Thirty years after “Scream” arrived, Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich still cannot settle one of the movie’s most fiercely debated mysteries. The Matthew Lillard Reveals The Truth Behind ‘Scream’s Biggest Unsolved Murder: Who Killed Tatum? first appeared on The Blast

Thirty years after “Scream” arrived in theaters, Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich still cannot settle one of the movie’s most fiercely debated mysteries. The actors, who played killers Stu Macher and Billy Loomis in Wes Craven’s 1996 slasher, were asked to reveal which character was wearing the Ghostface costume when Tatum Riley was killed. However, Ulrich explained that the answer was never established behind the scenes, and claimed even screenwriter Kevin Williamson does not know for certain.

Skeet Ulrich Says Tatum’s Killer Was Never Discussed

The question arose during a 30th-anniversary “Scream” reunion panel at Midsummer Scream in Long Beach, California. Ulrich and Lillard appeared alongside several other figures from the original movie, including Jamie Kennedy, Joseph Whipp, stunt performer Lee Waddell and Ghostface voice actor Roger L. Jackson.

When asked whether Billy or Stu killed Tatum, Ulrich admitted that the cast and filmmakers never discussed who was beneath the costume.

“To be honest, not even [screenwriter] Kevin Williamson knows who killed [Tatum]. And he wrote the damn thing,” Ulrich told the audience, per The Wrap. “And we never discussed it. So, it’s really fan theory, which I think is great. But, I don’t know. No one knows.”

Matthew Lillard Has His Own Theory About Stu Macher

Although Ulrich maintained that no one knows who killed Tatum, Lillard revealed which explanation he has personally embraced. “I always say it’s because she said ‘no’ to going to prom,” he told the crowd, pointing to Stu as the killer because Tatum, played by Rose McGowan, was his girlfriend.

Earlier in the movie, Stu attempted to persuade Tatum to attend the school dance with him. Her rejection therefore gives his character a possible personal motive beyond the murder spree he was already carrying out with Billy.

However, Lillard did not claim that his interpretation had been confirmed by Williamson, Craven, or anyone else involved in creating the film.

Tatum Riley’s Garage Death Became A ‘Scream’ Standout

Tatum’s death remains one of the original movie’s most memorable sequences. While attending a house party, she entered the garage to retrieve beer before being confronted by Ghostface. After fighting back, Tatum attempted to escape through the pet door in the garage door. Ghostface activated the mechanism while she was trapped, causing the garage door to rise and kill her.

The revelation that both Billy and Stu had been operating as Ghostface made it difficult to determine which one committed each murder. Fans have since analyzed the characters’ locations, behavior, and possible motives in hopes of assigning the individual attacks.

Yet the Midsummer Scream panel confirmed that the filmmakers did not provide Lillard and Ulrich with a definitive division of responsibility. And that lack of an official answer has allowed Tatum’s death to remain one of the franchise’s enduring unanswered questions.

The ‘Scream’ Finale Required 21 Consecutive Night Shoots

The reunion panel also gave Lillard and Ulrich an opportunity to discuss the demanding process of filming the original movie’s extended finale. The climactic house-party sequence, commonly referred to as “Scene 118,” lasts approximately 42 minutes onscreen. According to the actors, completing it required 21 consecutive nights of filming.

“When you see the film, the energy that [he and I and Neve [Campbell] and everybody is producing, we had to do daily for all that time,” Ulrich recalled. “So, that sticks out to me as being most memorable. And fun, because I got to hit [Lillard] with a phone.”

Lillard agreed that the filming schedule made the finale particularly difficult. “We shot at night. So, we were living a nocturnal life,” he explained.

The production process also moved more slowly because the filmmakers did not have multiple cameras capturing each performance simultaneously. “And also, back then, we only had one camera … you would have to do a take on every angle, every set-up multiple times,” Lillard said. “So, that sequence is really brutal and stands out in my memory.”

Despite the grueling schedule, the finale became one of the franchise’s defining sequences, revealing Billy and Stu as the killers and establishing their chaotic partnership.

Matthew Lillard Previously Embraced Another Billy And Stu Theory

The uncertainty surrounding Tatum’s killer is not the only “Scream” question Lillard has been willing to leave in the hands of fans. At a previous convention, the actor discussed the long-running interpretation that Billy and Stu’s intense relationship included romantic or sexual subtext.

Lillard acknowledged that the idea was never discussed while the original movie was being filmed. However, he said he and Ulrich have since embraced the way audiences interpret the characters. “Here’s the reality, it was never discussed on the day, it was not an issue,” Lillard explained. “But I think that we both really love it and hold on to it now as it’s sort of grown in popularity, this thought that these two characters were gay.”

The actor referred to Billy and Stu as “for sure gay” and revealed that he and Ulrich now jokingly call themselves “the first husbands of horror.”

Lillard also argued that the theory belongs to the audience, meaning it does not require official confirmation to carry meaning for viewers. “The reason is that you can’t take it away, like, nobody can strip us of that belief,” he said. “And in the world we’re living in right now, like… live with it.”

In much the same way, the mystery surrounding Tatum’s killer remains open for audiences to interpret.

The Matthew Lillard Reveals The Truth Behind ‘Scream’s Biggest Unsolved Murder: Who Killed Tatum? first appeared on The Blast