Neve Campbell Chimes In On Fan Theory That 'Scream' Killers Billy And Stu Are Gay

"Maybe some of their anger comes from not being allowed to be who they want to be," said the actor, who plays Sidney Prescott in the horror franchise.
Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott in 2022's "Scream."
Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott in 2022's "Scream."
Brownie Harris/Paramount Pictures via Associated Press

With a fifth chapter of “Scream” due in theaters this week, Neve Campbell is taking time to address some fan theories about the iconic horror franchise.

Speaking to Pride Source in a video interview released Monday, the actor touched on the rumor that Billy (played by Skeet Ulrich) and Stu (Matthew Lillard), the killers in the original 1996 movie, were actually a closeted gay couple.

“It’s very much a possibility, and now that Kevin’s out and talking more about that, I would imagine that’s a big part of his thinking,” Campbell said, referring to “Scream” screenwriter Kevin Williamson.

Pressed for clarification, Campbell explained that it was plausible that Billy and Stu were “pretty confused guys” who were driven to commit murder because of self-hatred.

“If I were to theorize, I would say that there was perhaps some confusion with them,” she said, “and that maybe some of their anger comes from not being allowed to be who they want to be, if you wanna go there.”

Watch a clip of Neve Campbell’s Pride Source interview below.

Williamson, who is gay, also lent credence to those theories about Billy and Stu’s relationship in recent interviews.

Speaking to Pride Source in a separate interview published Wednesday, the screenwriter said that the characters had been loosely based on Nathan F. Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, who were convicted in the 1924 murder of a Chicago teen and were reported to have been lovers. The case also inspired the 1948 Alfred Hitchcock thriller “Rope” and 2002’s “Murder by Numbers,” starring Sandra Bullock.

“It’s very sort of homoerotic, in the sense that there were these two guys that killed this other person just to see if they could get away with it,” Williamson said. “And one of the reasons that one could get the other one is because I think the other one was secretly in love with him, and it was sort of a fascinating case study on double murderers.

“If you Google Leopold and Loeb, you will see,” he continued. “And you’ll read about it and you’ll get, OK, that’s Billy and Stu.”

And in a 2021 interview, Williamson said that “Scream” and its sequels were “coded in gay survival.”

“As a gay kid, I related to the final girl and to her struggle because it’s what one has to do to survive as a young gay kid, too,” he told The Independent. “You’re watching this girl survive the night and survive the trauma she’s enduring.”

Campbell is reprising her role as Sidney Prescott in the new “Scream,” which hits theaters Friday. Original cast members David Arquette and Courteney Cox also star in the film.

This time around, fans won’t have to look as hard when it comes to LGBTQ representation. The movie features Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin, the franchise’s first character who is openly queer.

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