Matthew Lillard rose to fame in the late ’90s and early 2000s with memorable, offbeat roles in films like Scooby-Doo, SLC Punk! and She’s All That. Still, no performance has loomed larger over his career than his darkly comedic and ferocious turn as Stu Macher in Wes Craven’s 1996 slasher classic Scream—a role that helped define an entire horror generation.
Despite the character’s lasting impact, Lillard has been candid about his personal distance from the role. “I don’t really care about Stu Macher,” he told Collider in a 2023 interview while promoting Five Nights at Freddy’s. “It’s a part I played. It’s like if you’re a plumber, do you care about the house you did down the street and around the corner? No, it’s your job. And I love that job — it’s been nice to have that in my résumé, but the reality is that it’s a part I did 20-plus years ago.”
What does matter to him, Lillard clarified, is the enduring connection fans have with the franchise. “What is important to me is that what it means to other people is deeply relevant when you see them all the time, and powerful,” he added. “It’s not something I understood before that.”
Below, find out what’s behind the buzz that the actor could return for the seventh installment in the series.
Who Did Matthew Lillard Play in ‘Scream’?
Matthew played Stu Macher, sarcastic dudebro and masked murderer from the original movie, released in 1996.
Did Matthew Lillard Have a Cameo in ‘Scream 2’?
Matthew did return for an uncredited cameo in Scream 2. In the 1997 sequel, he was listed only as “guy at party,” and in 2022, he returned for the Scream reboot in a similar voice cameo.
Is Matthew Lillard in ‘Scream 7’?
According to PEOPLE, the actor took to social media on Thursday, January 30, with a not-so-subtle hint he’d be returning for Scream 7 after nearly three decades away from the role. The uncaptioned video clip show’s Matthew’s hand scratching out his memorable line from the first film in a shaky hand: “My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me.”
Fans went wild in the comments thread. “Our king returns to the screen as he always said he’d be right back!!!” wrote a follower, while another enthused, “STU MACHER BACK IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2025?!” alongside ghost and knife emojis.
Since confirming his involvement, Lillard has opened up about feeling both nervous and excited over returning to such an iconic part of horror history, calling it a “gamble of legacy” but something he’s openly campaigned for over the years.
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