‘Scream’ Icon Matthew Lillard Reveals His Favorite Horror Film That ‘Changed His Life’

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Key Points

Matthew Lillard calls “Scream” his favorite scary movie for changing his life.
Lillard reflects on unexpected franchise longevity and Wes Craven’s comeback with “Scream.”
The film’s 30-year milestone is a significant “benchmark” in Lillard’s acting career.

The cast of Scream has become horror genre icons, with Matthew Lillard being known in pop culture for his role as Stu Macher. Years later, the actor was asked the infamous line, “What’s your favorite scary movie?” and his answer is an obvious one that holds a lot of weight.

In an interview with People, it wasn’t a surprise when Lillard’s answer was none other than “Scream, because it changed my life forever.” There’s no denying that Scream brought back a new wave of slasher films in the late 90s that would cement a long-lasting film franchise and would become cult classics.

Lillard even admits that no one in the cast of the first film ever expected to be where they are 30 years later, as the movie celebrates a major three-decade milestone since its original 1996 release. The Five Nights at Freddy’s actor adds that Wes Craven wasn’t doing well at the time.

He explains that “at the time that the movie came out, Wes [Craven] hadn’t had a hit in a little while. Slasher movies were sort of dead and gone for a moment.” While Craven has been known for hits like The Last House on the Left, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and more, his films before Scream weren’t hits.

The year before the slasher, Craven directed the 1995 vampire comedy Vampire in Brooklyn, starring Eddie Murphy, which initially received negative reviews and bombed at the box office. Movies like Shocker, The Serpent and the Rainbow were released with little box office success and barely recouped their budgets.

Lillard says the slasher movie appeared like a fun idea once realizing actors like Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox would be making their introduction to film.

“Frankly, it was two TV actresses in the days when TV actresses didn’t cross over to do films. I was like, ‘Oh, this is a little horror movie. It’ll be fun,’” he tells PEOPLE. “Little did I know in any capacity that A. it would change my life, and B. here we would be 30 years later still celebrating Ghostface in any way, shape or form.”

Before Scream, Lillard played lesser-known roles that have since become cult classics, such as Serial Mom, Mad Love, and Hackers. The actor says reaching 30 years since the slasher movie’s original release and its continued popularity is a “benchmark” when “so much of your life, you’re just fighting to get your next job.”