Photo: Katie Jones/Variety via Getty Images
Matthew Lillard isn’t in love with the shape of himself. Reflecting on the current political landscape (and Ed Sheeran), Lillard said he was “ashamed” of returning for Scream 7 after the firing of Melissa Barrera. At an Austin screening of Scream, Lillard was asked about the difficulty of speaking out about political issues as a public figure. “I don’t know how else to do it,” Lillard said. “For me, I have queer kids. If I’m not standing up for queer kids or kids in the trans community then what the fuck am I doing? If I’m not standing up against ICE, then what the fuck am I doing?” Lillard then pivoted to holding himself accountable for a time he didn’t stand up: reprising the role of Stu Macher in Scream 7 after Barrera was fired for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza. “It’s really fucking bullshit and really hard and she’s on the right side of history,” he said.
“When that happened to Melissa, the whole world didn’t pipe up,” he said. “But she was a year early on what the fuck’s going on. But the whole world should have popped up and said, ‘She’s right.’ And they didn’t. And that’s brutal.” Lillard counted himself among those who didn’t pipe up. “I went back to do Scream, and I got called out. And I’m like, ‘Oh, fuck,’” he said. “I feel bad about that. I feel ashamed about that. Because in that moment I was so excited to go back, I didn’t really think about Melissa and that journey. I didn’t say no.”
“I blew that,” Lillard said. “I’m on the wrong side of history for that. I still like being in the movie [but] it may not have been the best idea.” And as we’re all learning in real time, not speaking out has consequences as well. “Look at what’s going on with Ed Sheeran right now,” Lillard said. “It’s great.”
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