EDITOR’S NOTE: SPOILERS ARE INCLUDED FOR SCREAM (2022).
One final warning if you don’t like spoilers and haven’t seen the latest installment in the slasher horror saga, Scream (2022)also known as Scream 5Well, we are talking about one of the most important scenes in the film.
Having said that, we continue.
David Arquette, is one of the original members of the franchise created by Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson, and undoubtedly one of the fandom’s favorites. It is said that Arquette had such a positive response in test screenings of Scream (1996), that the end of his character, the iconic and charming Dewey Riley, was modified at the last moment, going from losing his life in the climax scene of that first film after being stabbed in the back, to being a key piece and central to the rest of the series.
Arquette has played Dewey in all five installments of the slasher saga, surviving all nine! Ghostface’s brutal attacks on, well… most of them.
During the second act of the most recent, Scream 5Dewey goes to a hospital to help sisters Sam and Tara (Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega), where he has a confrontation with the villain –or one of the wearers of the Ghostface outfit–. Trying to finish him off, Dewey is attacked with the villain’s favorite weapon, being stabbed in front and behind at the same time, suffering – and along with him, the audience – a brutal and bloody death.
Not only did fans of the franchise feel his death, for Arquette, it was also painful to say goodbye to a character who has accompanied him for 26 years. This was what he comments to Empire Magazine:
“I haven’t talked much about it. It is a very recent injury.”
“I had not been warned [que Dewey moriría en la película]so i was like [hace la mímica hojeando el guión], ‘Wow, Dewey’s got some good things to do this time!’ And then, ‘Oh, that’s why!’ I had to leave [de leer el guion]I had to walk and process it. I understood where they came from [los guionistas], as far as eviscerating your audience. It was difficult. It’s been such an ongoing movie saga throughout my life, 25 years of my life, so it definitely went deep.”
On the day Dewey’s final scene was filmed:
“That morning I got up, made myself some breakfast, and then went to work and did the scene,” she recalls. “I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. We amplified the fight scene a little bit because I’m a professional fighter.”
“We made it a little more intense. If you have a lot of action, you will get hit a bit, and if you have blood, the longer it goes on, it will be a bit sticky and uncomfortable. So you have to enter a zen place, so as not to get angry. And I was angry anyway. So I just had to go into a real zen place, just breathe and know that this will be over soon. But it was emotional. I did, got in my car, drove home, washed off all the blood and that was it. I packed a few things and then hit the road.”
On his character in general:
“In hindsight, there was a lot of Wes [Craven] over there [en Dewey]. Some of her humor and sweetness was tied to Dewey. I think losing Wes affected all of us in a very strong way. He was a bit of an angel for me, in terms of keeping my character alive. and matt [Bettinelli-Olpin] y Tyler [Gillet] they are not! They are Ghostfaces! Except that it was actually the film’s writers who were responsible for removing Dewey. “Then I take it back! Jamie [Vanderbilt] y Guy [Busick]you are Ghostfaces!”
Source: https://cine3.com/scream-2022-david-arquette-habla-sobre-esa-escena-de-dewey-riley/
