Sidney Prescott - Casting

Casting

The role of Sidney Prescott was initially given to actress Drew Barrymore after Barrymore herself approached the production, having read the script, to request the role and was signed to the film before a director had even been found. Wes Craven, after being hired as director, commented that he was able to have bigger actors in the film than his budget allowed for because of Barrymore's desire to be involved which he believed helped attract other big names to the production. While early development on the film took place however, Barrymore's schedule commitments meant she was no longer able to remain in the demanding leading role, but still wishing to take part she volunteered to play the smaller role of Casey Becker who dies early in the film, with her scene being filmed in five days. Following Barrymore's abdication of the role, actresses Alicia Witt and Brittany Murphy auditioned for the part. The production also offered the role to Reese Witherspoon although she ultimately never auditioned. It was Canadian actress Neve Campbell who was given the lead of Sidney Prescott after Craven saw her in the television series Party of Five, believing she could best embody a character who was "innocent" but also able to handle herself while dealing with the demanding physicality and emotions of the role. Campbell herself was reluctant to undertake a role in another horror film so soon after taking part in The Craft (1996), but agreed to Scream as it would be her first leading role and she "adored" the character saying "She's a fantastic character for any kind of movie." Campbell and her on-screen boyfriend Skeet Ulrich had previously starred together in The Craft which they believed helped make their performance of the relationship between Sidney and Ulrich's character, Billy Loomis, more natural.

On how she approached the leading role in the series, Campbell stated:

Kevin Williamson had submitted treatments for two possible sequels to Scream before the film was even released and so Campbell had been contracted for Scream 2 when she signed on to the original film as she played the only character guaranteed to survive the film. However, scheduling became an issue for Campbell and the production as, at the time, she was still starring in Party of Five.

For Scream 3, Craven insisted that convincing Campbell and the other principal cast to return was not a problem, but scheduling Campbell's availability with the film's production again became an issue, with Campbell starring not only in Party of Five but three other feature films. Her availability was limited enough that she was only available for 20 days of filming which resulted in a significantly reduced role for her character and a shift in focus to Cox and Arquette's characters of Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley respectively.

When production of Scream 4 was announced, nearly ten years after the last installment of the series, Campbell initially refused offers to reprise her role as Sidney, forcing early script drafts to be written in consideration of her absence while again shifting focus on to Cox and Arquette's roles. However, by September 2009, Campbell was confirmed as reprising her role in the film. Early versions of Williamson's Scream 4 script involved Campbell's character being attacked and killed in the opening, a key point of contention for Bob Weinstein, head of Scream developer Dimension Films, who had it removed.