Scream Characters: Names, Actors and Who Is Who

The main Scream characters across seven films are Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, Dewey Riley and the masked Ghostface, with a newer group built around Sam and Tara Carpenter and the twins Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin. Each name below comes with its actor, and none of it gives away who is behind the mask. If you want the full story of each film, start with the Scream movies hub or the Scream movies in order guide.

The original Scream characters come from Scream (1996), directed by Wes Craven, set in the small California town of Woodsboro. The film is led by Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a student whose mother was murdered a year earlier. Around her sit her boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), her friend Tatum (Rose McGowan), the party host Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard, credited as Stuart) and the film obsessed Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy). Drew Barrymore plays Casey Becker, the girl on the phone in the opening scene, and Liev Schreiber plays Cotton Weary, the man convicted of the earlier murder. The adults complete the town: Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is the pushy TV reporter, Dewey Riley (David Arquette, credited as Deputy Dewey) is the local deputy, and Joseph Whipp plays Sheriff Burke. Think of the cast as a neighborhood barbecue where everyone knows everyone else's business, which is exactly why the phone calls land so hard.

The characters most tied to the series are Sidney, Gale, Dewey, Randy Meeks and Ghostface. Sidney, Gale and Dewey are all billed in the first four films and again in Scream (2022). Ghostface is the black robe and white mask worn by the killer, and Roger L. Jackson supplies the phone voice credited as Phone Voice or The Voice in Scream (1996), Scream (2022), Scream VI and Scream 7. Randy is the franchise's rule explainer, the fan who spells out the unwritten rules of horror (the Scream rules page covers them in full), and Jamie Kennedy plays him in the first three films. Casey Becker is brief, but the opening scene with Drew Barrymore, a phone quiz about horror films that turns into a deadly game, is the series' best known set piece.

The sequels keep the core trio and add a fresh circle of suspects and targets each time. Scream 2 (1997), also directed by Wes Craven, moves Sidney to Windsor College in Ohio. It adds Derek (Jerry O'Connell), Hallie (Elise Neal), Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf), Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Joel (Duane Martin). Scream 3 (2000) moves to Hollywood, where the cast of the film within a film includes Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey), Detective Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey), Roman Bridger (Scott Foley), Tom Prinze (Matt Keeslar) and Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer). Scream 4 (2011) returns to Woodsboro and introduces Sidney's cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts), Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen), Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin) and Deputy Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton). Gale is credited as Gale Weathers-Riley in that film.

The main characters in the newer Scream movies are Sam Carpenter and Tara Carpenter, played by Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega. They lead Scream (2022), directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and Scream VI (2023) by the same directing duo. Sam Carpenter is the older sister who returns to Woodsboro, and Tara Carpenter is the younger sister whose attack starts the 2022 film. Around them are Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid), Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison), Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette) and Vince Schneider (Kyle Gallner). Judy Hicks returns as a sheriff, and Sidney, Gale and Dewey are all credited in Scream (2022). Scream VI adds Ethan Landry (Jack Champion), Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato), Anika Kayoko (Devyn Nekoda), Danny Brackett (Josh Segarra) and Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney). Hayden Panettiere returns as Kirby, and Skeet Ulrich is again credited as Billy Loomis. Neve Campbell sat out Scream VI after an exit over pay, according to Good Morning America.

The main characters in Scream 7 (2026), directed by Kevin Williamson, are Sidney Evans, who is Sidney Prescott under her married name, and her teenage daughter Tatum Evans (Isabel May). Campbell returns as Sidney, and her husband Mark Evans is played by Joel McHale. Courteney Cox is back as Gale Weathers, and Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding continue as Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin. Newcomers include Celeste O'Connor as Chloe Parker, Sam Rechner as Ben Brown, Anna Camp as Jessica Bowden, Asa Germann as Lucas Bowden and Mckenna Grace as Hannah Thurman. Matthew Lillard is credited as Stu Macher, a return for a name from the 1996 film. Neither Barrera nor Ortega appears in the top billed cast, and TheWrap reported Barrera's dismissal. Sidney's daughter shares a first name with the friend McGowan played in the original.

The main female Scream characters are Sidney, Gale, Tara, Sam, Kirby, Mindy and Judy Hicks, along with Casey Becker, Tatum, Jill Roberts and Tatum Evans. The series has always put women at the center, with Sidney as the lead of the first four films and Scream 7. Gale is the reporter who turns into an ally, Kirby first appears in Scream 4 and returns as an FBI agent in Scream VI, and Judy goes from deputy in Scream 4 to sheriff in Scream (2022). Sam and Tara carry the two films after that. If you only have time to meet a few, start with Sidney and Gale in Scream (1996), then jump to Sam in Scream (2022).

The full cast lists, directors and returning performers sit on the Scream cast page, and the story order is on the Scream timeline. The identities behind the mask are covered, with spoilers, on the Ghostface killers page. If you want a quick pick for a first watch, begin with Scream (1996), because it introduces Sidney, Gale and Dewey and the town of Woodsboro.