘just being an idiot boy’ in Scream

During his recent appearance on a podcast, the Scooby-Doo star revealed that he had improvised most of his iconic lines in Scream. He also remarked that, 30 years later, most of his scenes in the film feel overacted.

“I do think you see a young actor trying hard in every scene,” Matthew Lillard said during a recent episode of On Film…With Kevin McCarthy. He added, “You know, doing too much. He’s chewing the scenery.” However, Lillard’s statement seemed to have taken host Kevin McCarthy by surprise, who contested by saying that the actor was “brilliant” in the movie.

“I think what is brilliant is that he [Craven] has crafted a perfect Jenga tower of performances,” Lillard replied. “Jamie Kennedy’s perfect. Neve Campbell’s perfect. W. Earl Brown’s perfect. Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, all of them…have these moments. He got the right cast and the right script and the right sort of performances to build something in the moment that caught the zeitgeist.”

McCarthy then asked Lillard about Stu’s “drooling of blood” scene in Scream’s final moments. The 56-year-old thespian once again blamed himself for putting out a seemingly subpar acting performance, stating, “That’s Matt Lillard chewing scenery…That’s all Matt Lillard just being an idiot boy. That’s that thing like, doing too much.”

While many would disagree with Matthew Lillard’s statements about his acting in the original Scream, the seasoned actor now has a chance to right all wrongs in the franchise’s upcoming installment. He is all set to reprise his role of Stu Macher in Scream 7, which comes out in theaters on February 27, 2026.

Source: Comingsoon.net