Neve Campbell says that Spyglass Media Group upped her pay after she spoke out about a pay disparity during salary negotiations for “Scream 6,” the film that caused the actress to exit the franchise.
“I’m really grateful that the studio heard me when I talked about pay discrepancy and when I talked about [‘Scream VI’ negotiations] not feeling respectful,” she told People.
Campbell announced in June 2022 that she was leaving the franchise, as she didn’t feel she was being properly compensated to reprise her role of Sidney Prescott in the sixth movie. She also told People at the time that she believed her offer for the sixth film would not have come in so low if she were a man.
“As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to ‘Scream,’” Campbell said in a June 2022 statement to Variety. “I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”
But, Campbell told People, when she was approached with negotiations for “Scream 7,” the tone was completely different.
“When they first approached me [for Scream 7], I thought, ‘I don’t know what respectful looks like to them. We might be in very different places.’ But they started out in a strong place, so that was lovely.”
The scream queen’s return to the franchise comes amidst multiple dropouts from “Scream 7.” Director Christopher Landon dropped out of the seventh film, shortly after star Jenna Ortega announced she was not returning due to scheduling conflicts with her “Wednesday” production calendar, and co-star Melissa Barrera was fired over social media posts about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Both actors starred in the fifth and sixth “Scream” films.
Campbell told Variety‘s Marc Malkin in January that she could see herself coming back to the series “under the right circumstances.”
She announced her return in a March Instagram post, where she wrote: “Sidney Prescott is coming back!!!! It’s always been such a blast and an honor to get to play Sidney in the ‘Scream’ movies. My appreciation for these films and for what they have meant to me, has never waned. I’m very happy and proud to say I’ve been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
She told People that she is glad that the studio listened to her about her pay discrepancy and “Scream 6” negotiations not feeling respectful.
“It feels nice to have put that out into the world and to have been listened to and to have made a difference in that way,” she says. “I hope other people get that opportunity too.”
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