Another year, another “Scream.”
14 months after 2022’s “Scream” rejuvenated the seemingly moribund franchise with a healthy dose of fresh blood, Ghostface is back for “Scream VI.” This time, the action takes place in New York, New York, the setting of slasher sequel “Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan” (along with actual, honest-to-god horror classics like “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Dressed to Kill” and “C.H.U.D.”). Our heroes from 2022’s “Scream” return, along with some legacy characters, all of whom are trying to uncover the motivations behind a string of extremely Woodsboro-style murders that are plaguing the Big Apple. But will they live long enough to figure out the mystery?
Here’s who plays who in “Scream VI,” every potential victim and/or killer:
Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera)
Sam Carpenter, introduced in 2022’s “Scream,” is the illegitimate daughter of Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) who was the center of the 2022 Woodsboro attacks. This time around she’s followed her younger half-sister Tara (see below), who is attending college in New York. She’s working through her, um, daddy issues while getting embroiled in another killer plot. Will she be able to figure it out without losing her head?
Barrera previously starred in the big screen version of “In the Heights” and can be seen in a new version of “Carmen” with Paul Mescal (in theaters next month). On the small screen, she was in “Vida” on Starz and in “Keep Breathing” on Netflix. She was also, of course, in 2022’s “Scream.”
Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega)
Another one of the eternally targeted Carpenter sisters, Tara Carpenter was attacked during the opening sequence of 2022’s “Scream.” This time she’s in New York City, attending college and trying to outrun (and outlive) another masked slasher. She bristles somewhat at what she perceives as her older sister’s overbearing qualities. But in order to make it out of this ordeal alive, they’re going to have to rely on each other.
Ortega is something of a scream queen, having also starred in “The Babysitter: Killer Queen,” “Studio 666” and last year’s outstanding “X.” Most recently, she became a household name thanks to her role as the title character in Netflix’s “Wednesday.”
Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmine Savoy Brown)
Randy (Jamie Kennedy) was the geek nerd hero of the first two “Scream” movies, so it makes sense that his relatives would emerge to fill the same role in the new movies. Or at least one of his relatives. Mindy Meeks-Martin is Randy’s niece and shares her uncle’s obsessive movie-loving qualities; she hopes that her extensive knowledge can help her friends survive this ordeal.
Savoy Brown made a splash on Damon Lindelof’s HBO series “The Leftovers” and blew up around the same time that “Scream” was opening in 2022 thanks to her role as young Taissa Turner on Showtime’s smash “Yellowjackets.”
Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding)
Another survivor of the events of 2022’s “Scream,” Chad Meeks-Martin is Mindy’s twin and Randy’s nephew. He’s also going to college in New York with Tara and since the last movie, their relationship has gotten a little bit more … romantic. He’s a hunk with a heart of gold.
Gooding is the son of Cuba Gooding, Jr. and has appeared in movies like “Booksmart” and “Fall.” He played one of the main roles in Hulu/Disney+’s “Love, Victor.”
Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato)
Another Blackmore University student and Sam and Tara’s roomie. She is known for her, um, “sex positivity,” and for the fact that her father followed her to New York City, where he serves as an NYPD detective.
Bailey has appeared in a bunch of smaller movies like “If I Stay,” “Dear Eleanor,” “The Beach House” and “Dig” and in TV shows like Hulu’s “Light as a Feather” and ABC’s “A Million Little Things.”
Wayne Bailey (Dermot Mulroney)
Speaking of Quinn’s father, here’s Wayne Bailey. When there is a murder in the proximity of Tara and Sam, he starts to investigate the case, eventually teaming up with the girls to find the killer. “Obsessive” maybe isn’t the right descriptor … but maybe it is.
Mulroney has had a pretty amazing career, beginning in the 1990s with movies like “Copycat,” “Point of No Return” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and continuing with movies like David Fincher’s “Zodiac,” Clint Eastwood’s “J. Edgar,” Joe Carnahan’s “The Grey” and Park Chan-wook’s “Stoker.” On TV he’s been on comedies like “Arrested Development” and “The Righteous Gemstones,” and dramas like “Hanna” and “Shameless.” He’ll next play the President in Marvel Studios’ Disney+ series “Secret Invasion.”
Anika (Devyn Nekoda)
Anika is Mindy’s girlfriend and another student at Blackmore University. We don’t know too much else about her before she’s embroiled in this current Ghostface mystery.
