Hayden Panettiere Was Terrified to Return to ‘Scream’

A Scream queen has officially returned.

Nearly 12 years after first starring as fan favorite Kirby Reed in Scream 4, Hayden Panettiere is back in Ghostface’s crosshairs for Scream VI. Back then, Panettiere was fresh off her star-making run on Heroes and part of a new generation of franchise stars—in the last Scream installment to be directed by the legendary Wes Craven. Ever-sarcastic Kirby proved to be a horror-genre savant, but her expertise still wasn’t enough to help her realize that her love interest, Charlie (Rory Culkin), and her best friend, Jill (Emma Roberts), were the latest Ghostfaces terrorizing Woodsboro. Yet while Charlie stabbed Kirby twice, a dead body was technically never shown. 

“The rule is, if you don’t see somebody really, truly die onscreen, then chances are they’re alive,” Panettiere reminds me. 

And fans long held on to that hope—as did Kirby’s portrayer. An Easter egg in the fifth film, 2022’s Scream, revealed that Kirby did survive. A call from Panettiere to the franchise’s current creative team (known as Radio Silence) was enough to clinch her reappearance for Scream VI, which finds Kirby as an FBI agent who comes to New York City following another Ghostface attack. 

For Panettiere, Scream VI is a homecoming in more ways than one: Not only is she returning to the franchise, she’s returning to the screen after a four-year hiatus from acting. We had a spoilery chat with the Nashville alum about willing Kirby’s revival into existence, relating to her character’s trauma, and second-guessing herself.

Vanity Fair: Does it feel surreal to be talking about Kirby and a new *__Scream __*film?

Hayden Panettiere: Nothing surprises me anymore, but this would be at the top of surprises. I am grateful and humbled and so happy to be back and part of the team again.

Well, people are so happy to have you back—your first appearance got the biggest cheers of anything in the movie at my screening. What does it mean to know people are that jazzed about your return?

I love it! [Laughs] It’s so inspirational. It felt like coming home. I did this not just for me, but for the fans as well. I felt so much love, to the point where I was calling [the filmmakers] up, like, “I think Kirby might still be alive, and I think she can come in handy, so if there’s a place where you can slip me in, please do!” And that they did. People go through trauma, and you either run, you hide, you’re scared of your own shadow, or you come out fighting. And Kirby came out fighting, which I love about her.

Why do you think that Kirby has resonated so strongly with the fandom? 

I think it’s just her soul. She’s got that sass that we love, that edge. She’s a total nerd, too, as am I. She’s a fan, she loves it—and she lived it. And she is a fighter, a protector, and she lives for the excitement of it. I think that’s what people love, just her fearlessness and her willingness to go the extra yard.