MARLEY SHELTON is JUDY HICKS

Judy’s a survivor – where does the new Scream find her?

She’s been promoted to Sheriff. Before she was just Deputy Judy Hicks. Now she’s the boss lady. Judy takes it a step further, because not only is she a survivor and part of that club, it’s her mission to protect and to serve. She’s an uber cop, she’s a lady of the law and I think she has an eternal optimism. So even though these horrendous, heinous acts are taking place all around her, this horrible crime and violence, she feels like she’s in the position to do something about it. So that makes her a little bit different, I think, than just being a survivor. I think she feels like it’s her mission and her job to protect her town from Ghostface.

What was it like working with Wes Craven?

I was just so honoured to get to work with Wes Craven. I was a huge fan of his. He’s such a master in the genre and really broke such new ground with the Scream series, creating this whole new world that’s both extremely funny and extremely scary at the exact same time, which, tonally I don’t think had ever been done before to that extent. Being self-referential as well. and so smart, and with such a point of view. Working with him, he was lovely and personable and clearly so brilliant at what he did. There was just a real sense of respect and reverence. And I know that Matt and Tyler have carried on that respect and reverence. They’re also huge fans of his. When I saw their last movie Ready Or Not,

I realised, “Oh, they’re perfect for this,” because they also captured that tone of comedy and horror, of being at once funny and scary at the same time, and the suspense. I think that Wes would be proud and would approve.

What’s Woodsboro like now, 10 years on?

I think one thing about Woodsboro is it never seems to change, right? [Laughs] Woodsboro is always Woodsboro.

One significant change that you’ll see with this movie is the young cast is much more ethnically diverse than we’ve seen in the past, which is really cool. So perhaps Woodsboro is becoming more reflective of what America actually looks like with this awesome young cast. We’ve shot in many locations over the years. But I’ve been just so impressed how our production designers and creative teams have always managed to make Woodsboro look the same.

Has your favourite scary movie changed in the last decade?

For the classics I have to say I’m still a diehard sucker for my top three, they’re still the same. It’s in no particular order, The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby and Psycho. So I don’t think my tastes have necessarily evolved when it comes to the horror genre. I’ve always been a huge fan of Scream and the franchise. I remember when the first one came on the scene. I was a young actor and auditioned for it like all my peers. It was the hot script in town and I remember we were all like, “Oh my gosh, we have to be a part of this”. It was something we’d never seen before and was breaking all kinds of new ground.

What role did you audition for?

I believe it was the role that Rose Mcgowan ended up playing [Tatum]. She was brilliant. So funny. But you know, she did get killed by Ghostface. And Judy’s still here. [Laughs] It’s turned out okay so far. So far so good!

In what way do you feel this new film reflects on the state of horror now?

What Scream has always done so well, and does with this instalment too, is it’s somehow very topical and timely and feels relevant. Maybe because there’s always a young generation of cast members and teen angst and coming of age, and just the visceral, terrifying primal fear of being stabbed, and all this selfreferencing of the zeitgeist.