'Scream' Actor Roasts His Own Performance Thirty Years Later

Scream actor Matthew Lillard has spoken out against his own performance in Wes Craven's iconic horror movie, claiming that he was "doing too much." (via On Film With Kevin McCarthy).

The comments come just months before Lillard will reprise his role as Stu Macher in the upcoming sequel Scream 7, which will reunite him with Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette.

Lillard Claims He Was Just 'Chewing Scenery'

Though Lillard's eccentric performance has often been praised as one of Scream's most exciting assets, Lillard doesn't see things that way.

Speaking with film journalist Kevin McCarthy on his internet podcast, Lillard criticized his own performance. “I do think you see a young actor trying hard in every scene,” he said. “You know, doing too much. He’s chewing the scenery.”

Despite McCarthy's claims that Lillard is "brilliant", the actor was adament that his performance lacks experience and would have been very different today. He claimed his most iconic moments were simply "...Matt Lillard just being an idiot boy. That’s that thing like, doing too much.”

This raises an interesting question about how much different Lillard's upcoming performance in Scream 7 will be from the younger character that audiences fell in love with back in 1996. Perhaps viewers should prepare for a quieter, more restrained take on Stu Macher.

Despite his own criticisms, Lillard still had nothing but praise for his Scream co-stars: "I think what is brilliant is that [Craven] has crafted a perfect Jenga tower of performances [...] Jamie Kennedy’s perfect. Neve Campbell’s perfect. W. Earl Brown’s perfect. Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, all of them … have these moments."