Devyn Nekoda previously starred in the Disney+ movie “Sneakerella” and Netflix’s show “Ginny and Georgia.” She’ll undoubtedly do more big things very soon.
Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox)
Legacy character incoming! Gale Weathers (played once again by Courteney Cox) first appeared in the original “Scream” back in 1996 and has been a mainstay of the franchise ever since. A dogged television journalist and author, she survived the events of 2022’s “Scream” even though her once-love Dewey Riley (David Arquette) was murdered in the previous movie. She lives in New York City now in a posh apartment and has to work to get the survivors to trust her again. Can she help solve the case and expose this new Ghostface? Or will her selfishness sabotage her efforts? As Mindy points out, in a franchise no legacy character is safe. Will Gale even make it to the end credits?
Cox, obviously, has appeared in every previous “Scream” installment and was a key cast member of NBC’s hit sitcom “Friends.” She has been in movies like “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “3000 Miles to Graceland” and “Bedtime Stories” and other TV shows like “Cougar Town,” “Dirt” and “Shining Vale.” What a legend.
Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere)
This is a fun surprise! Kirby Reed was introduced (and then barely survived) “Scream 4” back in 2011. She was alluded to in 2022’s “Scream” but didn’t actually make an appearance. And that’s a good thing too because they really utilized the character well in “Scream VI.” She’s introduced as an Atlanta FBI agent who is brought in to assist with the Ghostface case in New York City (Ghostface murders have become something of her specialty). But not everyone is convinced that her intentions are pure. Could she be too invested?
Besides “Scream 4,” Panettiere is mostly known for her television work, primarily NBC’s “Heroes” and ABC/CMT’s “Nashville,” which ran for more than 100 episodes. Hopefully, she’ll be back for more “Scream” entries; it was great to see Kirby again.
Ethan Landry (Jack Champion)
Another student at Blackmore College, Ethan is Chad’s nerdy roommate and, according to Mindy, the #1 suspect in the Ghostface murders. Still, he gets involved in the mystery all the same.
If Champion looks vaguely familiar, it’s because Champion starred as human child Spider in James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and will appear in future installments of the space epic. His career is off to a great start, huh?
Danny Brackett (Josh Segarra)
Danny Brackett is the hunky neighbor that lives across the way from Sam, Tara and Quinn. Sam seems interested but somewhat distant, at least around Tara, but it’s quickly revealed that Sam and Danny are in a romantic relationship. And, as we know from previous “Scream” installments, the boyfriend is always a key person of interest when it comes to Ghostface murders. Can he be trusted? Or is he just cute?
Segarra is probably best known to small screen watchers, as he has had major roles on “Arrow,” “Orange is the New Black,” “The Other Two,” “FBI” and, perhaps most memorably, Disney+’s Marvel Studios series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.””
Dr. Christopher Stone (Henry Czerny)
It’s understandable that Sam needs therapy, given the events of the last movie and the fact that her father was a notorious serial killer. And Dr. Christopher Stone (Henry Czerny) is up to the task … at least initially. When Sam reveals her, um, darker side, he seems distressed and alarmed. And as the new Ghostface mystery widens, Dr. Stone could find himself under the knife.
Czerny’s first big role was in “Clear and Present Danger,” based on a Tom Clancy novel and starring Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan. He’d play a similarly smarmy, bureaucratic character Kittridge in the first “Mission: Impossible” (and he’ll be back for “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One” later this year) and in the years since popped up in “The Ice Storm,” “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and “Ready or Not” (directed by “Scream VI’s” filmmaking team Radio Silence). On TV he’s starred in “Revenge,” “Quantico” and HBO limited series “Sharp Objects” (remember his amazing stereo system?)
Laura Crane (Samara Weaving)
A film professor at Blackmore University, Laura Crane (Samara Weaving) shares a last name with the doomed character Janet Leigh played in “Psycho.” And she gets an eerie phone call before the title card pops up. In other words: don’t get too attached!
Weaving has been in movies like “Three Billboards Over Ebbing, Missouri,” Radio Silence’s “Ready or Not” (where she starred alongside Czerny), “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” Netflix’s “The Babysitter” and last year’s Hollywood epic “Babylon.” On TV, she’s appeared in “Ash vs. the Evil Dead,” “SMILF,” Netflix’s “Hollywood” and Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers” alongside fellow Australian Nicole Kidman.
